NORTON, Mass.—No. 15 Wheaton College broke a 1-1 deadlock with a seven-run fifth-inning uprising on the way to defeating 10th-ranked Babson College, 10-4, in the decisive game of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Series on Sunday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.

Babson, which reached the final game of the conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season, drops to 13-4 on the year, while Wheaton (16-3) claimed its first NEWMAC championship since 2016 by winning the final two games of the best-of-three series.

First-year Francis Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) hit a solo home run and graduate student Matthew Valente (Wyckoff, N.J.) and junior Thomas Lapham (Charlestown, Mass.) both went 2-for-5 with an RBI to lead the Beavers' 11-hit attack. Sophomore Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.) doubled as part of a two-hit day and scored twice, while junior Josh Yellen (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) singled twice in the loss.

Junior Jacob Studley (Barrington, R.I.) was 4-for-5 with two doubles and was one of six players to drive in a run for the Lyons. First-year AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and both senior Brody Ashley (Strafford, N.H.) and junior Andrew Spirito (Cranston, R.I.) drove in a pair of runs in support of senior Josh Roberge (Chelmsford, Mass.), who earned NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after giving up three runs over 7.0 innings in his second appearance of the weekend.

Lapham gave the Green and White a 1-0 lead with a two-out single to center in the bottom of the third, but Wheaton tied it on Spirito's RBI knock in the fourth and busted the game open by sending 12 batters to plate as part it's fifth-inning rally. Studley was the first four first straight hitters to drive in a run with his double off the wall in left, sophomore Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) drew a two-out bases-loaded walk to make it 6-1 and Ashley followed with a single to center to plate two more extending the margin to 8-1.

The Lyons took advantage of two errors to make it 10-1 in the seventh before Babson responded with runs in each of the final three frames. Junior Andrew Dembowski (Danvers, Mass.) brought home Cook with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh, Kiely led off the eighth with a solo blast to left and Valente plated graduate student AJ DiFillipo (Peabody, Mass.) with a doubled to right center in the ninth.

The Beavers left 11 men on base in the loss and stranded at least one runner in every inning but the second.

Senior Tyler Bell (Abington, Mass.) allowed one run through the first four innings before getting chased after retiring just one batter in the fifth. He dropped to 1-1 on the year with the loss.

SERIES NOTES
• Babson is 32-48 all-time against Wheaton, which includes an 11-12 mark in the conference playoffs and a 3-4 record in seven games this spring.
• The Beavers and Lyons have met at least once in the NEWMAC Tournament every year going back to 2016.
• Lapham went 6-for-12 with a double, a homer and four RBI in three games over the weekend against the Lyons.