Babson rallies past Endicott in wild slugfest

BABSON PARK, Mass.—The Babson College baseball team scored nine runs in the eighth inning to take the lead on its way to a thrilling 17-13 victory over visiting Endicott College on Wednesday afternoon at Govoni Field. The Beavers hit seven homeruns in the win to set a new program record for the most in a game, surpassing the previous mark of six set back in 2003. With the win, Babson, ranked first in New England, snaps a brief two-game slide and improves to 16-5 on the season, while Endicott is now 13-8.

Babson was led by senior captains Dave Ahern (Bedford, Mass.) and Brian Scanlon (Lawrenceville, N.J.), who each finished with four hits and two homeruns apiece.

Endicott got the scoring started early when junior \#Chris Dominguez\# (Braintree, Mass.) doubled to left field. The Gulls then hit back-to-back home runs by freshman \#Ralph Fidaleo\# (Fairfield, Conn.) and senior Aaron Santos (Cambridge, Mass.) to give the visitors the early 3-0 lead.

Babson senior Peter O’Toole (Salem, Mass.) tripled to centerfield on his first at-bat and then scored on a wild pitch to put the Beavers on the board as they closed out the first inning down 3-1.

Endicott tacked up two more runs in the second when sophomore \#Mike Russo\# (Natick, Mass.) singled and was then brought home on a \#Dan Greel\# (Rockport, Mass.) home run to put the gulls up, 5-1.

The Beavers would make it close in the third inning when an Ahern home run brought in two runs. Scanlon then singled and advanced to second on a walk, and a single by sophomore Billy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) brought him home and make the score 5-4 in favor of Endicott.

Babson was only able to score one run over the next three innings as Endicott increased its lead to 13-5 after six complete innings. The Gulls received a homerun and a double from rookie \#Joe Kasabuski\# (Saugus, Mass.) over that span as the Gulls increased their advantage to eight.

The Beavers kept Endicott off the board in the seventh and then gained some momentum of their own when Ahern doubled to centerfield and scored on a homer from freshman Conor Kortmann (Manalapan, N.J.). Kortmann was followed by another home run by Besinger to give Babson three runs in the seventh, making the score to 13-8 entering the eighth.

The Beavers would shutdown Endicott in the eighth as well and go on to score nine runs of their own, including four homers, to surge ahead, 17-13. Two walks for Babson to start the eighth put runners on first and second who were then brought home by another Ahern home run - his second of the game and of the season. Scanlon then hit his second homerun of the game to make it 13-12, forcing Endicott to bring sophomore \#Robbie Goldstick\# (Deerfield, Ill.) to the mound. Babson’s designated hitter, freshman Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.), then greeted the reliever with the Beavers' third consecutive home run to tie the game at 13-13.

A single for Besinger put the go-ahead run on first. Sophomore Joe Nixon (Foxboro, Mass.) would come in to pinch run for Besinger and steal second base. An O’Toole single drove in Nixon to give the Beavers their first lead of the game, 14-13, with two outs in the eighth. Babson scored three more runs to close out the inning with RBI-singles from sophomore Travis Jonnasson (Needham, Mass.), Ahern, and Scanlon.

Endicott was unable to respond in the ninth as Babson took the 17-13 victory.

Ahern went 4-for-5 on the day with a double, two homers, three runs scored, and six RBIs. Scanlon also finished with four hits and two home runs for the Beavers while scoring three times in knocking in three. O'Toole followed with three hits, including a triple and a double, and Besinger went 3-for-5 with a homer, a run, and two RBIs. Babson junior pitcher Jeff Browne (Voorhees, N.J.) came into the game in the sixth inning and only gave up one earned run the rest of the way, as he improved his season record to 3-1.

Kasabuski led the way for Endicott with a double and a home run. Santos, Greel and Fidaleo also hit round-trippers for the Gulls. Goldstick ended up with the loss on the mound after pitching one inning of relief.

Babson returns to action on Thursday afternoon as it visits Springfield College for a 3:30 p.m. NEWMAC contest. Endicott will host Salve Regina University on Saturday for a 12:00 p.m. The Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader. 

                            Release courtesy of Babson Sports Information