PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.— Senior Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) had three hits and drove in two runs and sophomore James Clark (Southborough, Mass.) allowed just one run on two hits over 5.1 innings as the Babson College baseball team defeated North Central College (Illinois), 5-3, on Sunday afternoon at the Snowbird Classic at Centennial Park.

With the win, Babson completes a 2-2 weekend at the Snowbird Classic and is now 2-5 on the season. North Central has alternated wins and losses over its last seven games and ends the weekend at 3-5 overall.

Santos had three singles and scored a run while graduate student Luke Tanner (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded two hits and knocked in a pair for the Beavers. Grad student John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) reached base twice with a double and a walk and first-year Alexander Wilson (Millburn, N.J.) reached three times with a hit and two walks, scoring a run.
Clark scattered two hits and
five walks while striking out five to earn his first win of the season (1-1). He didn't allow a run until the fifth inning and departed in the sixth with a 3-1 lead. Senior Jimmy Weick (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) walked two and struck out one in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief and graduate student Zach Magee (Indianapolis, Ind.) earned the save after pitching the final two innings, giving up just one earned run on one hit and a walk.

Senior Trey Roach (Dekalb, Ill.) and junior Joe Hamilton (Lombard, Ill.) each doubled and knocked in a run and first-year Taylor Kujak (Plainfield, Ill.) singled in a run to account for the three North Central hits and runs. Sophomore Elijah Hammond (Lexington, Ky.) struck out four over six innings, giving up three runs but suffered the loss (0-2).

The Beavers scored a pair of runs in the second inning. After Nowak led off with a double to right, senior Jack Julian (Manchester, Mass.) and Wilson drew two out walks and Santos delivered a bases-loadetwo-run single to center. Wilson walked again to lead off the fifth inning and came around to score on a single by Santos, a sacrifice bunt and an infield groundout.

North Central put its first run on the board in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Peyton Burgh (Arlington Heights, Ill.) drew a one-out walk and scored on Hamilton's double to center.

Babson tacked on single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. The Green and White loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth on singles by Tanner and senior Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) and a walk to Nowak before Tanner scored on an infield groundout by junior Walter Sadowski (Morristown, N.J.). Tanner drove in an insurance run with an RBI single to left in the ninth.

The Cardinals rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth. After putting two runners on by way of a walk and an error, Kujas singled to left to bring home a run and Roach hit a sacrifice fly to left, but Magee induced an infield pop up to end the inning and seal the win.

The Beavers will have Monday off and return to action on Tuesday at 9 a.m. against Frankin & Marshall at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 2-2 all-time against North Central in a series that dates back to 2019.
• Santos now has three multi-hit games in his last six outings, batting .364 (8-for-22) in that span.
• Savage has hit safely in all seven games this season and eight straight games dating back to last season.
• Sunday's outcome was Babson's first win when scoring five runs or less since defeating Clark 4-2 on May 6 of last year.