Babson Park, MA --- First-year Peter O'Toole (Salem, MA) singled home the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to help host Babson College gain a split of a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball doubleheader against visiting WPI at Govoni Field on Saturday afternoon. With the split, the Beavers are now 11-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference, while WPI's record goes to 11-12 overall and 5-2 in league play. 

WPI claimed a 3-2 victory in game one, which featured an outstanding pitching duel between Engineers' junior Brian Duncan (West Suffield, CT) and Beavers' junior ace Sam Whelan (Milton, MA). WPI managed two early runs off Whelan, as junior Ryan Rainone (Oakville, CT) stroked an RBI single in the first and first-year Paul Galligan (Weymouth, MA) knocked in another with a single in the second. Babson then tied the game at 2-2 with a pair in the bottom of the third, as junior Andrew Nodine (Portland, ME) plated two with a double to right. 

The Engineers pulled ahead again in the top of the fifth, as Galligan singled with one out, stole second, and scored on a single up the middle by senior Matt Fiore (Wakefield, MA). Duncan would then keep Babson off the board until the seventh, when he left the game after surrendering a two-out single to Babson senior tri-captain Ryan Campbell (Manchester, NH). First-year Thomas Whiting (Farmington Hills, MA) came on to get the final out to nail down his second save of the season for Duncan (2-2), who allowed two runs on nine hits and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. 

Whelan (3-1) went all seven innings for Babson, allowing three runs on 10 hits and fanning five. The defeat was his first of the season. Campbell finished with three hits for the Beavers, while Galligan recorded three hits and three stolen bases for WPI. 

WPI appeared to be on its way to a sweep early in game two, as the Engineers scored five runs in the first three innings to built a 5-0 advantage. However, Babson cut its deficit to two with a three-run fifth, highlighted by a two-run single to left by junior Matt Delaney (Newton, MA) and a sacrifice fly to center by sophomore Bryan Evans (Bellaire, TX). Babson then tied the game, 5-5, in the bottom of the eighth, as Nodine singled in Campbell and Evans, who had both singled to start the inning. 

In the bottom of the ninth, junior Steve Tahmoush (Arlington, MA) led off with a walk and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Delaney. Following an intentional walk, the Engineers cut down Tahmoush at third on a fielder's choice grounder for the inning's second out, but Campbell drew a walk to load the bases for O'Toole. The Beavers' leading hitter then ended the game with a single through the left side that scored senior pinch-runner Billy Lucas (Acworth, GA) from third, giving Babson the 6-5 win. 

After a shaky start, sophomore Jeff Wojnar (Bellaire, TX) settled down to pitch well for Babson, as he held WPI scoreless over the final six innings to notch the complete game victory. The second-year righthander gave up four earned runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out seven in nine innings of work as he improved to 2-2 on the year. First-year Nolan Murphy (Shrewsbury, MA) took the loss in relief for the Engineers, his first decision of the season.

Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information