No. 10 Baseball at Clark
Saturday, May 1 | 12/2 p.m.
Granger Field | Worcester, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 59-21 all-time against Clark in a series that dates back to 1993.
• The Beavers and Cougars have split their last 14 meetings with each squad winning seven times.
• Babson is looking to snap a four-game losing streak at Granger Field that extends back to the 2016 campaign.
LAST MEETING
• Jake Oliger '20 tied the game with a two-run double and then scored the game-winning run on an error as the Beavers scored three times with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to finish off a sweep of Clark with a 9-8 win on March 24, 2019, in Babson Park.
• Edward Lehr '19, who got the two-out rally started, went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Oliger and Sean Harrington '20 combined to drive in six runs for Babson.
• Zach Kelley hit a solo homer, Andrea Casabianca doubled twice and Dylan Horn went 2-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Cougars 12-hit attack.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Clark (5-7, 3-3 NEWMAC) finished off a four-game sweep of Springfield by holding on for an 8-7 win in the finale of last Sunday's doubleheader.
• Graduate student Derek Lefebvre hit a two-run homer and sophomore Connor Rulnick went 3-for-3 with two extra-base hits and two RBI for the Cougars, who scored 37 runs in four games against the Pride.
• First-year Billy Sullivan is batting .406 with two doubles, seven runs scored and nine runs batted in, Lefebvre is hitting .349 with four homers and nine RBI, and graduate student Andrew Thibault enters the weekend with a .314 average to go along with three doubles, four RBI and nine runs scored.
• Senior Torsten Sloan Anderson is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 10.1 innings and junior Jafar Vohra is 1-1 with 25 strikeouts in 16.2 innings for Clark, which has used 18 pitchers this spring.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 10 Babson (8-2, 7-1 NEWMAC) wrapped up a doubleheader sweep of Emerson with an 11-6 victory in game two last Saturday.
• Graduate student Matthew Valente doubled, tripled and drove in four runs, while junior Thomas Lapham walked twice, scored a pair of runs and added three RBI for the Beavers, who recorded a season-high six stolen bases in the victory.
• Valente is batting .357 with eight extra-base hits and 14 runs batted in, graduate student AJ DiFillipo is hitting .317 with three doubles, a home run and 13 RBI, and junior Sean Burychka enters the weekend with a .250 average to go along with one double, one homer, four RBI and eight runs scored.
• Senior Jordy Allard is 4-0 with a 0.62 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 29.0 innings pitched, while senior Henry Leake has fanned seven and recorded three saves in five appearances out of the bullpen.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
• Babson has secured one of the top two seeds in the upcoming conference tournament and can secure its fourth consecutive regular season NEWMAC title with two wins on Saturday.
EXTRA, EXTRA
• Valente finished last Saturday's doubleheader at Emerson with five hits, all of them for extra bases.
• He had a double and a triple in each contest and added a three-run homer in the opener on the way to driving in nine runs to pull into a tie for the league lead in RBI.
WALK IT OUT
• Babson recorded a new single-game program record and matched the highest total in Division III by walking 19 times in game one of last Saturday's doubleheader at Emerson.
• Emerson pitchers also issued 12 free passes to the Beavers in game two of the twin bill.
RELIEF CORPS CONTINUES TO DELIVER
• Seven Babson relievers combined to throw 7.2 shutout innings against Emerson last Saturday, allowing just four hits and a walk while recording 10 strikeouts.
• On the season, the Beavers' bullpen has allowed just three earned runs in 34.2 innings, good for a 0.78 ERA, while striking out 39 batters and walking just four.
NOTABLE
• Senior Colin Rooney recorded his first career hit with a triple in Babson's 23-1 win to begin Saturday's twin bill at Emerson.
• Junior Andrew Dembowski swiped four bags in last Saturday's doubleheader and is now tied for the NEWMAC lead with five on the year.
• Allard, who allowed one run over six innings in last week's start against Emerson, leads the conference in ERA strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk ratio (33.0), and is the Division III leader in WHIP (0.48).
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Entering the weekend, the Beavers rank first in Division III in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.30), WHIP (0.80) and fewest walks allowed per nine innings (1.02).
