THE BASICS:
- Records: No. 4 MIT (22-17-1); No. 3 Babson College (33-7)
- Scores: MIT 8, Babson College 2
- Location: Babson Park, Mass. (Govoni Field)
- The Lead: Led by a complete-game by senior pitcher Patrick Callahan (Vicksburg, Mich.), fourth-seeded MIT defeated third-seeded Babson College by an 8-2 final to capture the 2019 NEWMAC Baseball Championship. The championship is the third for MIT and the program's first since the Engineers won their second straight NEWMAC title in 2015.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Engineers struck first with a pair of two-out runs in the top of the third as junior Matt Johnston (Portola Valley, Calif.) and sophomore Andrew Krause (St. Louis, Mo.) picked up RBI singles. MIT added two more runs in the fifth with another RBI single from Johnston and an RBI single to right by junior Thomas Allison (Kingwood, Texas) to make it 4-0.
- The Beavers finally got on the board against Callahan in the fifth as Connor Gill singled down the right field line to drive in Thomas Lapham and cut the lead to 4-1. The Engineers answered with another RBI hit by Krause, followed by a two-run homer to right center from Allison for the 7-1 edge after seven.
- Johnston added a deep solo homer to left to push the MIT lead out to 8-1, setting the stage for the final three outs. Babson pushed one run across with Edward Lehr scoring on an RBI groundout before Callahan fielded the final hit by Gill and threw to first to seal the 8-2 final.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Callahan, the 2019 NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, is now 6-1 after throwing his second complete game of the tournament. Over nine innings, he scattered nine hits with two runs, eight strikeouts and no walks.
- For Babson, Michael Genaro took the loss to fall to 6-3 as he allowed 10 hits and four runs in 4.1 innings of work.
- Johnston led a 15-hit MIT attack with a 4-for-5 outing with three runs scored and three RBI. Krause was 3-for-5, along with two hits each from Allison and junior Tony Rice (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
- For the Beavers, four different players had two hits each with Brian McHale, Gill, Jake Oliger and Lapham.
- In the first round of the NEWMAC Tournament vs. Springfield, the Engineers trailed 6-3 with two outs in the ninth before rallying for the extra-innings victory. MIT then defeated top-seeded Wheaton, second-seeded WPI and third-seeded Babson to claim the title.
- Babson is ranked No. 6 in both the D3baseball.com and ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Division III National Polls.
UP NEXT:
- MIT has now earned the NEWMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship and will learn its opponent and location on Monday, May 13th at Noon as the field will be announced by a selection show on www.ncaa.com. Babson is a likely at-large selection to the field when it is announced.
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