Jack Margaros
@JackMargaros
The Springfield College baseball team snapped its four game win streak at the hands of NEWMAC foe Babson, as the Beavers, who was receiving votes in the latest Division III Baseball Rankings, edged the Pride 6-3 on Tuesday.
Springfield jumped on Babson starter Michael Genaro for three runs early on, but could not muster any more for the last seven innings of action.
In the first inning, Chad Shade led off with a single followed by a towering two-run home run from Mark Joao, his third of the season. After Babson cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the first, Jake Gleason slugged his first home run of the year to regain a two-run lead.
In Babson’s half of the second, the Beavers tagged Springfield starter Joe Gamache for three runs. After the senior allowed two singles to open the frame, he threw a wild pitch to advance each runner 90 feet. Two doubles later, Babson had its first lead of the contest, 4-3.
The Pride created an opportunity in the fourth inning to even the score with two one-out singles. However, Gleason and Pete Marsicano failed to bring Cam Rivest home from second.
Other than that, Genaro quieted Springfield’s bats through the seventh inning, and the offense added a couple of insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Babson’s bullpen entered in the eighth inning and retired the last six batters in order to take down the red hot Pride.
Gamache’s struggles continued in this game, as he went just 3.2 innings surrendering five runs on nine hits. Ken Manero and Jack Weinberger combined for the last 4.1 innings in a one run, three hit effort.
In addition to Joao (1-4) and Gleason’s (1-4) long flies, Shade and Brandon Drabinski each had 2-4 days.
NEWMAC Leaders
Through Tuesday’s games, Springfield has several players leading in numerous categories on the NEWMAC leaderboards. Shawn Babineau leads the pack with a 1.30 ERA and ranks second in strikeouts (35). Babineau and Kyle Naples each have three wins, ranking them in a seven-way tie for third place.
Joao is tied for second place with 27 RBI, just one away from Babson’s Ryan Arena. The next RBI that the senior second baseman drives in will be a new season-high. Lastly, Shade topples the competition with 22 stolen bases. With 12 regular season games remaining, the sophomore is just 14 stolen bases away from tying the single season record held by Joseph Cervino back in 1971.
Springfield will take a break from conference play on Thursday when it travels to Keene State. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Featured photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics.