THE BASICS:

- Score: Babson 3, MIT 2

- Records: MIT (21-13-1); Babson (24-13)

- Location: Babson Park, Mass. (Govoni Field)

- The Lead: After a two and a half hour rain delay, an eighth-inning solo homer for Babson proved to be the difference as the MIT baseball team dropped a 3-2 final to the Beavers in game of the NEWMAC Baseball Championship Series on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- After four scoreless innings to start the game, the Beavers struck for a pair in the fifth for the 2-0 advantage. Eric Jaun singled to right center with one out, followed by a two-run homer to right by Mark Webber. In the top of the sixth, MIT sophomore Jared Schwait (Boca Raton, Fla.) doubled to deep center and moved to third on a groundout before Babson pitcher Teddy Carey got out of the jam. 

- In the top of the seventh, freshman Matt Johnston (Portola Valley, Calif.) and senior John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.) put together a pair of singles to begin the MIT threat. After Carey picked up his ninth strikeout of the day for the second out, RBI singles from freshman Thomas Allison (Kingwood, Texas) and junior David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.) tied the game at 2-2. Allison's hit was a shot down the left field line, while Heller's dropped into shallow center for the equalizer.

- In the eighth, junior Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) led off with a bunt single to chase Carey from the game. On the first pitch from reliever Ken Rotunno, junior Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) lined into an unassisted double play at first to help the Beavers get out of the jam.

- In the bottom of the frame with two outs, DH Ryan Arena launched a solo homer to center to account for the 3-2 final. Matt Cuneo came on and threw a perfect ninth inning to preserve the one-run win and earn his ninth save of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- The Engineers outhit the Beavers by an 8-5 margin as eight different players had one hit each.

- Senior David Hesslink (San Diego, Calif.) took the hard luck loss as he scattered five hits with three runs and two walks over eight innings as he dropped to 5-4 on the year. Rotunno was the winner for the Beavers with one inning of hitless relief, followed by Cuneo. Carey went seven innings in the start, picking up nine strikeouts and no walks in the no-decision.

- With his leadoff single in the fourth, Filiere has now reached base in 63 consecutive games, which is an MIT record and the third-longest streak in NCAA Division III history.

- MIT is currently ranked No. 8 in the latest NCAA New England regional rankings, while Babson is just ahead of the Engineers in the No. 7 spot as both teams jumped four spots from the first regional rankings.

UP NEXT:

- MIT is back in action on Sunday, May 7th as the Engineers return to Babson for game two of the series beginning at Noon. Game three, if necessary, will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, with the winner of the series earning the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

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