BABSON PARK, Mass. – Curry College scored six unearned runs, including five in the first inning, to claim a 7-0 victory over host Babson College in a non-conference baseball matchup at Govoni Field on Thursday afternoon. With the win, the Colonels improved to 19-10 on the season, while the Beavers, ranked seventh in New England by the NEIBA, fell to 18-10.
 
Junior Brad Hawn (Chino Hills, Calif.) went 4-for-5 to pace the Curry offense, while senior Tim Sweeney (Walpole, Mass.) and junior Sean Jackman (Stoughton, Mass.) each added two hits apiece. Junior lefty Mike Hughes (Middleboro, Mass.) started and earned the win on the mound, scattering six hits and fanning three in seven shutout innings as he improved to 5-1 on the year.
 
Sophomore Sean Cleary (Milton, Mass.), sophomore Billy Miller (Sagamore Beach, Mass.), and senior Jake Bartlett (Weymouth, Mass.) each had two hits apiece for Babson, while senior southpaw Michael O’Brien (Shrewsbury, Mass.) suffered the tough-luck loss despite allowing no earned runs and striking out four in five innings. His record now stands at 3-2 this spring.
 
Babson committed five of its season-high seven errors in a sloppy first inning, which saw Curry plate five unearned runs off O’Brien. Senior Jesse Bruinsma (Lynnfield, Mass.) scored the first run of the ballgame when he stole third and came home on an errant throw to second, and senior Rick Vail (Lynnfield, Mass.) added a two-run double to left later in the frame to make it 3-0. Sophomore Brian Morante (Westwood, Mass.) then singled in another run and later scored to make it 5-0 on the Beavers’ fifth miscue of the inning.
 
O’Brien settled down nicely after the first, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the third en route to four straight scoreless innings. However, Babson’s hitters couldn’t break through against Hughes, who pitched his way out of a bases-loaded situation of his own in the second before retiring 14 of the final 17 batters that he faced.
 
The Colonels added a run on a sacrifice fly to center by senior Tony Luciani (Weymouth, Mass.) in the sixth as well as another unearned run in the ninth, and juniors Brian Pipines (Cresskill, N.J.) and Chris Costa (Lynnfield, Mass.) both tossed scoreless innings of relief as Curry claimed the 7-0 win.
 
First-year Ryan Walsh (Cambridge, Mass.) pitched three solid innings of relief for the Beavers, giving up just one run on four hits and a walk, while junior Austin Dadio (Branford, Conn.) allowed an unearned run on one hit in the ninth. (Game recap courtesy of Babson Sports Information)

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