Baseball 4/8/2022 12:00:00 AM

Doubleheader Preview: Baseball Set to Play Two vs. WPI

Baseball vs. WPI
Saturday, April 9 | 12:30 p.m./3:30 p.m.
Govoni Field| Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 53-25 all-time against WPI in a series that dates back to 1983.
• The Beavers have won seven of their last eight against the Engineers, which includes three victories in four games back in 2019.

LAST MEETING
• No. 9 Babson scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning in game one and blew open game two with runs in each of the first five innings to finish off a sweep of visiting WPI, 2-1 and 13-2, in the season opener on March 27, 2021 at Govoni Field.
• The Beavers got a superb outing from Jordy Allard '21, who recorded a career-high nine strikeouts while allowing just one run on four hits over eight innings to pick up the win in game one. Seniors Sean Burychka and Josh Yellen both singled and scored, while classmate Jack Pirkl and junior Patrick Manning each drove in a run.
• AJ DiFilipo '21G went 4-for-6 with a double and four RBI, Yellen doubled and drove in three runs as part of a two-hit game, Matthew Valente '20 '21G was 2-for-2 with a double and two walks, and sophomore Francis Kiely hit his first career home run to lead the Beavers in the nightcap. Senior Riley Teevens picked up his first career win in his first collegiate start, giving up two runs, both unearned, and striking out two over 5.1 innings.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (11-8, 2-1 NEWMAC) is looking to get back on the winning track after dropping a pair of midweek games to UMass Dartmouth (7-2) on Monday at Govoni Field and Coast Guard (4-1) on Tuesday in New London, Conn.
• Kiely went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles in the loss to Coast Guard. Yellen had a pair of hits for the Beavers and graduate student Alex Reynolds had a hit and drove in Babson's only run. Sophomore Tristen Spalter allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings on the mound, striking out four.
• Junior Michael Cook hit his second home run of the season in the setback to UMass Dartmouth. Sophomore Tanner Santos had two hits and senior Thomas Lapham and first-year Justin Guest each had singles for the Beavers.
• Lapham (.352) and Yellen (.333) share the team lead with 25 hits apiece, while Burychka (.353) has a team-leading seven doubles among his 10 extra-base hits and a team-high 17 RBI. Junior Tim Noone (3-1) has won his last three starts, pitching six scoreless innings in each outing and allowing a total of six hits and six walks while striking out 22.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• WPI (11-8, 1-2 NEWMAC) picked up its first conference victory of the season Tuesday with an 11-10 verdict over Emerson, plating three in the bottom of the ninth inning for the walk-off win.
• First-year Andrew Cash drove in the game-tying and game-winning runs with a two-out single to centerfield in the ninth. Cash was 2-for-6 on the day, while junior Kyle Johns finished 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored, and sophomore Jacob Hand was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run netting three RBIs. Sophomore DJ Brooks also accounted for three hits on the day, driving in two.
• The Engineers had won seven in a row before dropping their first two conference games last Saturday at Wheaton, falling 10-5 and 5-2 to the defending NEWMAC champions.
• Junior Joe Salvon (.415) and senior Dylan Connors (.403) lead the team in hitting, with Salvon collecting a team-high seven doubles. Hand (six 2B, five HR) and senior Andrew Brooks (four 2B, one 3B, five HR) lead the team in extra-base hits. Sophomore Noah Pins (3-0, 1 Sv.) leads the team in wins, all in relief.

BABSON IN THE NCAA STATS
• Babson ranks second in Division III in walks allowed per nine innings (2.16), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.83) and 35th in WHIP (1.34).
• The Beavers are 14th nationally in fielding percentage (.973), despite making three errors against Coast Guard after committing just three miscues in their previous six games.
• Junior Stephen McLendon is tied for 13th with four saves and classmate Anthony St. John is tied for 29th in walks allowed per nine innings (0.94).

STREAKY BEAVERS
• Lapham has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games and has collected six of his eight multi-hit games in that span.
• Yellen has reached base in 18 of his 19 games this spring, including nine of 10 games since returning from Florida. He has five multi-hit games back in New England, including a three-hit outing in the second contest against Salem State.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 10 of 11 games this spring when allowing two extra-base hits or fewer.
• The Beavers have reached base with at least one walk in 31 straight outings dating back to last season.
• The Green and White is 9-3 when recording at least 10 hits this spring.

UP NEXT
• Babson will be at home again on Monday for the rematch of Tuesday's loss at Coast Guard, hosting the Bears at Govoni Field at 3:30 p.m.

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