Baseball vs. Springfield
Tuesday, April 10—3:30 p.m.
Govoni Field—Babson Park, Mass.
THE SERIES
Babson and Springfield will meet for the 53rd time on Tuesday afternoon in a series that dates back to 1996. The Beavers are 30-22 all-time against the Pride and have won eight straight matchups between the teams.
LAST MEETING
Senior Ryan Arena went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI, while classmate Mark Webber tripled and drove in a pair of runs to lift Babson to a sweep with a 7-5 win over the Pride in game two of a doubleheader on April 23, 2017, in Springfield. Sophomore Chad Shade had three hits and JP Peters homered for the hosts.
LAST SPRINGFIELD WIN
Kyle DiFranco and Sean Smith each drove in a run, and Eric Chase and two relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout as Springfield topped Babson, 3-0, in the second game of a doubleheader on April 6, 2013, in Babson Park. Brendan Collins '14 had two hits and Brian Swanton '13 took the loss, allowing just one earned run and eight hits over five innings.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Springfield (17-5-2, 6-2 NEWMAC) has won four straight games after blanking Coast Guard, 11-0, on Sunday. Seniors Mark Joao and Logan Barrett each drove in a pair of runs and sophomore Shawn Babineau tossed seven shutout innings for the Pride, which held the Bears to just three hits. First-year Jack Cooney is batting .371 with 15 runs batted in, Joao is hitting .352 with 11 extra-base hits and 25 RBI, and Shade checks in at .308 with nine extra-base hits, 22 stolen bases and 33 runs scored. Sophomore Cole Donovan (1-0, 2 saves) has not allowed an earned run in 13.1 innings, while senior Kyle Naples is 3-0 with 0.75 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 24.0 innings pitched.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Babson (16-7, 7-2 NEWMAC) has now won 10 in a row after defeating UMass Dartmouth, 6-2, on Monday afternoon. Junior Edward Lehr doubled and scored twice and first-year Alex Luka struck out five over seven innings to pick up his first collegiate win for the Beavers. Junior Sean Harrington is batting .371 with nine extra-base hits, 19 walks and 20 runs batted in, Arena is hitting .365 with nine doubles, six home runs and 28 RBI, and senior David Lennon enters the day with a .362 average to go along with six doubles and runs driven in. Junior Michael Genaro (4-1) boasts a 2.65 ERA to go along with 23 strikeouts and just one walk over 34.0 innings for a Babson staff that is holding foes to a .251 batting average.
WINNING STREAK ROLLS ON
The Green and White is now one of 11 Division III clubs that is currently riding a win streak of 10 or more games. Babson is averaging 11.0 runs per outing during the streak and have also held their opponents to three runs or less in eight of the 10 contests.
CONFERENCE HONORS FOR NINTH-INNING HERO
Arena, who drove in the tying run in Saturday's 4-3 win at Wheaton and hit a three-run walk-over homer to cap the Beavers' rally on Sunday, was selected as the NEWMAC Player of the Week on Monday. He batted .533 (8-for-15) with three doubles, two homers and nine runs batted in over four games.
ANSWERING THE CALL
The Babson bullpen has gone 6-0 with three saves, a 2.88 ERA and a .239 opponents' batting average in 75.0 innings of work this season. The relief core has been even better during the current 10-game winning streak with 33 strikeouts and a miniscule 0.82 earned run average in 33.0 innings.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Beavers have won 11 straight at Govoni Field against NEWMAC opponents.
