Baseball at Clark
NEWMAC Tournament | Game 3
Saturday, May 6 | 12 p.m.
Granger Field | Worcester, Mass.
WHAT TO KNOW
• Third-seeded Babson will travel to second-seeded Clark to open play in the NEWMAC Tournament on Saturday.
• The winner of the conference tournament, which becomes a four-team, double-elimination championship following Friday's quarterfinal, will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, May 5
Game 1: No. 5 Springfield at No. 4 MIT, 3:30 p.m.
Friday, May 6
Game 2: Game 1 winner at No. 1 Wheaton, 12 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Babson at No. 2 Clark, 12 p.m.
Saturday, May 7 (at Wheaton)
Game 4: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 9:30 a.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 12:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 3:30 p.m.
Monday, May 8 (at highest remaining seed)
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, TBD
Game 8: if necessary, TBD
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 65-21 all-time against Clark in a series that dates back to 1983.
• The Beavers have won eight straight games against the Cougars, which includes four wins in a row at Granger Field going back to 2021.
• Six of the last 10 games between the teams have been decided by either one or two runs going back to 2018, which includes a pair of one-run decisions this season.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Babson is 3-4 all-time against Clark in the postseason and is 2-3 in NEWMAC Tournament contests.
• The Beavers and Cougars have not met in the conference playoffs since 2008.
LAST MEETING
• First-year Chris Basile went 3-for-5 with two RBI and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Beavers rallied for a 6-5 win over Clark on April 25 in Babson Park.
• Graduate student Ryan Noone and first-year Ryan Hvozdovic both singled twice and drove in a run for the Beavers, who trailed 4-0 after two innings and scored three times in the eighth inning.
• Sophomore Tyler Jones was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI for the Cougars, who made a pair of errors in the decisive eighth inning.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Third-seeded Babson (22-16) has dropped three straight games and suffered an 11-1 loss to No. 11/14 Wheaton in its regular season finale last Saturday.
• Senior Patrick Manning had an RBI double and Basile singled for the Beavers, who were limited to just two hits over seven innings.
• Senior Michael Cook is batting .333 with seven extra-base hits, 26 RBI and 21 runs scored, junior Brant Savage is hitting .333 with nine doubles, 10 home runs, 43 runs batted in and 34 runs scored, and Basile enters the tournament with a .331 average to go along with five extra-base hits, 25 RBI and 26 runs scored.
• Senior Tim Noone (4-2, 2.14 ERA) has recorded a league-high 67 strikeouts in 63.0 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .202 average, classmate Anthony St. John (5-2, 3.05 ERA) has walked just five batters in 56.0 innings and junior Tristen Spalter (2-2, 3.56 ERA) has fanned 44 hitters in 60.2 innings.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Second-seeded Clark (18-19) has won its last two games and wrapped up the regular season with a 3-2 victory over WPI last Saturday.
• Senior Anthony Keefe went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and classmate Ryan Caulfield singled twice and drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh for the Cougars, who got seven strikeouts and 5.0 shutout innings of relief from Andres Hulfachor.
• Jones is batting .402 with six extra-base hits, 17 RBI and 20 runs scored, Caulfield is hitting .360 with five doubles, two triples, 19 stolen bases and 32 runs scored, and sophomore Carter Doran owns a .277 average and a .439 on-base percentage to go along with six home runs, 21 RBI and 29 runs scored.
• Junior Maxwell Gitlin (6-1, 1.96 ERA) ranks second in the conference with 66 strikeouts in 64.1 innings, senior Max Moss (2-0, 2.45 ERA) has not allowed an earned run over his last 14.1 innings and classmate Michael Carterud is 2-2 with one save and a 2.88 ERA in 15 relief appearances.
WINNING FORMULA
• Junior Tanner Santos is batting .346 and has registered 24 of his league-leading 35 walks and 19 of his conference-best 23 stolen bases in Babson's 22 wins this spring.
• Savage has eight homers and 36 RBI, while 24 of Hvozdovic's 26 runs batted in have come in victories this season.
• Noone, Cook and Basile are all hitting .370 or better and have each driven in 20 runs in the Beavers' 22 wins on the year.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS
• Savage's 10 home runs rank fourth in single-season program history behind only Ryan Arena '18 (13 in 2017, 11 in 2018) and Nicholas Browne '19, who hit 12 as a senior in 2019.
• Santos' 23 stolen bases are just two shy of Babson's single-season record of 25 set by Adam Ayala back in 2016. His 35 walks are also tied for fourth in a single season.
• Noone's 67 strikeouts are tied for fifth in single-season program history and he is just 12 away from the record of 79 set by Teddy Carey '18 in 2017.
PITCHING PROWESS
• The Beavers currently rank first in Division III allowing just 2.06 walks per nine innings, rank fourth nationally with a 3.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio and are 12th with a 1.26 WHIP.
• Individually, St. John (4th), Spalter (20th) and Noone (30th) are all among the Division III leaders allowing fewer than 1.3 walks per nine innings and Noone (7.44) and St. John (6.20) rank 14th and 30th, respectively, in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
ANSWERING THE CALL
• Senior Tim Person factored into both wins over Clark tossing 3.2 innings of relief to earn the win in the Beavers' 7-6 12-inning victory over the Cougars in Worcester on April 18 before recording the final three outs for his first career save in last Tuesday's 6-5 triumph in Babson Park.
• He is 2-2 on the year with a 4.34 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 18.2 innings and has allowed just two earned runs over his last 16.1 innings of work dating back to March 11.
PLAYING THE FIELD
• Babson ranks second in the conference and 27th in Division III with a .970 fielding percentage.
• The Beavers have made more than one error just three times over their last 18 outings and are 12-3 on the year in games when they do not make an error.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 5-1 in the opening round of the NEWMAC Tournament since 2016, which includes road victories at Springfield in both 2021 and 2022.
• The Beavers have scored six or more runs in 19 of their 22 wins this season.
• Babson is 16-1 when recording 10 or more hits and 20-3 when its finishes with at least two extra-base hits.
• The Green and White is 19-1 this season when leading after seven innings.
UP NEXT
• The winner of Saturday's contest will advance to the winner's bracket final on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., while the loser will face an elimination game on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at Wheaton in Norton, Mass.
