SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Junior Jackson Kelly (Wenonah, N.J.) and sophomore Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) both homered and sophomore Tristen Spalter (Sergeantsville, N.J.) tossed eight strong innings to help third-seeded Babson College defeat second-seeded Springfield College, 7-1, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament opener for both teams on Friday afternoon at Allen Field.

Babson, which is second in the NCAA Region I rankings, improves to 24-13. Springfield drops to 19-19 overall with the loss.

Santos went 4-for-5 with a triple and two RBI, Kelly was 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI and seniors Thomas Lapham (Charlestown, Mass.), Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, N.Y.) and Josh Yellen (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) finished with two hits apiece to lead the Beavers. First-year Walter Sadowsky (Morristown, N.J.) also recorded two hits in support of Spalter, who allowed just one run while striking out three to improve to 6-3 on the year.

Juniors Michael Barrett (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Cadin Maynard (Waterford, Conn.) both doubled and finished with two hits to lead the Pride. Fellow junior Blake Roberge (Warwick, R.I.) suffered the loss to drop to 3-3 on the year after allowing three earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings.

The Green and White wasted little time jumping in front as Lapham started the game with a double to left and Yellen drove him in with a single to right two batters later for a 1-0 lead. Spalter gave up three straight hits to start the bottom of the frame before recording back-to-back strikeouts and getting a fly ball to right to work out of the bases-loaded jam.

The Beavers stranded a pair in the third before starting the fifth inning with a three-run rally. Pirkl led off with a single through the right side and moved into scoring position on an error before coming home on Lapham's RBI base hit to right to make it 2-0. Santos followed with a two-run blast to left, his first of the year, extending the margin to 4-0.

The Pride got a run back in the bottom of the sixth as sophomore Ryan Sorgi (Braintree, Mass.) plated Maynard with a ground-rule double. Kelly pushed the lead back to four with a two-out RBI triple in the seventh and then hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth for the final margin.

Senior William Cournan (Pembroke, Mass.) needed just six pitches to retire the side in the ninth for the Beavers.

Babson returns to action on Saturday when it takes on top-seeded Wheaton at 3 p.m. at Sidell Stadium in Norton, Mass.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won 17 consecutive games against Springfield and is 39-22 in the all-time series and 7-1 versus the Pride in the conference playoffs.
• The Beavers are 12-0 this season when allowing two runs or fewer and 15-1 when scoring in the first inning.
• Yellen recorded his 16th multi-hit game of the season, while Lapham now has two or more knocks in 14 contests.
• Pirkl extended his hitting streak to five games, while Santos and Kelly both have at least one hit in three straight outings.