PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.—The Babson College baseball came out on the short end of a pair of games against Top 10 opponents, falling to No. 7 Denison, 13-6, and No. 3 Baldwin Wallace, 15-6, on Saturday afternoon and evening at the Snowbird Classic at Centennial Park.

Senior Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) scored twice after reaching base four times with a single, a double and a pair of walks to lead the Beavers against Denison, and first-year Alexander Wilson (Millburn, N.J.) belted his first collegiate home run and was one of six Beavers with two knocks in a 14-hit attack against Baldwin Wallace in the second game.

With the setbacks, Babson is now 1-2 on the Florida trip and 1-5 overall, with all five losses coming against nationally ranked teams. Denison is now 6-1 on the season and Baldwin Wallace is 7-2.

Denison 13, Babson 6

Graduate student Luke Tanner (Los Angeles, Calif.) and sophomore Chris Basile (Miami Beach, Fla.) knocked in two runs each in the setback. Sophomore Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, N.J.) also singled and walked twice and drove in a run and senior Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) had an RBI double. First-year Jason Finkelstein (Walpole, Mass.) allowed just two earned runs and struck out four through five innings but couldn't get out of the sixth and took his first loss (0-1).

First-year Jack Lutte (Venetia, Pa.) and sophomore Cade Nowik (Lake Forest, Ill.) collected three hits and two RBI each to lead a 16-hit attack for the Big Red, while senior Noah Leib (Evanston, Ill.), junior Jake Blozy (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore Alex Vasquez (Evanston, Ill.) had two knocks apiece. Lutte, Vasquez, and sophomore Erik Sundgren (Pittsburgh, Pa.) all doubled, Lutte and Blozy each tripled, and senior Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa.) homered as Denison collected six extra-base hits.
Sophomore Will Rettig (Perrysburg, Ohio) earned the win after working 5.1 innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits while fanning four.

Babson manufactured an early run when Santos singled to lead off the first inning, advanced to third on a groundout and a passed ball and scored on Tanner's sacrifice fly. Denison evened the score with an unearned run in the second inning and took the lead for good with four runs in the third. Lutte tripled and scored on Leib's single to left and Nowik later delivered a two-run single to highlight the rally.

The Big Red blew the game open with seven runs in the sixth inning. Junior Eric Colaco (Richfield, Ohio) singled to bring home a run and end Finkelstein's day, Lutte followed with a two-run double, Welsch added a two-run homer and Blozy delivered an RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch.

The Beavers put up three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Basile produced an RBI single, Tanner brought home a run with a sac fly, and Hvozdovic drew a one-out, bases-loaded walk, but Denison snuffed out the rally when sophomore reliever Robbie Lee (Washington, D.C.) induced a double-play ball to end the inning.

The Green and White tacked on solo runs in the seventh and eighth innings as Basile hit a sacrifice fly and Kiely cracked an RBI double.

Baldwin Wallace 12, Babson 4
 
Graduate student John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) had two doubles and two RBI for the Beavers, while Tanner, junior Justin Guest (West Windsor, N.J.), sophomore Owen Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) and first-year Dante D'Avanzo (Ashland, Mass.) also had two hits each in the setback. Guest and senior Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) both had a double and an RBI for the Green and White.

The Beavers went with a bullpen game, using five pitchers for at least one inning. Junior Luke McClintock (South Hamilton, Mass.) made his first start since 2022 and took the loss after allowing seven runs (three earned) in three innings while fanning two.

Senior Mark Mohnickey (North Ridgeville, Ohio) had two home runs and four RBI to lead the winners, while classmate Nick Clark (Willowick, Ohio) added a pair of singles and four RBI. Senior Joey Marousek (North Royalton) went 3-for-6 and scored three runs in the victory. Sophomore Tyler Walker (Fairlawn, Ohio) earned the win, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on eight hits, striking out six.

The teams traded runs in the first inning, as Clark opened the scoring with an RBI single for BW and Wilson clearing the center field fence with his first home run for Babson. The Yellow Jackets took over with six runs in the top of the second inning, as Mohnickey delivered a two-run homer and Anastasio a two-run double to highlight the rally.

BW tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by junior Nathan Zinn (Columbus, Ohio) and a two-run homer by Mohnickey. Babson got one back in the sixth on Guest's RBI double to center. Each team plated two runs in the seventh inning as junior Brandon Gelpi (Monroeville, Pa.) clouted a two-run blast for BW and Nowak hammered a two-run double for the Beavers.

Babson added two more runs in the eighth on an RBI single by sophomore Zander Teator (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) and a sacrifice fly by Savage, and BW rounded out the scoring with three in the ninth, including an RBI single by Clark.

The Beavers will be back on the diamond on Sunday against North Central (Ill.) at 5 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 2-3 all-time against Denison in a series that dates back to 1998, and the Beavers are 2-2 all-time against Baldwin Wallace in a series that dates back to 2018.
• Savage went 1-for-4 in both games and extended his hitting streak to seven games dating back to last season.
• The Green and White are 1-4 this season when scoring at least six runs after going 20-1 last year and 39-4 over the two previous seasons when scoring at least a half dozen times.