May 18, 2018

No. 21/23 Baseball Rallies to Edge Union in Extra Innings at York Regional, 5-4

More news about: Babson

Beavers Match School Record, Extend Division III's Longest Active Streak with 13th Straight Win

YORK, Pa.—Sophomore Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning as No. 21 Collegiate Baseball/No. 23 D3baseball.com rallied to defeat Union College, 5-4, in a winner's bracket contest at the NCAA Tournament York Regional inside PeoplesBank Park late Friday night.

Babson, which matched a school record with its 13th straight victory, improves to 34-10 and has won its first two games at the NCAA regionals for the first time in program history. Both wins have come by a single run in the Beavers' final at-bat. Union slips to 31-12 with the loss.

Junior Brian McHale (Ramsey, N.J.) went 3-for-5 with an RBI triple and senior Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.) doubled and drove in two runs as part of a two-hit day for Babson. Classmate Drew Petillo (Bridgewater, N.J.) earned his second win in as many days to improve to 2-0 with a pair of ninth-inning strikeouts before junior Max Tannenbaum (Coral Springs, Fla.) earned his second save of the year with a perfect frame in the 10th.

Senior John Floegel (Summit, N.J.) turned in a gritty performance in his first NCAA Tournament start, striking out seven while giving up four runs on six hits in 8.1 innings for Babson.

Senior Harrison Glatt (Summit, N.J.), sophomore Sean Cullen (Ridgewood, N.J.) and junior Andy Labeck (Valley Stream, N.Y.) all had a hit and drove in a run for the Dutchmen. Senior Bill Christopher (Winchester, Mass.) earned a no-decision after allowing just three runs on four hits in 7.0 innings, while sophomore Colin Nye (Salem, Mass.) dropped to 5-3 with the loss. He gave up two runs on two hits and four walks in three innings.

Down to his final strike with two outs in the top of the ninth, McHale tripled down the right field line to bring in junior Eric Jaun(Loveland, Ohio) tying the game at 4-4. Petillo came on for Floegel and worked out of a first-and-second no-out jam with consecutive strikeouts to send the game to extra innings.

Harrington walked with two outs in the 10th and moved to second when sophomore Matthew Valente (Wyckoff, N.J.) worked a nine-pitch free pass before racing home when Jaun beat out an errant throw at first base for a 5-4 lead. Tannenbaum needed just seven pitches to retire the side in the 10th, which included a game-ending strikeout.

The Green and White jumped on top 2-0 in the top of the first as junior Connor Gill (Sterling, Mass.) walked, senior Ryan Arena (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice and both came around to score on Webber's one-out double to left center. Union got a run back in the third as junior Wiley Knight (Marion, Mass.) led off with a single and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Glatt.

The Beavers regained a two-run advantage in the fifth as McHale stroked a one-out double to left center, moved to the third on a balk and came home a batter later when Gill singled to center. The Dutchmen stranded a runner on third in the bottom of the frame, but got an RBI single from Cullen and back-to-back sacrifice flies from Labeck and senior Sam Kirschenbaum (Hamden, Conn.) to go in front 4-3 in the last of the sixth.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson takes on Misericordia in the winner's bracket final at 4:30 p.m., while Union faces Virginia Wesleyan in an elimination game at 1:15 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 1-1 all-time against Union.
• McHale is 6-for-10 with two doubles, a triple, two RBI and four runs scored over the first two games of the regional.
• Harrington has now walked six times in two NCAA regional contests.
• Webber, who has driven in five runs in the first two games of the tournament is one of just three players in program history to record at least 40 RBI in multiple seasons. The other two are Babson Hall of Famers Kevin Higa '03 and Jon Cignetti '98.
• The Beavers are 7-3 in one-run games and have now won five times this season in their final at-bat.