O'Toole's Blast Puts Babson in NEWMAC Baseball Title Game
Babson 8, Wheaton 7 - NEWMAC Tournament - Game #9
Worcester, MA --- Peter O'Toole's (Salem, MA) two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted fourth-seeded Babson to a dramatic 8-7 victory over second-seeded Wheaton to conclude day three of the 2009 NEWMAC Baseball Tournament hosted by WPI.
The Beavers (20-15), advance to Sunday's championship round to face MIT, while nationally-ranked Wheaton (28-9) is eliminated from the tournament. Babson takes home the title with a single victory while MIT must win twice on Sunday to earn the championship.
Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, Billy Miller (Sagamore Beach, MA) got things started for the Beavers with a double to left center. After moving to third on a ground out, he came home on a fielding error, setting the stage for O'Toole's heroics. The Beavers then turned things over to closer Chris Legrow (North Andover, MA), who retired the side in the ninth to register his third save of the season.
Wheaton scored single runs in the first two innings on a RBI single by Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ). The Lyons received a two-run double from Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) in the third to open up a 4-0 advantage before the Beavers battled backed in the bottom half of the frame with three runs, highlighted by a two-run home run by Bryan Evans (Bellaire, TX).
Manley helped Wheaton take momentum back by depositing a two-run homer over the left centerfield fence an inning later to push the Wheaton advantage back to 6-3. For the game, Raad and Munley combined for six of the seven Wheaton RBI.
Babson sliced the lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth when Miller and Corey Highfield (East Hampstead, NJ) notched RBI singles. Wheaton's final run came in the top of the seventh on a run-producing single by Raad.
Michael O'Brien (Shrewsbury, MA) went the first eight innings for Babson, scattering 12 hits en route to improving to 4-1 on the season. Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI), Wheaton's fourth of five pitchers in the contest, was saddled with the loss. The senior, who earlier in the day collected a save in the Lyons win over WPI, falls to 0-1.