SAN ANTONIO, Texas— Junior Patrick Manning (Weymouth, Mass.) blasted a three-run home run and senior Josh Yellen (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) blooped a two-run single to center as Babson College rallied with a five-run ninth inning, but the comeback fell short with the potential tying run on base and the Beavers dropped game two of a three-game series against 15th-ranked Trinity University, 12-11, in non-conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at the Trinity Baseball Field.

With the loss, Babson evens its record at 1-1 while Trinity ups its mark to 3-2 overall.

Manning finished with career-highs of four hits and five runs batted in while Yellen went 1-for-3 with three RBI. Senior Thomas Lapham (Charlestown, Mass.) had two hits and a sacrifice fly and senior Sean Burychka (Mount Laurel, N.J.) and junior Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.) both went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomore Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) also hit a double and scored two runs in the defeat.

Junior Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas) led the Tigers by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBI, while sophomore Jack Baker (Sugar Land, Texas) also had three hits and drove in a pair. Junior Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa.) had two hits and scored two runs, classmate Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, Texas) had two hits and an RBI and scored a run, and first-year Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas) knocked in two runs. Sophomore Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas) pitched six innings of relief, allowing just three earned runs while striking out four, to earn the win.

Babson scored in the top of the first when Burychka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but Trinity exploded with eight runs in the bottom half of the inning. Gore delivered a three-run double to left center, Lazzara, McDonald and Baker all added RBI singles, and junior MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif.) capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.

The Beavers started their comeback with one run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Lapham and two more in the third on RBIs by Cook and Manning. Another Manning RBI single in the fifth inning sliced the Babson deficit to 9-5, but Trinity answered with two in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Gore and an RBI grounder by Lazzara.

After the teams traded runs in the eighth inning, Yellen driving in a run for Babson with a sac fly and Gore singling in a run for Trinity, the Beavers rallied in the ninth. Cook and sophomore Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) drew one-out walks before Manning came back from an 0-2 count and homered to right on a 3-2 pitch. Santos was hit by a pitch with two out, Lapham followed with a single to left, and after a passed ball, they both scored on Yellen's single to center. Tigers' senior reliever Joel Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz) struck out the next batter to snuff out the comeback.

The Babson bullpen allowed just four runs over eight innings of relief, striking out seven, with appearances by seniors Riley Teevens (Milton, Mass.) and John Macdonald (Quincy, Mass.), first-years Luke McClintock (South Hamilton, Mass.) and Griffin Cofsky (Walpole, Mass.) and junior Tim Person (Hudson, Mass.).

Babson and Trinity will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 5-6 all-time against Trinity after having a three-game winning streak against the Tigers stopped.
• Babson junior Tim Noone (Needham, Mass.) made his first pitching appearance in two years after missing all of last season with an injury.