May 5, 2012
#3 Babson Advances to Championship Round with a 10-3 win over #2 Springfield
NORTON, Mass. – Junior Trevor Boyce
(Canton, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with four RBI for Babson College,
which advanced to the New England Women’s and Men’s
Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Baseball Championship with a 9-3 win
over Springfield College Saturday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
Seeded No. 3 in the tournament, the Beavers (22-18) will face No.
1 seed and defending NEWMAC Champion Wheaton at 3:40 p.m. Babson
must defeat the Lyons (33-8) this afternoon and again Sunday at
noon to claim the title while Wheaton only needs to defeat the
Beavers once to collect its 12th tournament championship. Last
weekend, the Lyons knocked off WPI 2-0 and Babson 3-1 to advance to
the championship in the double-elimination format.
After stranding a pair of runners in the first, Babson struck for
three runs in the second to grab the early lead. The Beavers
loading the bases behind a pair of walks by Springfield senior
starting pitcher Greg Marakovits (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and a double
off the bat of junior John Botelho (Tempe, Ariz.). Boyce was then
hit by a pitch to bring in the first run of the game, and junior
Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.) followed with a two-run double down
the left field line that plated two for a 3-0 Babson lead.
In Springfield’s half of the third, senior Mike Corletta
(Westtown, N.Y.) laced a single through the left side to open the
frame and scored on a bloop double by Smith to knock the donut off
the scoreboard and bring the Pride to within two at 3-1. A walk to
sophomore Mike McGowan (Franklin, Mass.) and a four-pitch walk to
classmate Frank Calabrese (East Longmeadow, Mass.) loaded the bases
for senior Karl Quist (New Preston, Conn.), who brought in the
second Springfield run with a walk on a full count.
Babson answered with two runs in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead and
chase Marakovits from the game. Boyce and Kucher recorded
back-to-back singles before senior Travis Jonasson (Needham, Mass.)
smacked a two-run double inside the first base bag that brought in
both runners.
In the fifth, junior Matt Milano (Cumberland, R.I.) lifted a sac
fly to right that scored McGowan and got Springfield back to within
two runs at 5-3. However, the Pride gave the run back in the sixth
with a bases loaded walk to junior Conor Kortmann (Manalapan,
N.J.). A two-run triple by Boyce in the seventh broke the game open
and staked Babson to an 8-3 lead. Kucher followed with a long sac
fly to center to score Boyce for a 9-3 Babson advantage, and
Boyce’s RBI single in the ninth capped the scoring.
Sophomore Derek Richard (Framingham, Mass.) threw 117 pitches over
six-plus innings to improve to 4-5 on the season for the Beavers.
He allowed eight hits and three runs with six walks and three
strikeouts. Marakovits, meanwhile, surrendered six hits and five
runs in 3.1 innings of work. He walked four, hit three batters, and
struck out three to fall to 4-3. Sophomore Jon Medici (South
Portland, Maine) allowed two runs with two walks in 0.2 IP in
relief for Springfield. Senior Jeff Buress (Cumberland,
R.I./Cumberland) worked three scoreless innings in relief for
Babson to earn his first save of the season.
Boyce scored three runs while Botelho notched two doubles, Kucher
had two hits, and Matvichuk scored twice. Quist and Milano each
tallied an RBI for the Pride while Calabrese had three hits.
Springfield completes its season 20-15.
Courtsey of Wheaton College Sports Information
