Savage’s Six RBI lead baseball to a 14-3 MIT series opener

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.Junior Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) had a double and a home run among his three hits and knocked in a career-high six runs and a junior. Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) had a double and a home run and drove in two runs to pace a 13-hit attack as Babson College blanked MIT 14-3 in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Friday afternoon in Fran. O’Brien Field.

With the win, Babson won for the 11th time in its last 14 games to improve to 19-11 overall and 8-3 in the NEWMAC, while the Engineers lost for the sixth time in their last seven games and fell to 10-15 overall. and 5-6 in conference play.

The first year Chris Basile (Miami Beach, Fla.) had three hits and one RBI, a graduate student Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, NY) had two hits, including a double, scored twice and drove in two, and the junior Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) reached base three times, stole two bases and scored four runs.

Senior Tim Noone (Needham, Mass.) improved to 4-1 on the mound, going 6.1 innings and allowing three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out five. Second year student Cole Willis (Lexington, Mass.) got the final two outs as the game ended after seven innings due to the mercy rule.

Senior Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) hit a pair of home runs and drove in all three for MIT, while first-year Lawrence Tang (Hopkinton, Mass.) went 3-for-3 and had five of the six Engineers. hits. Junior Tyler Godfrey (Rowley, Mass.) reached base twice with a single and a walk, and first-year Chase Rubin (Arlington, Va.) started on the mound but couldn’t get out of the second inning and took the loss.

After scoring an unearned run in the first inning, the green and white blew the game open with a six pack in the top of the second inning. Pirkl delivered a two-out double to left-center, Savage dropped a two-run single to right, Basile added an RBI single and the first-year Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, NJ) scored on a double steal to end the rally.

MIT got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on Cartwright’s solo home run to center, but Babson responded with five runs on just two hits in the top of the fifth. After graduate school Ryan Noone (Belmont, Mass.) was grounded out to start the inning, and Kiely hit his first home run of the season to left field. Then Pirkl was walked, Santos was hit by a hit and Savage blasted his ninth homer to right field to extend the Beaver lead to 12-1.

MIT scored its final two runs on Cartwright’s two-run shot, his NEWMAC-leading 10th of the season, in the bottom of the sixth. Babson answered with two in the top of the seventh when Savage crushed an RBI double to left and later scored on the senior’s sacrifice fly. Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.).

The two teams will play again on Saturday in a doubleheader at Govoni Field in Babson Park beginning at 12:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have won 14 of the last 19 games between the teams and are 58-40-1 all-time against the Engineers in a series dating back to 1980.
• Cook has reached base safely in 14 straight games, while Savage has reached 11 straight games and has 12 multi-RBI games.
• Kiely is 8-19 (.421) in his last five starts with two doubles, a home run, four walks, five RBIs and eight runs scored.
• Savage’s nine home runs are the most by a Babson hitter in a season since Nicholas Browne ’19 hit 12 in 2019.