Beavers Score Nine Runs in the Sixth Inning to Win Best-of-Three Series Against Engineers, 2-1

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—After being held to just four hits over the first five innings, fourth-seeded Babson College scored nine runs in the sixth and built a 10-run lead before holding off a furious rally to defeat top-seeded MIT, 16-13, in game three of their New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinal baseball series on Sunday at Briggs Field.

With its 2-1 series victory, Babson is now 24-14-1 and advances to the conference championship series next weekend. The Beavers last reached the league finals in 2012 when the NEWMAC had a double-elimination tournament. MIT, which entered the week at sixth in the first NCAA regional rankings, is now 20-13.

Senior George Crowley (Watertown, Mass.) was 2-for-5 with a grand slam and a career-high six RBI, and junior Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.) had a three-run homer and scored three times for the Beavers. Sophomore Adam Ayala (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) had three hits, stole two bases and scored twice, while junior Owen Shea (Northborough, Mass.) and first-years Eric Jaun (Loveland, Ohio) and Edward Lehr (Byram Township, N.J.) all finished with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

Sophomore Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, three runs scored and three RBI, while senior Alec Echevarria (Chula Vista, Calif.) led all players with four hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Engineers. Classmate Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Oreg.) also drove in three runs and fellow senior Kendall Helbert (St. Louis, Mo.) homered and was one of seven MIT players with at least two hits.

The hosts scratched out a run in each of the first two innings and extended their lead to 4-0 on Echevarria's RBI single with two outs in the fifth. The Green and White, which had not scored since the ninth inning of game one on Saturday, finally broke through in the sixth as its first eight batters reached base. Jaun drove in Ayala with the first run, Crowley cut the deficit to 4-3 with two-run single and then scored the go-ahead run on Shea's base hit to center. First-year Connor Gill (Sterling, Mass.) plated Lehr with an RBI ground out and Halpin crushed a three-run homer to right two batters later to make it 9-4.

Lehr produced an RBI triple and later scored to extended the Beavers' advantage to 11-4 in the seventh, but Filiere hit a two-run opposite field homer in the bottom of the frame to pull MIT within 11-6. Babson appeared to seal it up in the top of the eighth as Weiss followed Crowley's first career grand slam with an RBI double to center that pushed the lead to 16-6.

The Engineers got three runs back in the eighth and then loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. Beavers' sophomore Matt Cuneo (Ashland, Mass.) got the first out on a fly ball to left, but MIT followed with run-scoring singles from Filiere, Echevarria and Rodman to make it 16-12, and then got a sacrifice fly from sophomore Max Lancaster (Attleboro, Mass.) to get within three. Heller walked to bring the tying run to the plate, but Cuneo got Helbert to fly out to right field to end the game.

Sophomore Teddy Carey (Upton, Mass.) got his second win of the playoffs to move to 4-2 on the year for the Green and White, despite facing just three hitters in relief of first-year Michael Genaro (Greenwich, Conn.). Genaro struck out two and gave up three earned runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings.

Senior Michael Wymer (Flower Mound, Texas) dropped to 0-3 this season after allowing four earned runs on three hits in an inning of work. Sophomore Will Loucks (Las Vegas, Nev.) started and gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out six and working into the sixth.

Babson will travel to third-seeded Wheaton for its best-of-three NEWMAC championship series beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday. MIT hosts Wesleyan at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 44-35-1 all-time against MIT and 7-7 all-time against the Engineers in the conference playoffs.
• With 15 hits on Sunday, the Green and White has finished with at least 10 hits in 10 of its last 11 contests.
• Carey, who allowed just one hit over 7.2 innings to pick up the win against Coast Guard on Thursday, is the first Babson pitcher with two conference tournament wins in the same season in the last decade.
• Babson's 24 victories are its most since winning 25 in 2011, and are just three shy of the 2002 single-season record.