Box Score BABSON PARK, Mass.— Babson College rallied from a five-run eighth inning deficit to defeat the visiting Coast Guard Academy, 7-6, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Monday afternoon at Govoni Field.
Coast Guard drops to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the NEWMAC while Babson wins its second game in a row and is now 10-8 overall and 6-3 in conference play.
Sophomore
Tim Duncan was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Bears. Junior
Kyle Wood reached base three times, scored once and drove in a pair of runs, while first-year
Zach Serna finished with two runs batted in.
Senior Dillon Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Jake Weiss was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Murphy and senior Rob Caggiano each had one hit and scored twice.
Coast Guard broke open a 1-1 game with five runs in the top of the eighth inning. Duncan doubled down the right field line to plate senior Blake Thompson, and Wood followed with a two-run double to left for a 4-1 lead. Serna then came through with a two-run single down the right field line to make it 6-1 game.
The Beavers came right back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Murphy drove in Caggiano, who had reached on an error, with a one-out single to left, and sophomore Jack Halpin followed with a base hit through the right side to score Murphy and Weiss cutting the deficit to 6-4. First-year
Cody Bain came on for the Bears with the bases loaded and induced an inning-ending ground out to escape further damage.
Freshman Matt Cuneo retired the side in order in the top of the ninth, and the Green and White rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame. Caggiano reached on an error and Ayala singled to center before both runners moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Weiss. Ayala scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-5, and Murphy reached on an error to put runners on the corners. Gonzalez then hit a shot to left that landed just fair to bring home the tying run in Ayala and the winning run in Murphy, who dove over the catcher to touch home plate.
Bain (1-1) was dealt the loss for Coast Guard after allowing three runs, just one of them earned, and two hits in 0.2 innings. Sophomore
Eric Vrissis, who retired 15 straight from the third through the seventh, allowed two earned runs on six hits over 7.2 innings.
Cuneo (1-1) earned the first win of his career after giving up one run on two hits while striking out a pair in two innings of relief. Sophomore Ken Rotunno, who retired the first 14 batters he faced after coming out of the bullpen with no outs in the third, allowed four earned runs while striking out three in five innings of work.
Coast Guard return to action on Tuesday at 3:30 when they travel to Wheaton, Massachusetts for a NEWMAC game with Wheaton.
