Baseball vs. New England College
Thursday, April 14 | 3:30 p.m.
Govoni Field| Babson Park, Mass.
Babson: Roster | Schedule & Results | Stats
New England College: Roster | Schedule & Results | Stats
NEWMAC: Standings | Schedule & Results | Stats
Poll: D3baseball.com Top 25
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson and New England College will meet for just the second time on Thursday in a series that dates back to 2010.
• The Beavers took the only previous encounter, 4-0, in Vero Beach, Fla.
LAST MEETING
• Righthander Jeff Buress '12 fired a five-hit shutout and Brian Scanlon '10 went 2-for-4 with three RBIs as Babson recorded a 4-0 win over New England College on Tuesday. Buress was spectacular in his first start of the season, going all nine innings and allowing no runs on five hits, walking none and striking out two.
• Scanlon drove in Peter O'Toole '10 and first-year Chris Kucher '13 with a two-out single in the first innings. The Beavers made it 3-0 in the second when Pat Matvichuk '13 reached on an error, moved to third on a hit by junior Corey Highfield '11 and scored when Highfield stole second and the catcher's throw sailed into centerfield.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (14-8, 2-1 NEWMAC) brings a three-game winning streak into Thursday's game after consecutive conference victories over WPI on Saturday and Sunday (7-3 and 7-1) and Coast Guard on Monday (10-0).
• Sophomore Francis Kiely, who went 4-for-4 against Coast Guard a week ago, had three hits and knocked in four runs against the Bears on Monday and sophomore Tristen Spalter pitched six scoreless innings of four-hit baseball to record the win.
• Kiely had two-run singles in both the first and fourth innings, while first-year Walter Sadowsky had two hits and scored a run. Senior Sean Burychka reached base three times on a hit and two walks and scored two runs, and first-year Justin Guest and junior Jackson Kelly also drove in runs in the win.
• Lapham (.354), senior Josh Yellen (.307), Burychka (.329) and Kiely (.328) are the leading hitters for the Beavers. Burychka is tied for third in the conference with 19 RBI and has a team-high 10 extra-base hits (7 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR), and Lapham is tied for second in the NEWMAC with nine stolen bases.
• Junior Tim Noone (4-1) shares the NEWMAC lead with four wins and ranks fifth with 33 strikeouts. Spalter (3-2) is fifth in the conference with a 3.13 ERA.
SCOUTING THE PILGRIMS
• New England College (12-9, 4-2 NECC) has won two in a row and six of its last seven following Tuesday's sweep on in-state rival Colby-Sawyer, 2-0 and 8-2, in New London, N.H.
• The NEC pitching staff limited the Chargers to just two hits in game one, with the first one coming in the bottom of the fifth. Junior Alex Perez picked up the win after pitching 3.0 no-hit innings, while first-year Corey O'Day pitched a perfect bottom of the seventh. Junior Harutaro Takahashi hit an RBI double in the first inning and senior Tyler Gendron scored on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.
• Junior Michael Ciccotelli had a double among his three hits and three RBI in the nightcap, and classmate Luca Giallongo added two hits and scored twice in the win. Junior Tim Krol picked up the win after throwing 5.0 innings of one-run baseball with eight strikeouts.
• Ciccotelli (.371) leads the team in hitting and doubles (9) while Takahashi (.365) has six doubles. The Pilgrims have eight players batting at least .300 and have a .305 team batting average.
• Junior Alex Perez (4-1, 2.86 ERA) leads the team in wins while classmate Shayne Audet (2-2, 1.91 ERA) tops the squad in ERA and strikeouts (49 in 28.1 innings).
CHECKING THE NEWMAC STANDINGS
• Babson is tied for first in the NEWMAC with Coast Guard, both with 5-1 conference records.
• Wheaton is third at 4-2, followed by Springfield at 3-3, while Clark, Emerson and MIT are all 2-4.
BABSON IN THE NCAA STATS
• Babson ranks second in Division III in walks allowed per nine innings (2.02) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.1) and 15th in WHIP (1.26).
• The Beavers are 17th nationally in fielding percentage (.972) and 37th in earned run average (4.05).
• Junior Stephen McLendon is 23rd with four saves and classmate Anthony St. John is 25th in walks allowed per nine innings (0.98).
RED-HOT BEAVERS
• Lapham has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games and has collected six of his eight multi-hit games in that span.
• Yellen did not reach base in Monday's win for just the second time in 20 games this spring. He has five multi-hit games since returning from Florida, including a three-hit outing in the second contest against Salem State.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 11 of 13 games this spring when record at least two extra-base hits, and has won 10 of 12 when allowing two or fewer extra-base hits.
• The Green and White is 10-3 when recording at least 10 hits in a game this spring.
• The Beavers have reached base with at least one walk in 34 straight outings dating back to last season.
UP NEXT
• Babson returns to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action this weekend with a three-game series against Emerson, with first pitch for a single game Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Govoni Field followed by a doubleheader Saturday at noon at Fraser Field in Lynn, Mass.
