This release is courtesy of Wheaton Athletic Communications
NORTON, Mass. - On Sunday, Clark, MIT, Babson and Wheaton competed in the NEWMAC Baseball Championship with Babson and Wheaton advancing through to the championship round tomorrow. MIT defeated Clark in the first game of the day while the Beavers took down the top seeded Lyons to stay unbeaten in the tournament. In the final game of the day Wheaton defeated MIT and will host Babson tomorrow. The first game is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. with the "if necessary" game to follow at 3:00 p.m.
Game 4 - MIT 13, Clark 2
Senior Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) drove in a career-high four runs to lead the fourth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology over number two seed Clark University, 13-2, this morning in the New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference Tournament at Sidell Stadium on the campus of host top-seeded Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.
The Engineers improve to 16-20 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 18-21.
MIT scored 13 unanswered runs with two in the fifth, a pair in the seventh and two more in the eighth, before exploding for seven runs in the ninth. Clark scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third and the last run of the contest in the bottom of the ninth.
Cartwright reached base five times with a 4-4 day in addition to a walk at the plate for the Engineers to establish a new career-best in hits. First year right fielder Eitan Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) was 2-5 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a run scored, while junior center fielder Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) scored four runs and was 2-3 with a pair of walks. First year third baseman Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) was 1-2 with four walks and a run batted, while senior second baseman Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) was 2-5 with three runs scored.. Sophomore right-handed reliever Jimmy Moore (Los Gatos, Calif.) picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-1 with four and a third innings of one-run relief on three hits and two walks to go with eight strikeouts.
Sophomore third baseman Tyler Jones (West Haven, Conn.) was 1-3 with a walk and an RBI, while sophomore CJ Johnson (Danbury, Conn.) singled and drove in a run for the Cougars. Senior left fielder Ryan Caulfield (Simsbury, Conn.) was 1-3 with a pair of walks and a run scored. Senior right-handed starter Benjamin Spencer (New Holland, Pa.) took the loss to dip to 2-4 on the year after giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and six walks to go with three strikeouts.
Clark got on the board in the bottom of the third inning with a manufactured run. Caulfield reached on a one-out single through the right side, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch to set up a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of Jones to give the Cougars a 1-0 edge.
MIT took advantage of some sloppy play from Clark to score a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. Junior first baseman Tyler Godfrey (Rowley, Mass.) punched a single to center followed by a walk drawn by Schoenfeld. Cartwright came through with a single to center to plate Godfrey with the tying run. Senior catcher Jake Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) kept the inning alive, reaching on an error to load the bases, before Schoenfeld scored an unearned run on a wild pitch to give the Engineers the lead.
MIT added two more runs in the seventh to increase its lead to 4-1. The Engineers began the frame with three straight singles led by Schoefeld with a single through the left side to lead off the inning. Kyle Sonandres laced a single up the middle before Cartwright delivered an RBI single into left field to bump MIT’s lead to 3-1. Clark junior reliever Andres Hulfachor (Nashua, N.H.) fanned the next two batters, but junior Kennan Gumbs (New York, N.Y.) worked a walk to load the bases. Eitan Moore reached on the rare catcher’s interference when the Clark catcher caught his bat on the swing and Sonandres came home with the fourth Engineer run to give them a three-run lead.
MIT left no doubt in the outcome and put the game out of reach with seven runs in the ninth. Godfrey knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field, before Cartwright and Jake Sonandres each collected run-scoring singles. Gumbs highlighted the frame with a three-run triple to give the Engineers a 12-1 advantage. Eitan Moore followed with a hustle double to left to bring home Gumbs with the final run of the game.
Game 5 - Babson 9, Wheaton 3
Junior third baseman Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) hit a three-run home run in the first inning to help the third-seeded Babson College baseball team upset top-seed and No. 8/11 host Wheaton College, 9-3, this afternoon in the New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference Tournament at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Beavers improve to 25-16, while the Lyons, who are ranked eighth in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll and 11th in the Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association survey, fall to 34-6. The win for Babson snaps a nine-game losing streak against Wheaton. The last win for the Beavers, a 4-1 victory on May 15, 2021, was also the last loss in NEWMAC Tournament play for the Lyons - a span of six tournament contests without a defeat.
Wheaton will play number four seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology in an elimination game at 3:45 p.m., while Babson takes on the winner of that game tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
Babson wasted no time in scoring three times in the top of the first and added three more runs in the fourth to build a 6-0 advantage. Wheaton got a run back in the fourth and tallied a lone run in the fifth to cut the margin to 6-2. The Beavers effectively put the game out of reach with three runs in the ninth to take a 9-2 lead, before the Lyons scored a run in the bottom of the inning.
Savage paced the Babson offense, going 2-5 with a three-run home run and two runs scored, while graduate student shortstop Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a triple, a walk, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Senior center fielder Patrick Manning (Weymouth, Mass.) knocked in two runs, scored a run and singled. Junior right-handed starter Tristen Spalter (Sergeantsville, N.J.) finished an out shy of a complete-game victory and scattered 10 hits, while giving up three runs in addition to fanning nine batters and issuing a pair of walks to pick up the win and improve to 3-2 on the season.
Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) reached base four times with a solo homer, a single and two walks to lead Wheaton, while senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) collected four hits for the second time in his career, going 4-5 with a run batted in. Junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) doubled and scored two runs to give him 58 runs scored on the season to tie the school record set in 2002 by Chris Denorfia. Senior right-hander Zach Clesas (Johnston, R.I.) was saddled with the loss to drop to 6-2 after yielding six runs (four earned) on six hits and no walks to go with a strikeout in four and a third innings pitched.
Babson took advantage of a pair of infield errors to open the first inning and put three runs on the board before Wheaton’s first turn at bat. Junior second baseman Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) and first year first baseman Chris Basile (Miami Beach, Fla.) each reached on infield errors to lead off the frame, before Savage launched his team-leading 11th home run of the season well over the left field fence to give the Beavers a 3-0 lead.
Babson added three more runs in the fourth behind another big extra base hit to increase its lead to 6-0. Junior catcher Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) led off the inning with a single skipped through the left side of the infield, before first year right fielder Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, N.J.) was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with no outs. Pirkl belted a fly ball to the base of the right-center field fence and ended up on third base with a two-run triple to give the Beavers a 5-0 margin. Santos followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Pirkl with the sixth Babson run.
Wheaton broke into the scoring column when Brady blasted his sixth homer of the season over the left field fence in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 6-1.
The Lyons tacked on another run in the fifth to pull to within 6-2. Guindon was hit by a pitch before Maher singled through the right side to put runners on the corners with one out. Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) lined a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly to bring home Guindon with the second Wheaton run.
The Beavers scored three more runs in the ninth to create some healthy breathing room with a seven-run lead. Savage and Cook registered back-to-back one-out singles before graduate student Ryan Noone (Belmont, Mass.) was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to load the bases. Kiely reached on an error and Savage scored the seventh Babson run. Manning capped the scoring for the Beavers with a two-run single to left field to give Babson a 9-2 cushion.
The Lyons scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the inning when Guindon ripped a pitch into right field and pulled into second base with a hustle double, before Maher singled to right to plate Guindon.
Game 6 - Wheaton 9, MIT 3
Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) drove in four runs and broke the school record for runs batted in for a season to lead the No. 8/11 and top-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over fourth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9-2, this afternoon in the New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference Tournament at Sidell Stadium on the campus of host Wheaton in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons, who are ranked eighth in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll and 11th in the Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association survey, have won 11 of their last 12 and 19 of their last 21 games and improve to 35-6 on the season. Wheaton advances to the NEWMAC Championship game for the 20th time tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at Sidell Stadium, and will take on number three seed Babson College, which defeated the Lyons, 9-3, earlier today. The Engineers end their season with a 16-21 record.
Brady knocked in four runs to give him 68 RBI for the season to surpass the previous Wheaton single-season standard set by Damon Whalen in 2002. Junior AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) also eclipsed the season mark for runs scored with 59 to supplant Chris Denorfia’s 2002 total of 58.
The Lyons scored single runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead, before MIT scored a pair of runs in the fourth to knot the game at 2-2. Wheaton scored the final seven runs of the game, including six in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Brady was 3-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored to go with his 20th multi-RBI effort of the season for the Lyons. Guindon was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored, while senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) turned in a 2-4 outing at the plate in addition to drawing a walk, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Sophomore first baseman Tim Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) went 2-4 with a double, a walk, a run batted in and a run scored. Sophomore reliever Jackson Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) picked up the win to improve to 3-0 after hurling two and a third innings of scoreless no-hit ball in addition to striking out two and walking one.
Junior first baseman Tyler Godfrey (Rowley, Mass.) led the Engineers at the plate, going 2-5 with two RBI and junior center fielder Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) reached base four times with two singles and two walks. Sophomore shortstop Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, Texas) was 2-4 with a run scored and a pair of stolen bases. Senior left-handed starting pitcher Matt Leonard (San Antonio, Texas) took the loss to fall to 1-2 after giving up seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts.
Junior right fielder Tommy Ambrosone (Hopkinton, Mass.) led off the seventh inning with a single to center and later scored when Brady hit a hot shot through the left side to drive in his 67th run of the season and give Wheaton the lead for good at 3-2.
The Lyons rallied for six runs in the eighth inning for their highest-scoring frame of the tournament. Leonard had pitched extremely well up until the eighth, but three straight hits and a walk chased him from the game. Wagner doubled to right center with one out, followed by a single to right from sophomore Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) to put runners on the corners. Ambrosone reached on a bunt single with Wagner racing home on the play. Guindon worked a walk to load the bases, before Maher stroked a two-run single to right to give Wheaton a 6-2 margin. Guindon scored on a wild pitch to break the Lyon record and Brady followed with a double to center to plate Maher with Wheaton’s seventh run and his 68th RBI. Sophomore left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) drew a walk and senior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Wagner was issued a free pass to force in the final run of the game.
The Lyons opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first. Maher punched a single into left field, advanced to second on a failed pickoff and went to third when senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) reached on an error. Brady lifted a fly ball to left field that resulted in a sacrifice fly to bring home the game’s first run.
Wheaton tacked on another run in the third when Guindon singled through the left side and later scored on a two-out single to right off the bat of Brady to give the Lyons a 2-0 lead.
The Engineers put together a two-run, two-out rally in the top of the fourth to pull even at 2-2. First year right fielder Eitan Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) and Tubbs strung together consecutive singles to put runners on the corners with two outs. Tubbs stole second to put both runners in scoring position before Godfrey roped a two-run single to right field to tie the game.