BABSON PARK, Mass.—Babson College broke a 3-3 tie with a five-run eighth inning, highlight by a pair of two-run singles by seniors Thomas Lapham (Charlestown, Mass.) and Josh Yellen (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), and the Beavers went on to an 8-4 victory over New England College in a non-conference baseball game at Govoni Field.

The Beavers registered their fourth victory in a row, improving to 15-8 overall, while the Pilgrims had a two-game win streak stopped and dropped to 12-10.

Yellen finished with three hits and two RBI for the Beavers, while sophomore Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) had two hits, including his first career home run, to support Babson's 10-hit attack. Lapham drove in two and junior Jackson Kelly (Wenonah, N.J.) and sophomore Francis Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) knocked in one apiece.

First-year Luke McClintock (South Hamilton, Mass.) was the second of four pitchers for Babson, working 4.1 scoreless innings of strong relief, allowing just three hits. Senior William Cournan (Pembroke, Mass.) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and recorded the win (1-0), and sophomore Kyle Wolff (Stratham, N.H.) closed out the game in the ninth.

Junior Harutaro Takahashi (Tokyo, Japan) had two hits and an RBI for NEC, while first-year Brady Philibotte (Weare, N.H.) reached base twice with a hit and a walk, driving in one, and grad student Connor Morin (North Andover, Mass.) belted a home run and scored twice for the Pilgrims in the setback.

Morin put the Pilgrims on the board in the top of the first inning with his second dinger of the season to right field. NEC pulled ahead 3-0 in the third inning with a two-run rally, capped by an RBI single by Takahashi.

The Beavers scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning on only one hit, thanks to a pair of Pilgrim errors. Kiely knocked in one run with a single to left and Kelly brought home Kiely with a sacrifice fly to right. Babson tied it at 3-all in the last of the seventh when Savage blasted a leadoff solo home run to left.

The Green and White pulled ahead with a five-run rally in the eighth. Kelly, first-year Walter Sadowsky (Morristown, N.J.) and sophomore Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) walked to load the bases and Lapham hit a two-out, two-run single through the left side. After a couple stolen bases and an intentional walk to senior Sean Burychka (Mount Laurel, N.J.) to reload the bases, Yellen delivered a two-run single to right and the final run came home on an NEC error.

NEC added a final run in the ninth inning when junior Patrick Hagerty (Stoughton, Mass.) led off with a walk and later scored on an infield grounder.

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. NEC returns home to host Mitchell in a New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 2-0 against New England College in a series that dates back to 2010.
• The Beavers are 8-2 at home this season and 52-8 at Govoni Field since 2016.
• Lapham's eighth-inning single extended his on-base streak to 16 games.