BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Jason Finkelstein (Walpole, Mass.) and graduate student Joe Carrea (Cranford, N.J.) pitched eight strong innings and sophomores Dylan Drazka (Rye Brook, N.Y.) and Ben Valente (Newton, Mass.) combined for seven stolen bases as Babson College swept visiting Clark University in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Govoni Field. 

The Beavers blanked the Cougars 8-0 in the opener and were 9-5 winners in game two to extend their winning streak to three games. Babson is now 19-14 overall and 8-5 in conference play, while Clark slips to 19-15 overall and 5-8 in the NEWMAC. 

Game 1: Babson 8, Clark 0
Valente went 3-for-5 with three RBI, junior Dante D'Avanzo (Ashland, Mass.) was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and graduate student Ryan Grace (Concord, Mass.) singled and knocked in a pair of runs for the Beavers, who finished with 11 hits. Finkelstein matched his career high with nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits while walking two over eight shutout innings to improve to 3-2 on the year with the win. 

Danny Goodman (Merrick, N.Y.) gave up two earned runs while striking out four and scattering eight hits in 6.0 innings for the Cougars and is now 0-2 on the season. 

Drazka led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on Grace's RBI ground out two batters later, and Grace scored on a two-out error to give the Green and White a 2-0 advantage. Babson left the bases loaded in the second but got a two-out RBI single from D'Avanzo in the third and another two-out RBI knock by Valente in the sixth extending the lead to 4-0. 

Luke Costello (Longmeadow, Mass.) retired the side in order in the seventh for Clark but quickly ran into trouble in the eighth plunking D'Avanzo and giving up an RBI double to the gap in right center to junior Ryan Liss (Hollywood, Fla.). Drazka walked and both he and Liss scored on Valente's single down the right field line to make it 7-0, and Grace capped the inning with an RBI single to right. 

Finkelstein, who allowed two of hits of three hits in the opening frame, retired 13 consecutive batters before giving up a two-out single to Bennett Hewett (Lebanon, N.H.) in the eighth. 

Game 2: Babson 9, Clark 5
Liss was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, Valente recorded two hits, two RBI and three stolen bases, and Drazka went 2-for-4 with a double, three stolen bases and three runs scored to lead the Babson attack. Grace and D'Avanzo both ahd two hits and drove in a run, senior Zander Teator (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) doubled, was plunked twice and had two RBI, and Carrea recorded a career-high eight strikeouts while giving up two runs on four hits over 8.0 innings to improve to 2-2 with the win. 

Cole Camara (Pawtucket, R.I.) went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and two runs scored and Michael Soares (Concord, Mass.) hit a two-run homer in the loss for the Cougars, who scored three times in the top of the ninth. Robby Roth (New Providence, N.J.) slipped to 1-3 on the year with the loss after giving up two runs on six hits over 3.0 innings. 

The Beavers got an RBI ground out from junior Jack Moses (Belle Mead, N.J.) in the first and an opposite field RBI double in the third to take the lead but left six runners on base over the first three innings. Drazka walked and scored and Valente reached on an error and later scored when Teator was hit with the bases loaded to make it 4-1 in the fourth. 

Valente extended Babson's lead to 5-1 with a two-out RBI single to left in the fifth, while Liss hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, to stretch the margin to 7-1 in the seventh. An RBI double by sophomore Colin Chou (Warren, N.J.) and a two-out RBI single D'Avanzo gave the Green and White its biggest lead at 9-2 in the bottom of the eighth before both Soares and Camara went deep in the top of the ninth for the Cougars. 

Babson is back in action on Sunday when it travels to Keene State at 12 p.m., while Clark hosts Emerson on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 71-22 all-time against the Cougars and have won 14 of the last 15 games between the teams. 
•    Babson is now 12-0 this season when its starting pitchers goes at least 6.0 innings. 
•    Valente extended his on-base streak to 24 games, while Drazka and D'Avanzo both stretched their hitting streaks to seven games. 
•    In three career starts versus Clark, Finkelstein is 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA and 17 strikeouts over 22.0 innings pitched.