BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Edward Lehr (Byram Township, N.J.) hit a grand slam and classmate Michael Genaro became the program's all-time wins leader with a three-hit complete game as No. 14/14 Babson College defeated visiting MIT, 12-1, in the opener of a three-game New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball series on Friday afternoon at Govoni Field.
Winners of three straight games, Babson improves to 20-4 overall and 9-2 in league play, while MIT slips to 13-10-1 overall and 5-4 in the NEWMAC.
Genaro improved to 4-1 this spring by fanning six and allowing just an unearned run in the fifth to record his first complete game of the spring and sixth of his career. The victory was also the 22nd of his career helping him pass Sam Kilpatrick '97 for first on the Beavers' all-time list.
Lehr finished with two hits, two walks and two runs scored, while senior Brian McHale (Ramsey, N.J.) went 3-for-6 with a double and scored twice for Babson. Classmate Eric Jaun(Loveland, Ohio) doubled twice and had two RBI, and junior Jake Oliger (Newtown, Conn.) went 2-for-5 with a triple and drove in a run in the win.
Junior Tony Rice (Colorado Springs, Colo.) recorded a pair of singles, while senior Patrick Callahan (Vicksburg, Mich.) shouldered the loss after giving up three runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings for the Engineers. He struck out five and walked three to drop to 3-1 on the year.
Sophomore Matthew Valente (Wyckoff, N.J.) scored on a wild pitch in the second and classmate Sean Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) drew a bases loaded walk in the fourth to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead. First-year Cory O'Shea (Glen Allen, Va.) cut the MIT deficit to 2-1 with an RBI single in the fifth, but Jaun scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the frame, and Babson took advantage of another bases loaded walk to Harrington and a throwing error to build a 6-1 edge.
The first three batters that first-year Jonah Scott (Oak Park, Calif.) faced to start the seventh reached base and Lehr drove them all in with his first career grand slam over the wall in left to make it 10-1. Harrington followed with a single, Oliger drove him home with a triple to left center, and Jaun came through with an RBI double for a 12-1 lead.
Genaro retired 11 straight batters from the end of the first through the fourth after allowing a one-out single to Rice. He also retired the final 11 hitters he faced after Rice started the sixth with another base hit.
The teams will wrap up their three-game set with a doubleheader at Fran O'Brien Field in Cambridge beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 52-37-1 all-time against MIT and have won eight of the last 10 matchups between the teams.
• In addition to becoming the all-time wins leader, Genaro now ranks second in school history in innings pitched (227.1) and is fifth in strikeouts (148).
• Genaro's complete game was the first of the season for the Beavers.
• Valente has now reached base in 15 straight games.