Baseball vs. WPI
Thursday, April 5—3:30 p.m.
Govoni Field—Babson Park, Mass.
THE SERIES
Babson and WPI will meet for the second time this season and 72nd time overall in a series that dates back to 1983 on Thursday afternoon. The Beavers are 47-24 all-time against the Engineers and snapped a three-game skid with their win last Tuesday.
LAST MEETING
Junior Michael Genaro gave up three runs over seven innings and classmate Brian McHale homered twice and drove in four runs as Babson defeated WPI, 9-3, on March 27 in Northborough, Mass. Senior Ryan Arena also homered and junior Eric Jaun had three hits and drove in a run for the Beavers. Junior Ryan Tropeano homered as part of a three-hit day for the Engineers.
LAST WPI WIN
Tropeano and Anthony Capuano 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.
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
WPI (10-10, 2-3 NEWMAC) has won three straight games after blasting Emerson, 21-10, in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. Senior Evan Lacroix was 4-for-5 with three doubles and two RBI and sophomore Tyrone Patterson homered and drove in four runs to pace the Engineers' 22-hit attack. Howard is batting .448 with eight doubles, three homers and 23 runs batted in, Lacroix is hitting .349 with 12 extra-base hits and 29 runs scored, and junior Steven Gallagher has homered six times and driven in 23 runs on the year. Sophomore Nick Colucci has struck out 17 batters in 12.0 innings of relief for a WPI pitching staff that has a 5.39 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP through 20 games.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Babson (12-7, 3-2 NEWMAC) has won five straight games after routing Coast Guard, 19-2, in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. Arena, who drove in five runs, McHale and sophomore Jake Oliger all homered for the Beavers, who also doubled five times in the victory. Senior David Lennon is hitting .409 with four doubles and six runs batted in, sophomore Sean Harrington boasts a .536 on-base percentage to go along six doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI, and McHale is batting .366 with 10 extra-base hits, 13 RBI and 20 runs scored. Sophomore Michael Nocchi has a 0.77 ERA and has limited hitters to a .209 average over 11.2 innings, while Genaro is 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA in a team-high 28.0 innings on the year.
STAYING HOT THE PLATE
Harrington, who homered twice and drove in 10 runs in four starts last week, has reached base safely in 14 straight games. Additionally, Webber has at least one hit in seven consecutive outings, including five doubles and one homer during this stretch.
LOCK DOWN RELIEF
Eight different Babson relievers combined to give up just two runs on 11 hits while striking out 19 over 15.2 innings in five games last week. First-year Ben Aleixo picked up his first career win on Friday at Johnson & Wales, and the Beavers' relief core combined for a 0.57 ERA while holding opposing hitters to just a .186 batting average.
GETTING ON, GETTING HOME
During its current five-game winning streak, the Green and White is batting .508 (30-for-59) with runners in scoring position. Babson has also scored at least nine runs in four of its last five contests.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Beavers are 9-2 this year when scoring the first run of the game and have outscored their opponents 22-6 in the first inning through 17 contests.
