NORTON, Mass.—Visiting Babson College got strong pitching efforts from junior Tim Noone (Needham, Mass.) and sophomore Tristen Spalter (Sergeantsville, N.J.) but it wasn't enough as it dropped both ends of Saturday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball doubleheader at Wheaton College.

The Lyons defeated the Beavers 3-2 in the opener and held on for a 3-1 victory in game two.

Babson, which dropped all three games of the weekend series, closes the regular season at 23-13 overall and 12-5 in conference play and will be the third seed in next week's tournament. Wheaton, which has won 12 consecutive games, is now 25-10 overall and finishes atop the league standings at 14-3 to claim the top seed in the NEWMAC tournament.

Game 1: Wheaton 3, Babson 2
Senior Thomas Lapham (Charlestown, Mass.) went 2-for-4, classmate Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, Mass.) singled twice and scored a run, and sophomore Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) reached base twice, drove in a run and scored once for the Beavers. Noone settled for a no-decision after giving up two runs, both unearned, while striking out six over 6.0 innings, while junior Stephen McLendon (Nashua, N.H.) shouldered the loss after giving up one run in 2.2 innings of relief. 

Senior Jake Studley (Barrington, R.I.) went 3-for-4, sophomore AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) singled twice and scored a pair of runs, and junior Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored to lead the Lyons' offense. Senior Zach Cleasas (Johnston, R.I.) earned the win to improve to 2-1, while classmate Gavin Reily (Bridgewater, Mass.) gave up two runs and seven hits to go along with four strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.

The Green and White jumped on top in the top of the third as Santos drove in Pirkl with a one-out single to center and then raced home on an RBI ground out by senior Sean Burychka (Mount Laurel, N.J.) two batters later for a 2-0 lead. Wheaton responded in the bottom of the frame though, taking advantage of a pair of errors and a wild pitch to even the contest at 2-2.

First-year Walter Sadowsky (Morristown, N.J.) threw out Studley at the plate trying to score from second on a single to left in the fifth, while the Green and White left the potential go-ahead run stranded at third base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The Lyons broke the deadlock in the bottom of the ninth as Guindon singled to right and advanced to second on an error to start the inning before scoring on senior Drew Spirito's (Cranston, R.I.) sacrifice fly for a 3-2 victory.

Game 2: Wheaton 3, Babson 1
Pirkl, juniors Patrick Manning (Weymouth, Mass.) and Jackson Kelly (Wenonah, N.J.) and sophomore Jack Julian (Manchester, Mass.) all singled for the Beavers, who were limited to just four hits. Spalter (5-3) allowed just a pair of first-inning runs and scattered eight hits while recording three strikeouts over 7.0 innings in the loss.

Studley went 4-for-4 with an RBI, Maher was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and two runs scored, and Guindon tripled as part of his two-hit day to lead the Lyons. Senior Griffin Young (Dover, N.H.) struck out six over 8.1 innings to improve to 5-1 with the win, while classmate Dom Cunha (Lincoln, R.I.) recorded the final two outs for his league-leading eighth save.

Wheaton jumped out to a 2-0 lead after just three batters in the bottom of the first as Guindon and Maher recorded back-to-back triples and Studley followed with an infield single. Spalter got an inning-ending double play to limit the damage and set down seven consecutive hitters before fanning senior Zach DeMattio (North Attleborough, Mass.) with runners on second and third to end the third.

Young retired 11 straight batters before Sadowsky reached on an error in the fifth, and the Green and White cut its deficit in half in the sixth as Pirkl singled to right with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch and third on an error before coming home on Kelly's sacrifice fly. Wheaton tacked on an important insurance run in the last of the eighth as Maher reached on an error and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Spirito to make it 3-1.

Julian led off the top of the ninth with a single and Sadowsky reached on an error for the second time giving the Beavers runners on second and third with one out. Cunha hit first-year Justin Guest (West Windsor, N.J.) with his first pitch to load the bases, but quickly regained control getting a strikeout and an infield pop-up to end the threat.

Babson will travel to Springfield on Friday to open NEWMAC Tournament play, while Wheaton hosts Western New England on Sunday.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 31-50 all-time against Wheaton.
• Lapham had reached base safely in 26 consecutive outings prior to going 0-for-4 in game two on Saturday.
• Despite reaching on an error twice in the nightcap, Sadowsky saw his hitting streak come to an end at 15 games.
• Babson is now 5-6 on the year in games decided by one or two runs.
• Seven of the Beavers' 13 losses this spring have come when scoring two runs or fewer.