Baseball at No. 23/28 Southern Maine
Thursday, April 19—3:30 p.m.
Ed Flaherty Field—Gorham, Maine
THE SERIES
Babson and Southern Maine will meet for the 18th time on Thursday in a series that dates back to 2000. The Beavers are 6-10-1 all-time against the Huskies with the teams have split their last two matchups.
LAST MEETING
Juniors Henry Curran and Sam Dexter combined to allow just one run on four hits as Southern Maine defeated the Beavers, 3-1, on April 20, 2017, in Babson Park. Junior Zach Quintal was 2-for-45 with an RBI for the Huskies. Junior Edward Lehr gave up just one earned run over six innings for Babson.
LAST BABSON WIN
Senior Mark Webber hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as Babson knocked off then-16th-ranked Southern Maine, 12-8, on April 21, 2016, in Gorham, Maine. Jack Halpin '17 doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs for the Beavers, who helped head coach Matt Noone record his 300th career victory. Senior Tom Budrewicz went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI for the Huskies.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
No. 23 D3baseball.com/No. 28 ABCA Southern Maine (17-7) has won 10 of its last 11 games after defeating Endicott, 7-3, on Wednesday. First-year Sam Troiano had two hits and drove in a run, while junior Devin Warren added a pair of hits and scored twice for the Huskies, who took advantage of six errors by the Gulls. Warren is batting .414 with 14 extra-base hits and 22 runs batted in, sophomore Dylan Hapworth is hitting .379 with eight doubles, four homers and 14 RBI, and Dexter checks in at .362 with eight extra-base hits and 22 runs driven in. Sophomore Colton Lawrence is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA in 12 appearances out of the bullpen, while Dexter is 2-2 with nine saves, a 1.83 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Babson (21-9) has now won 14 of its last 16 games following Tuesday's 10-1 victory at Springfield. Five different players finished with two hits apiece and junior Connor Gill and sophomore Matthew Valente each drove in two runs for the Beavers, who scored seven times in the top of the first inning. Senior Ryan Arena is batting .361 with 10 doubles, eight homers and 32 runs batted in, sophomore Sean Harrington has a .520 on-base percentage to go along with nine extra-base hits and 21 RBI, and junior Eric Jaun is hitting .340 with eight extra-base hits and 16 runs driven in. Gill and fellow junior Michael Genaro have combined to go 10-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 86.2 innings this spring for a Babson staff that boasts a 3.65 team ERA.
JOINING THE CENTURY CLUB
Genaro, who ranks sixth in Division III in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (19.50) and walks per nine innings (0.37) became the 18th player in program history to record his 100th career strikeout in Tuesday's eight-inning effort at Springfield.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Webber's 18-game hitting streak is tied for the fifth longest in program history entering Thursday's contest. Dave Ahern '11 hit a school-record 24 consecutive outings, a streak that spanned both the 2010 and 2011 campaigns, while Babson Hall of Famer Kevin Higa '03 put together two separate 19-game streaks during his career. Junior Brian McHale also recorded a hit in 20 straight games that started last season and carried into the early part of this season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The road team has won five straight games between the Beavers and Southern Maine.
