BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Jack Julian (Manchester, Mass.) broke a 5-5 deadlock with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning as third-seeded Babson College went on to defeat sixth-seeded MIT, 9-7, in the opening round of the New England Women's and Men's athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Govoni Field. 

With its sixth consecutive win, Babson improves to 26-10 overall and advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, which is scheduled to begin on Friday. MIT sees its year come to a close at 17-20. 

Graduate student John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) homered for the second game in a row, senior Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) went 3-for-4 with two RBI and senior Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) doubled, walked and scored three times for the Beavers. First-year Jason Finkelstein (Walpole, Mass.) picked up the win in relief to improve to 8-1 on the year, while sophomore Zander Teator (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) collected his fourth save with a perfect ninth inning. 

Senior Michael Finch (Brentwood, Tenn.) was 3-for-4 with a grand slam and four RBI, graduate student Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) singled three times and drove in a run, and junior Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, Texas) hit a two-run homer for the Engineers, who finished with 16 hits. 

The Green and White took a 2-0 lead on Nowak's two-out opposite-field homer in the bottom of the first and took advantage a throwing error and a got a two-run single by Kiely to push the margin to 5-0 in the third. After leaving the bases loaded in the second, MIT strung together six consecutive hits and got an RBI knock from Kyle Sonandres before Finch tied the game with a grand slam to right center. 

Finkelstein escaped a bases-loaded jam unscathed in the top of the sixth and the Beavers went in front for good with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Kiely led off with a single and moved to third on back-to-back wild pitches before scoring on Julian's sacrifice fly to center that made it 6-5. 

The inning appeared to be over when Justin Guest (West Windsor, N.J.) hit a sky-high pop-up but the ball bounced on the pitcher's mound with four Engineers around it allowing him to reach second and senior Luca Rubin (Los Angeles, Calif.) to score. Babson tacked on another run one batter later when Savage raced home on a passed ball for an 8-5 lead. 

MIT got back within a run on Tubbs' two-run blast to right center in the top of the seventh, but graduate student Zach Magee (Indianapolis, Ind.) worked around a two-out single in the top of the eighth, Julian scored on a balk in the bottom of the frame, and Teator needed just 12 pitches to close the door in the ninth to seal the victory. 

Babson will face second-seeded Coast Guard on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in New London, Conn., before the tournament shifts to Newport, R.I., on Saturday. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 62-41-1 all-time against MIT, which includes a 13-9 mark in the postseason. 
•    Nowak has reached base safely in 25 straight games, while graduate student Luke Tanner (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded his team-high 14th multi-hit game in Tuesday's win. 
•    The Green and White is 21-1 this season when leading after six innings. 
•    The Beavers are 11-3 on the year in games decided by one or two runs.