BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.) hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth inning of game two to help ninth-ranked Babson College earn a split of Sunday afternoon's doubleheader with 19th-ranked Wheaton College at Govoni Field. The Beavers took the back end of the twin bill 5-3 after dropping the opener 7-1.

Babson and Wheaton are now both 6-2 on the year.

GAME 1: Wheaton 7, Babson 1
Graduate student Matthew Valente (Wyckoff, N.J.) went 1-for-2 with a walk, while first-years Francis Kiely (Falmouth, Maine), Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) and Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) all singled for Babson, which was limited to just four hits. Senior Alex Luka (Downers Grove, Ill.), who was making his first start since the 2018 NCAA regional final, suffered the loss giving up seven runs in 1.2 innings.

First-year Tristan Spalter (Sergeantsville, N.J.) was terrific out of the bullpen for the Green and White striking out four and allowing four hits over 5.1 scoreless innings.

Wheaton used the long ball to do all its damage in the first as junior Jared Studley (Barrington, R.I.) hit a three-run blast to right and classmate Zach DeMattio (North Attleboro, Mass.) followed with a solo shot to the opposite field to grab a 4-0 lead. The Beavers stranded a pair in the bottom of the frame and the Lyons made them pay by tacking on three more runs in the second. Senior Brody Ashley (Strafford, N.H.) drove in sophomore Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) with a sacrifice fly to left and Studley hammered a two-run homer to right to extend the margin to 7-0.

Ashley made a diving catch on the warning track in center to save two runs while robbing Cook of extra-bases to end the fourth, and Babson loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but settled for just one run as graduate student AJ DiFillipo (Peabody, Mass.) scored on a balk by senior Patrick Arter (Lakeville, Mass.).

Junior Stephen Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) was sharp in his first career start for Wheaton giving up just a pair of singles over five innings to earn his first collegiate win.

GAME 2: Babson 5, Wheaton 3
Junior Andrew Dembowski (Danvers, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a walk, classmate Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, N.Y.) singled and scored twice and Valente drove in a pair of runs for the Beavers. Graduate student William Gallagher (Kingston, N.Y.) picked up the win in relief of classmate Ben Gottesman (Acton, Mass.), who allowed two earned runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.

DeMattio went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while senior Paul Prue (Dennis, Mass.) earned a no-decision after striking out six and allowing three runs over 5.0 innings for the Lyons. Junior Dominic Cunha (Lincoln, R.I.) suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 after giving up two runs in relief.

Babson jumped on top in the bottom of the third as Pirkl, who got hit by a pitch and Dembowski, who stroked a one-out single to center, scored on Valente's two-out knock to right field. Wheaton answered in the fourth though as sophomore Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) drove in senior Patrick Santorella (Scituate, Mass.) with a two-out single to center, stole second and then raced home on junior Andrew Spirito's (Cranston, R.I.) base hit to make it 2-2.

DeMattio's RBI single brought in Studley to tie the game in the top of the sixth after DiFillipo had put the hosts in front 3-2 in the fifth. The Beavers went in front for good in the last of the sixth thought, as Cook led off the frame with a solo homer to right center. Junior Sean Burychka (Mount Laurel, N.J.) got plunked and moved to second on a passed ball before scoring on first-year Jackson Kelly's (Wenonah, N.J.) two-strike single to make it 5-3.

Gallagher, who got the final two outs in the sixth, walked two and hit another batter to load the bases with one out in the seventh before working out of trouble with a strikeout and a pop out. Sophomore Stephen McLendon (Nashua, N.H.) pitched a perfect eighth and senior Henry Leake (Burbank, Calif.) worked around a one-out single to record his third save of the year.

Babson returns to action next Sunday when it welcomes Emerson to Govoni Field for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m., while Wheaton opens a four-game set with WPI on April 1 at 12 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 31-46 all-time against Wheaton and the teams have split their last eight meetings.
• The Babson bullpen gave up just three runs while recording 11 strikeouts in 16.1 innings in four games against the Lyons over the weekend.
• Both Savage and Santos recorded their first collegiate hits in game one, while Dembowski made his first career start for the Beavers in game two on Sunday.