SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Visiting Babson College scored seven times in the top of the first inning and junior Michael Genaro (Greenwich, Conn.) gave up just one run over eight innings as to help the Beavers defeat Springfield College, 10-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Tuesday afternoon at Archie Allen Field.
Babson, which has won 14 of its last 16 games, improves to 21-9 overall and 11-3 in league play. Springfield, which has dropped five of its last six games, slips to 18-10-2 overall and 7-6 in the NEWMAC.
Seniors Ryan Arena (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.), and junior Eric Jaun (Loveland, Ohio) all had two hits and drove in a run for the Beavers. Senior David Lennon (Windermere, Fla.) had a pair of hits and reached base three times, junior Brian McHale (Ramsey, N.J.) was 2-for-4 with a double and classmate Connor Gill (Sterling, Mass.) doubled and drove in two runs.
Genaro was once again superb on the hill striking out seven while scattering six hits and walking just one in eight frames to improve to 6-1 on the year.
Sophomore Chad Shade (Pittsfield, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for the Pride. Classmate Nick Naples (Berlin, Conn.) started but was knocked out after giving up five runs on three hits in just 0.2 innings to fall to 2-3 on the year.
McHale led off the first with a double, and Arena and Webber followed a fly out by Gill with back-to-back two-baggers to give the Green and White a 2-0 lead. Webber stole third and came around to score on sophomore Matthew Valente's (Wyckoff, N.J.), and both sophomore Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) and Jaun reached without the benefit of a hit and came around to score for a 5-0 advantage.
Sophomore Jake Oliger (Newtown, Conn.), Lennon and McHale all walked and Gill finished off the rally with a two-run double to left to make it 7-0. Valente hit an RBI triple to right with one out in the second and later score on Jaun's single up the middle to extend the lead to 9-0. Babson stranded a pair of runners in the third, but Harrington singled to start the fourth and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Oliger to extend the margin to 10-0.
Genaro retired the first two batters he faced in every inning but the sixth when Shade led off with a base hit and later scored on an RBI single by senior Mark Joao (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.). He also retired the side in order in the first, fourth and seventh innings for the Beavers.
Babson returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Southern Maine at 3:30 p.m., while Springfield visits Rhode Island College on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 32-22 all-time against Springfield and have now won 10 straight against the Pride since 2014.
• Webber extended his hitting streak to 18 games with his first-inning double, while Lennon and Oliger have now reached base in 19 and 16 straight contests.
• Genaro, who has won four straight decisions, is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 28.0 innings against league foes. He also has set a new career high for strikeouts in a season (39) while reaching six wins for the second year in a row.
• With Tuesday's win, Babson improved to 10-0 this season against NEWMAC opponents when allowing four runs or less.