(Box Score)

            BABSON PARK, Mass. – Senior Peter O'Toole (Salem, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored, and one RBI to lead the Babson College baseball team to an 8-2 victory over visiting Plymouth State University Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference contest at Govoni Field.

            With their 12th straight win, the Beavers, ranked second in New England in the most recent NEIBA poll, improved to 12-2 overall, while the Panthers dipped to 0-11.  PSU has played one of the toughest schedules in New England with seven of their losses coming to regionally-ranked opponents.

            Sophomore Jeff Buress (Cumberland, R.I.) continued his outstanding work on the mound for Babson, going seven strong innings as he improved to 3-0 on the season. The second-year righthander allowed two runs - the first two earned runs he has surrendered this spring - on five hits while walking one and striking out five. Sophomore Steven Albano (Amherst,N.H.) came on and pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit and fanning a pair.

            Babson also received strong offensive performances from sophomore Billy Miller (Sagamore Beach, Mass.), who went 3-for-5 with a double and one run scored, senior Brian Scanlon (Lawrenceville, N.J.), who finished 2-for-5 with an RBI, freshman Pat Matvichuk (Middleton, Mass.), who added one hit and two RBIs, and senior Jake Bartlett (Weymouth, Mass.), who went 1-for-1 with a double, two walks, and three runs scored.

            Five different players had hits for the Panthers, including freshman Steve Beard (Middleton, Mass.), who went 2-for-5 with a double, and sophomore Mike Cappiello (Westfield, N.J.), who went 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored, and one driven in. Sophomore Joe Hudson (Greenfield, Mass.) started and took the loss for Plymouth State, allowing four earned runs and striking out five in 4 2/3 innings of work.

            Babson took the lead with two outs in the bottom of the second, as Bartlett doubled to left and scored on a single up the middle by Matvichuk. An inning later, O'Toole led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Billy Besinger (Milton, Mass.), and scored when sophomore Travis Jonasson (Needham, Mass.) reached on an error.

            Plymouth State cut its deficit in half in the top of the fourth, as Cappiello hit a lead-off homer over the wall in right, snapping Buress' streak of 19 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to start the season. However, the Beavers came right back with two in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by an RBI double to right by O'Toole and an RBI single to left by Jonasson.

            Babson made it 5-1 in the fifth, when Miller doubled, took third on a Scanlon single, and later scored on a sac fly to center by Matvichuk. The Panthers got one back in the top of the six when Cappiello was hit by a pitch and later scored on a two-out single to right by junior Matt Koban (Bradford, N.H.), but the Beavers added two more in the seventh and one in the eighth to finish off the 8-2 win.

            Babson returns to action at home tomorrow afternoon, when the first-place Beavers host NEWMAC foe Springfield College at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers are off until Friday, when they host Rivier in a make-up game at 3:30 p,m, in the home opener at Panther Park. 

(Courtesy of Babson Sports Information) 

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