Genaro Ties All-Time Wins Mark, Oliger Extends Hitting Streak to 21 Games for Beavers
NORTON, Mass.—Senior Nicholas Browne (Mount Laurel, N.J.) and junior Jake Oliger both hit two-run homers, and senior Michael Genaro (Greenwich, Conn.) recorded his 21st career win to tie for first on the program's all-time list as No. 12/8 Babson College defeated No. 25/23 Wheaton College, 5-2, to open a three-game New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball series on Friday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
With its 16th consecutive victory, Babson improves to 17-2 overall and 7-0 in league play, while Wheaton dips to 15-6 overall and 6-1 in the NEWMAC.
Oliger extended his hitting streak to 21 games with his second inning home run, senior Eric Jaun (Loveland, Ohio) went 2-for-5 with an RBI double, and classmate Brian McHale (Ramsey, N.J.) also recorded a pair of singles and reached base three times for the Beavers. Genaro (3-1) was superb giving up a pair of unearned runs while scattering nine hits and striking out six over 8.0 innings to win his third straight decision. Senior Max Tannenbaum (Coral Springs, Fla.) closed it out in the ninth for his fourth save of the year.
First-year Jacob Studley (Barrington, R.I.) doubled twice and scored once as part of a three-hit day and junior Nick Raposo (Johnson, R.I.) singled twice and drove in both runs for the Lyons. Sophomore Paul Prue (Dennis, Mass.) suffered his first loss of the year to drop to 3-1 after giving up five runs, all earned, on nine hits to go along with five strikeouts in 8.1 innings.
Junior Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) led off the second with a double to right center and Oliger followed with a two-run blast over the fence in left to stake the Green and White to a 2-0 lead. Wheaton recorded five hits over the first three innings, but stranded runners on the corners in the last of the second and two more in the third.
Prue allowed just two hits from the third to the sixth, but walked Oliger to start the seventh and Jaun made him pay with an RBI double down the leftfield line to stretch the Babson advantage to 3-0. Genaro had retired seven consecutive hitters before sophomore Brody Ashley (Strafford, N.H.) reached on an error with two outs in the seventh. Studley followed with a double down the line in left and Raposo drove both in with a single to center to pull the Lyons within 3-2.
The Beavers tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth as Jaun led off with a single and Browne homered for the third game in a row for the final margin.
The teams will wrap up their three-game series with a doubleheader at Babson's Govoni Field on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 28-42 all-time against Wheaton and have won nine consecutive games in the series going back to 2017.
• Genaro's 21st career win ties him with Sam Kilpatrick '97 atop the Beavers' all-time list.
• Oliger's 21-game hitting streak is now the second longest in program history behind Dave Ahern's '11 run of 24 outings with at least one hit.
• Babson's 16-game winning streak is currently the longest in Division III.