Brendan McLean
Contributing Writer
The Springfield College men’s baseball team suffered a home loss at the hands of the Babson Beavers Friday, 7-3. Senior pitcher Greg Marakovits gave up 3 earned runs in the top of the ninth inning, giving their NEWMAC foe all the breathing room they needed.
The score really does not indicate how well Marakovits pitched. Coach Mark Simeone made a decision to keep Marakovits in the game going into the ninth.
“Greg had a solid performance against Babson, but their line-up had seen him four times.” Coach Simeone said.
Babson’s starter, Derek Richards, had the performance of the day. Not only did he keep the Pride quiet at the plate, but every time the Pride managed to get a hit or two Richards would come up with a big pitch to keep the Beavers ahead.
The Pride left 10 runners on base throughout the game due in large part to inconsistency on offense, but also because of the tremendous pitching by Richards. Great pitching always beats great hitting and this proved to be true yet again.
In the top of the third, Chris Kucher belted an RBI double in the top of the second to put the Beavers up 2-0 and Babson wouldn’t look back from that point. Conor Kortmann followed with a belted double of his own to put the Beavers up 3-0 through three.
In the top of the fourth the Pride finally got on the scoreboard as Frank Calabrese scored on a passed ball. With two runners on base, Brian Swaton struck out to keep the score at 3-1 Babson.
During the 5th inning the Pride notched another run as Calabrese singled and drove in Steve Starr, bringing the score to 3-2. Once again, however, Richards made a big pitch to cause Shane O’Leary to hit into a double play and end the threat.
“Leaving runners on base is always a problem for our team,” Starr said. “All year it has seemed as if we couldn’t get the big hit when we need it, and until we start to do that, I believe we will continue to struggle when it comes to winning games.”
In the top of the seventh, Kucher belted his second RBI double to put Babson up 4-2 then brought in two more in the ninth with a triple.The Beavers’ third baseman had a great day at the plate, going 4-5 with four RBIs.
Greg Marakovits ended up pitching 8 innings while allowing 15 hits and seven earned runs, but if not for the big ninth inning sparked by Kucher his numbers would have looked much better.
The next time the Pride will be playing at home is Tuesday as they will be taking on the Clark Cougars in hopes for a big win in NEWMAC play. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 at Berry- Allen field.