PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—The Babson College baseball team split a pair of games on the second day of play at the Snowbird Classic on Saturday at South Country Regional Park. Following a 12-3 loss to Heidelberg University, the Beavers bounced back with a 13-3 victory over Otterbein University in their second game of the day.
GAME ONE: Heidelberg 12, Babson 3
Junior Nicholas Browne (Mount Laurel, N.J) went 2-for-4 with a home run and classmate Connor Gill (Sterling, Mass.) added a pair of hits, but the Beavers were unable to dig out of an early deficit and suffered their first loss of the season. Sophomore Alex DiMartino (Mahwah, N.J.) doubled and drove in a pair of runs in his first career start for the Green and White.
Despite getting just eight hits, the Student Princes took advantage of 13 walks and scored nine runs over the first three innings. Junior Matt Psychas (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and senior Kyle Slovick (Middlebury Heights, Ohio) both reached base four times and drove in three runs apiece, while junior Parker Fronk (Medina, Ohio) walked and scored twice in addition to driving in a pair of runs.
DiMartino plated senior Ryan Arena (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) with a two-out double in the top of the second, but Heidelberg responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame. The Student Princes sent 10 men to the plate and used two singles, four walks, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly to build a 6-1 advantage.
The Green and White stranded a pair of runners in the top of the third and the Student Princes extended their lead to 9-1 behind back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Psychas and Slovick. Browne homered to lead off the fourth and DiMartino drove in senior Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.) with a sacrifice fly in the fifth for the Beavers, who stranded 12 in the loss.
Senior Teddy Carey (Upton, Mass.) shouldered the loss after allowing six runs in 1.1 innings. Senior Anthony Hadju (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) earned the win for Heidelberg, giving up three runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking four in five innings of work.
GAME TWO: Babson 13, Otterbein 3
Sophomore Matthew Valente (Wyckoff, N.J.) went 4-for-5 with three RBI and Arena had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in three runs in the Beavers' 19-hit onslaught against Otterbein. Seven different players finished with at least two hits in support of junior Michael Genaro (Greenwich, Conn.), who gave up three runs and struck out four over eight innings.
Following a scoreless first inning, Babson scored three times with two outs in the second. Sophomore Jake Oliger (Newtown, Conn.) and Browne hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and junior Eric Jaun (Loveland, Ohio) and Valente followed with run-scoring base hits to make it 2-0. McHale then capped the frame with an RBI double to right center to extend the margin to three.
The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the second, but the Beavers responded with four more runs in the second. Sophomore Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) plated Arena with a double and then came around to score on another double by Jaun. Valente followed with a two-out, two-run single to center to make it 7-1.
The Green and White put the game away with four more runs, all with two outs, in the sixth inning. Arena drove in a pair with a double to left center, Harrington drove him in with a single two batters later, and Oliger followed with another RBI knock to give the Beavers an 11-1 lead.
Nine different players had a hit for Otterbein, which got back-to-back doubles from senior Dom Guzzi (New Kensington, Ohio) and junior Ben Beachy (Springboro, Ohio), and a single from classmate Tyler Thompson (Mentor, Ohio) to plate a pair of runs in the eighth. Senior John Kopnicky (Centerville, Ohio) shouldered the loss for the Cardinals after giving up seven runs on nine hits over five innings of work.
Babson wraps up its trip on Sunday when it takes on Baldwin Wallace at 10 a.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 0-1 all-time against Heidelberg and 2-1 against Otterbein.
• McHale extended his hitting streak to 14 games, and Arena has now reached base in 37 straight outings with a hit in both games on Saturday.
• Babson's 19 hits in Saturday's second game against Otterbein are its most since pounding out 20 in a 15-5 win over Springfield on April 23 of last season.