BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Senior Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) had a big day at the plate going 2-for-3, including two solo home runs, three runs scored and three RBI as the Babson College Beavers grabbed an early lead, then hung on to defeat the #11 University of Southern Maine Huskies 7-6 in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at Govani Field.

            The win was the fifth straight for the Beavers as they improved to 20-14 overall.  The Huskies have now lost three straight and dropped to 25-6 overall.

            Babson senior John Botelho (Tempe, Ariz./Marcos de Niza) also went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.  Sophomore Sean MacPhee (Framingham, Mass./Belmont Hill) also homered for the Beavers.  Sophomore southpaw Nick Malatos (Milton, Mass./Dexter School) went 7.1 innings giving up four runs on nine hits to earn his first win of the season and improve to 1-1.  Sophomore Connor Allen (Madison, NJ/Madison) came on with one out in the eighth and pitched the final 1.2 innings for the Beavers to earn his third save of the season.

            Junior Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, Mass./New Hampton) went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Huskies.  Senior Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H.) hit a two-run homer, and classmate Anthony Pisani went 3-for-4 with a run scored.  Sophomore Jake Glauser (Goffstown, N.H.) added two hits, and junior Forrest Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) also homered.  White and Chadwick are now tied for the team-lead in home runs with six.

            Southern Maine sophomore right-hander Alex Tobey (South Berwick, Maine/Berwick Academy), who went 2.2 innings giving up four runs on four hits, was tagged with the loss and drops to 1-1 on the season.

            After Malatos sat the Huskies down in the top of the first, Babson plated three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take an early 3-0 lead. The inning was highlighted by back-to-back sacrifice flies by Kucher and senior Conor Kortmann (Manalapan, NJ/The Peddie School), and a solo home run by MacPhee.

            The Beavers increased their lead to 6-0 scoring single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.  Kucher hit his first home run to right field in the third to increase the lead to 4-0.  Botelho then drove in Collins on a single in the fourth for Babson's fifth run.  Kucher homered in the fifth to make it 6-0.

            Malatos didn't allow a Southern Maine runner to reach scoring position until the sixth when Pisani doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a single by senior Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine/Erskine Academy) to make it 6-1.  The run snapped a string of 18 consecutive scoreless innings for the Huskies.

            Botelho added an insurance run for the Beavers with a home run to lead off the seventh, increasing the lead to 7-1.

            The Huskies would cut the Babson lead to one, 7-6, with five runs on five hits in the eighth. With one out, White hit a two-run blast to right, and Chadwick followed with a solo homer to make it 7-4. After a Babson pitching change, Grady walked.  After another Babson pitching change, senior John Carey (South Portland, Maine) doubled moving Grady to third.  Thibodeau drove in both runners with a single to center to make it 7-6.

            The Huskies comeback was cut short, though, as Allen was able to sit them down in order in the ninth to get the save.

            Southern Maine takes the field when they host Keene State College in a Little East Conference doubleheader at USM Baseball Stadium on Saturday (12:00 p.m.).  Babson will travel to Rhode Island College for a non-conference game on Thursday (3:30 p.m.).   

-jan-