PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—Junior Nicholas Browne (Mount Laurel, N.J.) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth as Babson College rallied to defeat Baldwin Wallace College, 6-5, in non-conference baseball action on Sunday afternoon at the Snowbird Classic.
With the win, Babson improves to 3-1 on the year, while Baldwin Wallace suffered its first loss to fall to 5-1 overall.
Sophomore Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and two runs scored for the Beavers, who got hits from seven different players. Senior Matt Cuneo (Ashland, Mass.) picked up his first win of the year, while classmate John Floegel (Summit, N.J.) allowed three runs on seven hits to go along with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings in his first start of the spring.
Senior Spencer Badia (Bellaire, Ohio) was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI to lead the Yellow Jackets. Classmate Evan Lovick (Mentor, Ohio) struck out five and gave up three earned runs on six hits over 7.0 innings, while sophomore Michael Hubert (Cincinnati, Ohio) suffered his first loss of the year after giving up a pair of runs in the ninth.
Baldwin Wallace got a home run from senior Alex Marcum (Granville, Ohio) and an RBI single from classmate Chase Knodle (Poland, Ohio) to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the second. The Green and White took its first lead in the fourth though, as Harrington drove in senior Ryan Arena (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) with a triple and later scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Matthew Valente (Wyckoff, N.J.) to make it 3-2.
The Yellow Jackets tied it on Badia's blast in the top of the fifth, but Babson went back in front 4-3 when sophomore Jake Oliger(Newtown, Conn.) scored on junior Connor Gill's (Sterling, Mass.) two-out single in the bottom of the frame. Classmate Edward Lehr (Byram Township, N.J.) got the Beavers out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, but Baldwin Wallace took advantage of an error and an RBI single by Badia to regain a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth.
Harrington reached with a one-out double in the last of the ninth, and Browne cranked a two-out, two-strike homer, his second of the year, to give the Green and White its first walk-off win since April 18, 2016.
Babson is scheduled to take on Massachusetts Maritime in its home opener on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., while Baldwin Wallace takes on Bluffton on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Sunday's matchup was the first in program history for the Beavers against Baldwin Wallace.
• McHale extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first.
• Arena has now reached base in 38 straight contests going back to early last season.