NORTON, Mass.—The Babson College baseball team saw its season come to a close in the championship round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament with a pair of losses to No. 8/11 Wheaton College on Monday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.

The Beavers, who came into the day undefeated in the tournament, dropped their opener 7-3 before falling in the winner-take-all championship game to the Lyons, 10-2.

Babson, which had beaten Clark on Saturday and Wheaton on Sunday, closes the 2023 campaign at 24-18. Wheaton captured its third consecutive NEWMAC Tournament title and is now 37-6 on the year.

Game 7: Wheaton 7, Babson 3
First-year Chris Basile (Miami Beach, Fla.) went 2-for-4 and senior Patrick Manning (Weymouth, Mass.), classmate Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.) and junior Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) all drove in a run for the Beavers. Senior Anthony St. John (Hopewell, N.J.) dropped to 5-3 with the loss allowing six runs on 11 hits over 6.1 innings.

Sophomore Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with three RBI, senior Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) was 2-for-4 with two runs driven in and classmate Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) singled three times and scored once for the Lyons, who finished with 13 hits. Sophomore Jackson Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) gave up three runs on five hits over 6.0 innings to improve to 4-0 with the win.

Santos started the game with a walk and gave the Green and White a 1-0 lead on Cook's RBI ground out. Matos tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fousrth and then sparked a three-run sixth with his two-run double to the wall in right center to help Wheaton build a 4-1 advantage.

The Beavers responded with three straight singles to begin the top of the seventh and got back within 4-3 as graduate student Ryan Noone (Belmont, Mass.) scored on Manning's bases-loaded walk and junior Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) raced home on a sacrifice fly by Santos. The Lyons answered right back in the bottom half of the frame though, as junior AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) singled up the middle with one out, senior Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) followed with a double to right and both scored when Croteau ripped a base hit to right to make it 6-3.

Game 8: Wheaton 10, Babson 2
Cook went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, first-year Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, N.J.) doubled and scored and Santos singled, walked and scored a run for the Beavers. First-year James Clark (Southborough, Mass.) allowed three runs in 1.1 innings and dropped to 1-2 on the year with the loss.

Brady, Matos and senior Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) all had two hits and combined for five RBI and five runs scored to pace the Lyons. First-year Benjamin Oliveira (Somerset, Mass.) is now 5-0 on the year after giving up just two runs on five hits while striking out five while recording his first career complete game.

Wheaton loaded the bases with nobody out in the second on the way to building a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) walked with the bases loaded to force in Brady, Matos scored on a wild pitch and Wirtanen came home on a ground out before Babson sophomore Luke McClintock (South Hamilton, Mass.) got out of the jam with a line drive double play.

The Beavers cut their deficit to 3-2 when Cook scorched a two-out, two-run double to right in the top of the third. The hosts seized command of the game for good though with a six-run fourth inning that included a two-run homer by Wirtanen to start the rally and a two-out, two-run single to right by Brady to make it 9-2.

Babson senior Tim Person (Hudson, Mass.) gave up just one earned run over 5.0 innings of relief but the offense was unable to get untracked against Oliveira, who retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced allowing only a double to Cook with two outs in the eighth.

TOURNAMENT NOTES
• The Beavers are now 11-15 all-time against Wheaton in the conference playoffs.
• Babson advanced to the championship game for the sixth time over the last seven NEWMAC Tournaments going back to 2016.
• Cook batted .353 (6-for-17) with a double, a homer and four RBI in the NEWMAC Tournament.
• Santos walked 38 times this spring, which ranks third on Babson's single-season list.