NORTON, Mass.—Junior
Jason Finkelstein (Walpole, Mass.) struck out six over 8.0 strong innings and senior
Zander Teator (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the eighth as third-seeded Babson College rallied to defeat second-seeded Wheaton College, 3-2, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament action on Friday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
Babson, which has won four in a row and eight of its last nine games, remains unbeaten in the tournament and improves to 24-15 on the year. Wheaton has dropped two of its last three outings to slip to 26-12 overall. Friday's matchup was the 100th all-time meeting between the teams.
Teator and sophomores
Dylan Drazka (Rye Brook, N.Y.) and
Ben Valente (Newton, Mass.) all recorded two hits apiece, while junior
Connor Frickey (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore
Gabe Harmon (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) each singled and scored for the Beavers. Finkelstein scattered 10 hits and walked just one while giving up two runs to improve to 5-2 with the win, while Teator recorded the final three outs for his sixth save.
Junior Tyler Bellan (Franklin, Mass,) went 4-for-4 with an RBI and senior Marcus Rodrigues (Lincoln, R.I.) and sophomore Logan Downey (Warwick, R.I.) both added two knocks for the Lyons, who finished with 11 hits. Junior Aiden Cardoza (Dartmouth, Mass.) settled for a no-decision despite striking out four and giving up just two runs on five hits over 7.2 innings. Senior Evan Mello (New Bedford, Mass.) fanned three but dropped to 2-2 on the year with the loss after allowing a run on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Cardoza, who retired 10 straight batters to start the game, was in command for much of his outing before the Green and White put together a two-rally in the eighth. Frickey beat out an infield single, Harmon followed with a base hit to left and Drazka greeted Mello with a squibber that got just past the mound to load the bases. Valente brought home Frickey with an infield single deep in the hole at short to make it 2-1 and Teator ripped a base hit to left that plated Harmon and Drazka for a 3-2 lead.
Wheaton took a 1-0 lead on junior Robbie Lamond's (North Kingstown, R.I.) bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first and pushed its advantage to 2-0 when Bellan smashed a single off the glove of Beavers' first baseman
Colin Chou (Warren, N.J.) to drive in senior Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.). The Lyons looked primed to extend the margin the fourth but the Babson defense made a pair of terrific plays as sophomore catcher
Gabe Cushner (Harrington Park, N.J.) gunned down the lead runner at third on a bunt, while Finkelstein made a backhanded stab and flipped the ball home from his glove to catch Toth trying to score on a squeeze bunt before getting a strikeout with the bases loaded to escape the threat.
The Beavers turned double plays to end both the sixth and eighth innings, and Teator picked off sophomore Jeremy Aylward (Hingham, Mass.) at first before recording back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth, the second of which came on a pitch clock infraction and an 0-2 count.
Babson will now face top-seeded and fourth-ranked Salve Regina on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. in Newport, R.I., with the winner punching its ticket to the NEWMAC Tournament final. Wheaton will meet fourth-seeded MIT in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in Kingston, R.I.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 41-59 all-time against Wheaton and 15-16 versus the Lyons in conference tournament play.
• Friday's contest was the 18th in the postseason between the two teams since 2017.
• Valente extended his hitting streak to 14 games on Friday, while Teator has a hit in seven straight and has reached base in 17 consecutive starts.
• Babson is now 17-1 this season when its starting pitcher goes at least 6.0 innings.
• The Beavers are now 6-4 this spring in one-run games.
