THE BASICS:

- Records: MIT (13-7, 8-2 NEWMAC); Babson (19-8, 9-2 NEWMAC)

- Scores: Babson 6, MIT 4

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Fran O'Brien Field)

- The Lead: In the opening game of a three-game series between the NEWMAC East Division leaders, Babson College defeated the MIT Engineers by a 6-4 final on Friday afternoon at Fran O'Brien Field. The Beavers staked to an early 3-0 lead and held off a ninth-inning MIT rally for the win to pull a half game in front of the hosts heading to Saturday's doubleheader.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- In the top of the first, Edward Lehr came home on a bases-loaded walk of Sean Harrington for the 1-0 lead. Ryan Arena came home on a sacrifice fly by Matthew Valente to make it 2-0, followed by another bases-loaded walk that plated Mark Webber for the 3-0 edge after a half inning.

- The Engineers came right back with a run in the bottom of the first as senior Max Lancaster (Attleboro, Mass.) scored on an RBI single to right by senior Kyler Kocher (Mesa, Ariz.) to cut the margin to 3-1. The scored stayed that way until the top of the third when Eric Jaun launched a deep homer to left for his first of the season and a 4-1 margin.

- The Beavers added single runs in the eighth and ninth and took a 6-1 advantage into the final half inning as closer Matt Cuneo came on for the final three outs. The Engineers got to Cuneo though as junior Jared Schwait (Boca Raton, Fla.) drew a one-out walk and senior Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) followed that with a single through the right side. That set the stage for senior David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.), who launched his first career home run to left to score Schwait and Greenwood and make it a 6-4 game. Cuneo closed out the game though with a strikeout and a fly out as the Beavers took the first game of the series.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- For the Engineers, eight different players registered hits as Lancaster and sophomore Trey Roberts (Cedar Park, Texas) each had two and Heller led the team with three RBI. For Babson, Lehr finished 4-for-4 with two runs scored, while Arena and Jaun had two hits each and Jake Oliger drew three walks with two RBI.

- Connor Gill was the winning pitcher for Babson as he improved to 4-1 with a six-hit, three-strikeout performance over seven innings. For MIT, Greenwood took the loss after allowing seven hits and four runs over 4.1 innings to fall to 2-1.

- MIT is receiving votes for the second straight week in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Division III National Poll and is ranked No. 7 in this week's NEIBA Regional Poll.

UP NEXT:  

- MIT completes the three-game series with Babson College on Saturday at Noon as the Beavers host the Engineers for a doubleheader.

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