Home  Baseball Baseball - Bears Drop NEWMAC Tourney Opener at Babson
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Baseball - Bears Drop NEWMAC Tourney Opener at Babson |
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 Mike Massaro had three of the Bears six hits in the loss.
With the victory, the Beavers improve to 20-11 and earn the right to host their second tournament game against either #4 Clark or #2 WPI at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Meanwhile, Coast Guard, making its first conference tournament appearance since 2007, falls to 9-17 and will host #6 MIT at 3:30 p.m. in an elmination game on Thursday.
Babson jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as senior captain Peter O’Toole lined a double off the wall in right center and junior Billy Besinger followed with a two-run shot to center – his third homer of the season.
Coast Guard threatened in the top of the second, loading the bases on back-to-back singles by freshmen Eric Gerken and Mike Massaro and a two-out walk to sophomore Chris Izurieta. However, O'Brien induced an inning-ending foul pop-up to escape unscathed.
The Beavers doubled their advantage in the bottom of the fifth, as senior captain Brian Scanlon, senior Jake Bartlett, and freshman John Botelho began the inning with consecutive singles to load the bases. O'Toole then plated Scanlon with a sacrifice fly to center and Besinger followed with a sac fly to left to score Bartlett, pushing Babson's lead to 4-0.
Coast Guard finally broke through against O'Brien with an unearned run in the top of the sixth, as Gerken singled to center, took second on a passed ball, and scored on an RBI single to center by Massaro.
However, the Beavers came right back with two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning, as a walk to Travis Jonasson and an error on a fielder's choice grounder by senior captain Dave Ahern put runners at the corners with no outs. Two batters later, a perfectly executed double steal allowed Jonasson to score from third, and another error enabled Ahern to take third on the play. Sophomore Sean Cleary then hit a grounder to second with the infield drawn in, but Ahern beat the throw to the plate to give the hosts a 6-1 cushion.
The Beavers closed the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Sophomore Billy Miller was hit by a pitch with two outs and then moved to second on an error. Cleary followed with an RBI single up the middle, and Scanlon drove him in all the way from first with a double to right.
O'Brien went the distance on the mound to earn the win for Babson, improving his season record to 4-2. The Beavers' ace gave up just one unearned run on six hits, walked three and struck out six. Besinger paced the offense, going 2-for-3 with a homer, a run, and three RBIs, while Scanlon and Bartlett both added two hits apiece.
Freshman Nate Toll started and took the loss for Coast Guard, giving up eight runs - six earned - on nine hits, walking one and striking out three in 7 2/3 innings. The defeat dropped his record to 3-2 on the year.
Massaro accounted for half the Bears' hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Gerken went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
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