PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Senior Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.) and juniors Nicholas Browne (Mount Laurel, N.J.) and Brian McHale (Ramsey, N.J.) each had three hits apiece as visiting Babson College defeated Johnson & Wales University, 10-6, in non-conference baseball action on Friday afternoon.
With its third consecutive win, Babson improves to 10-7 on the year, while Johnson & Wales slips to 9-6.
Webber and McHale both drove in a pair of runs and sophomore Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) was 2-for-5 with a home run and three runs batted in for the Beavers. Junior Edward Lehr (Byram Township, N.J.) also had two hits and two RBI, while sophomore Jake Oliger (Newtown, Conn.) went 1-for-2 with an RBI and three walks in the win.
Senior Edison Mercado (Providence, R.I.) and sophomore Vin Amalfitano (Massapequa, N.Y.) both had three hits and drove in a run for the Wildcats.
The Green and White jumped on top with a three-run, two-out rally in the first behind an RBI double from Webber and a two-run blast by Harrington. McHale drove in Browne with a single to right center to make it 4-0 in the second, but Johnson & Wales scored three times in the third and tied the game in the last of the fifth when Mercado drove in sophomore Colby Greenhalgh (Plainfield, Conn.) with a one-out knock to right field.
The Beavers wasted little time regaining the lead thanks to a three-run sixth inning. Oliger and sophomore Alex DiMartino (Mahwah, N.J.) both walked and McHale reached with an infield single before Lehr came through with a two-run base hit to left center. The Wildcats intentionally walked senior Ryan Arena (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) to get to Webber, who made them pay with an infield single that drove in McHale to make it 7-4.
Babson tacked on three more runs in the eighth as Harrington and Oliver sandwiched RBI singles around a double steal that saw Webber race home from third to push the margin to 10-4.
First-year Ben Aleixo (North Smithfield, R.I.) picked up his first career win with three innings of one-run relief for the Beavers. Classmate Alex Luka (Downers Grove, Ill.) made his second start of the year and allowed four runs, three of them earned, on six hits while striking out four in 4.1 innings.
Senior Rich Marshall (Pawtucket, R.I.) took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year for the Wildcats after giving up seven runs on nine hits and six walks in 5.1 innings.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Coast Guard in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m., while Johnson & Wales takes on Curry at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 6-1 all-time against Johnson & Wales.
• Friday's game was the first between the teams since 2012 after having each of their last five potential regular season matchups cancelled due to rain.
• Harrington has now reached base in 12 straight contests, while McHale produced his eighth multi-hit game of the year in 16 starts.
• Babson has scored 36 runs while pounding out 41 hits during its current three-game winning streak.