Baseball at WPI
Tuesday, March 27—3:30 p.m.
New England Baseball Complex—Northborough, Mass.
THE SERIES
Babson and WPI will meet for the 71st time in a series that dates back to 1983 on Tuesday afternoon. The Beavers are 46-24 all-time against the Engineers but have dropped three straight matchups going back to 2016.
LAST MEETING
Anthony Capuano and junior Ryan Tropeano both homered and finished with three hits apiece as WPI defeated the Beavers, 11-4, on April 17, 2017, in Babson Park. Senior Matt Howard also had a home run and Nick Comei added three hits for the Engineers, who recorded 15 hits in the win. Senior Mark Webber hit a three-run homer for the Beavers.
LAST BABSON WIN
Webber went 2-for-3 with a double, two walks and three RBI as the Beavers downed WPI 11-2 in the opening game of a doubleheader on April 10, 2016, in Babson Park. George Crowley '16 homered and junior Brian McHale had two hits and scored three times in support of senior Teddy Carey, who struck out seven over eight shutout innings for the Green and White.
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
WPI (7-9, 0-2 NEWMAC) has dropped four straight games after suffering an 11-3 loss in game two of a doubleheader against MIT on Saturday. Senior Evan Lacroix had two hits to lead the Engineers, who struck out 10 times and left eight runners on base. Howard is batting .433 with six doubles, three homers and 18 runs batted in, junior Steven Gallagher is batting .368 with six home runs and 21 RBI, and sophomore David Larson has six doubles and six homers to go along with 21 runs batted in this spring. Classmate Nick Colucci (0-0) has 12 strikeouts and a 1.00 ERA in five relief appearances, while senior Steven D'Agostino is 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA and 28 strikeouts over 22.0 innings in four starts.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Babson (7-7, 0-2 NEWMAC) has dropped six of its last seven games after suffering an 8-4 loss to Clark in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. Webber homered and senior David Lennon and junior Connor Gill both had two hits for the Beavers, who were unable to rally from an early deficit. Senior Ryan Arena is batting .333 with four doubles and 12 runs batted in, sophomore Matthew Valente is hitting .333 with four doubles and nine RBI, and classmate Sean Harrington boasts a .500 on-base percentage to go along with six doubles and eight RBI. Junior Michael Genaro (2-1) owns a 3.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts against no walks in 21.0 innings, while senior Drew Petillo has allowed just one earned run over 7.1 innings in four relief appearances.
HEATING UP
After going 2-for-10 over the Beavers' first five contests in Florida, Lennon has produced three straight multi-hit games and was 4-for-6 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored in Saturday's twin bill at Clark.
STEADY PRODUCTION AGAINST THE ENGINEERS
Webber has gone 7-for-13 (.538) with two homers, a double and nine RBI, while McHale is batting .438 (7-for-16) with a double and two runs batted in over the last four games against WPI. On the hill, Carey is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 15 strikeouts and 15.0 innings pitched over two starts in his career.
FINDING A WAY ON
McHale has been on base in each of his 13 starts this spring, while Harrington and Valente have reached base in 10 and nine games, respectively.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Beavers' pitching staff has held left-handed hitters to just a .195 average (8-for-41) over the last four games.
