The Babson College pitching staff turned in yet another outstanding performance in leading the Beavers to an 11-1 victory over visiting Suffolk University in a non-conference baseball matchup at Govoni Field on Wednesday afternoon. With their sixth straight win, the Beavers improved to 11-2 on the year, while the Rams fell to 5-4.
Junior Trevor MacNeill (Hanover, Mass.) started and earned the win for Babson, improving his record to 2-0 this spring. The veteran southpaw went seven innings, allowing just one run on six hits, walked two and struck out three. Junior Stephen Albano (Amherst, N.H.) and first-year Derek Richards (Framingham, Mass.) each added a scoreless inning of relief for the Beavers pitching staff, which has now allowed just three earned runs in the team's last 52 innings.
For the second straight day, the Babson offense was led by sophomore Conor Kortmann (Manalapan, N.J.), who went 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and a career-high four RBIs. Senior captain Dave Ahern (Bedford, Mass.) finished 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI, while senior Sean Puciarelli (Robbinsville, N.J.) and first-year Brendan Collins (Abington, Mass.) each added one hit and two RBIs. Junior Travis Jonasson (Needham, Mass.) set a new career-high with four runs scored for the Beavers, and sophomore Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.) crossed the plate three times.
Suffolk took a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as Addesa led off with a walk, moved to second on a single by senior Andrew Babb (Ashland, Mass.), advanced to third on a fly out, and scored on an infield single by first-year Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.). However, that would be all the offense the Rams would muster against MacNeill, who pitched out of jams in the third and sixth while facing the minimum in the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh.
Babson took the lead for good in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs on just two hits. After Ahern, Jonasson, and Kucher walked to load the bases, Kortmann drove in his first run of the day with a single to right. Collins then walked to force in another run, and Puciarelli plated to more with a double to right-center to give the hosts a 4-1 lead.
The Beavers tacked on two more unearned runs in the second, both of which scored on infield hits followed by throwing errors. Ahern later singled in a run in the fifth, Collins added an RBI-hit in the sixth, and Kortmann knocked in three more with a bases-clearing double in the seventh to account for the 11-1 final.