Baseball at Springfield
Tuesday, April 21 | 3:30 p.m. 
Archie Allen Field | Springfield, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 42-24 all-time against Springfield in a series that dates back to 1996.
•    The Beavers have won 20 of their last 23 games in the series but dropped both games of last season's doubleheader to the Pride for the first time since 2013. 
•    The Green and White is 9-3 on the road against Springfield going back to 2012 but have dropped three of its last four games at Archie Allen Field since 2023, which includes a pair of one-run losses.

LAST MEETING
•    Chris Balchius homered and drove in two runs, while Nate Kelleher-Mochak struck out five and allowed just one run over 5.2 innings as the Pride completed a sweep of Babson with a 5-1 victory on May 3, 2025, in Springfield, Mass. 
•    Adam Crocker went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Nate Garafalo doubled and tripled for Springfield, which built a 4-0 lead after five and had four relievers combine for 3.1 no-hit innings in the win. 
•    Walter Sadowsky '25 was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Brant Savage '24 M'25 doubled and scored for the Beavers, who got three strikeouts in three shutout innings from junior Jason Finkelstein to start the game. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (16-12, 6-4 NEWMAC) has won five of its last six games but is coming off a disappointing 7-6 loss to last-place Emerson in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader. 
•    Senior Zander Teator went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored, junior Dante D'Avanzo drove in two runs and sophomore Dillon James struck out four and allowed just one run on three hits over 6.1 innings out of the bullpen for the Beavers, who left eight on base, including the tying run at third in the bottom of the ninth. 
•    First-year Bobby Christensen is batting .373 with nine extra-base hits, 19 RBI and 17 runs scored, graduate student Ryan Grace is batting .359 and leads the team in OPS (1.137), on-base percentage (.496), doubles (8), home runs (7), RBI (31) and runs scored (32), and sophomore Ben Valente enters the week with a .356 average to go along with five doubles, two homers, a team-high nine stolen bases, 20 RBI an 29 runs scored. 
•    Sophomore Graydon Vyse (1-0, 3.60 ERA) has one save, a 1.20 WHIP and 14 strikeouts against just two walks over 15.0 innings pitched, graduate student Joe Carrea (1-1, 4.81 ERA) has recorded 22 strikeouts in 24.1 innings and classmate Michael Camardi is 1-0 with a 3.65 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 12.1 innings over eight appearances out of the bullpen this spring. 

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
•    Springfield (19-11, 5-5 NEWMAC) has dropped four of its last six games but is coming off a 5-2 win over Framingham State on Monday afternoon. 
•    Balchius went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and a stolen bases, Adam Crocker contributed a two-run single in the top of the sixth and Liam Skribiski-Banack fanned six over six shutout innings for the Pride, which swiped six bags and turned a pair of double plays in the victory. 
•    Tyler Casey is batting .333 with 11 extra-base hits, 18 stolen bases, 21 RBI and 31 runs scored, Balchius, who has seven multi-hit games over his last nine starts, is hitting .327 with eight doubles, two homers, 20 stolen bases, 13 RBI, 33 runs scored, and Michael Lepere owns a .307 average to go along with four homers, three doubles, a team-high 26 RBI and 24 runs scored. 
•    Aaron Little is 2-0 with four saves and a 1.38 ERA in 13.0 innings over 11 relief appearances this spring, Jack Richburg is 1-2 with a 2.84 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and is holding opposing hitters to a .227 average in 19.0 innings, and Ryan Baker is 1-1 with a 3.80 earned run average and 16 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched. 

FINKELSTEIN GARNERS CONFERENCE HONOR
•    After going 1-0 with a save in two appearances last week, Finkelstein was tabbed as the NEWMAC Pitcher of the Week on Monday. 
•    He needed just nine pitches in the top of the ninth to record his first career save in the Beavers' 2-1 victory over No. 22 Tufts last Wednesday and then struck out five while giving up just one run on two hits to earn the win to improve to 2-2 on the year in Babson's 11-1 triumph over Emerson in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. 

NEWMAC PLAYOFF RACE TAKING SHAPE
•    With six games to go in conference play, Babson is currently in fourth place in the NEWMAC standings, tied in the loss column with third-place Wheaton (8-4) and two games behind Salve Regina and MIT, who are tied for first place at 8-2. 
•    Springfield enters Tuesday's contest a game behind the Beavers at 5-5, while Clark (4-6) and Coast Guard (5-7) are separated by percentage points in a fight for the sixth and final spot in next month's league tournament. 

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
•    Valente has reached base safely in 19 straight games and is batting .384 with a .500 on-base percentage, two homers, five doubles, 20 RBI and 28 runs scored during this stretch. 
•    Grace ranks third in the NEWMAC in walks (23), fourth in OPS (1.137), homers (7) and RBI (31), fifth in total bases (66) and sixth in slugging percentage (.641), and leads the Green and White with 11 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games this season.
•    Junior Ian Laforest is riding a six-game hitting streak, Valente has scored at least one run in eight straight contests, and both Grace and Teator have reached base safely in each of their last eight outings. 
•    The Babson pitching staff has recorded at least five strikeouts in 10 consecutive games and has more strikeouts than walks nine times during this stretch.

TURNING TWO
•    Babson enters Tuesday's contest ranked second in Division III in double plays per game (1.17) and 11th overall nationally with 31 twin killings. 
•    The Beavers, who had their streak of recording at least one double play halted at seven in Saturday's loss to Emerson, have turned 13 double players over the past 10 games. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 10-0 this season when their starting pitcher goes at least six innings. 
•    Babson is 10-1 when outhitting its opponents and 12-2 when it records at least 10 hits this year. 
•    The Green and White is 15-1 this spring when leading after seven innings.
•    The Beavers are 6-3 on the road and 5-3 in games decided by either one or two runs. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson returns to Govoni Field to being a four-game homestand against Lasell on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.