MANSFIELD Conn. – Down 4-0 before they came to bat against Babson, Husson had little reason to be concerned.
The scrappy Eagles once again battled back for the third time in as many games, hustling their way to six runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to come away as 10-6 winners over the eighth seeded Beavers (23-19) in an elimination game at Eastern Connecticut Stadium.
“We rally off big hits,” Husson sophomore Ethan Guerette said. “It just seems like we get the job done when we need to, when our backs are up against the wall.”
The Eagles rattled off seven hits and five runs in the bottom of the fourth before Babson senior Matt Barton was able to record an out.
Guerette delivered the big blow, lining a single up the middle with the bases loaded to drive home three runs and give Husson a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Eagles’ comeback was highlighted by several steals and hit and run plays.
“We had to create some action, especially down in our line up we have some guys that are great at putting the bat on the ball,” Husson head coach Jason Harvey said. “We got some guys going in motion and see what happened…we do all of the little things that get our momentum started and then kind of feed off that.”
The small ball rally was backed by a solid pitching performance from senior Chris Pease (6-2), who rebounded from a rough first inning to shutdown the Beaves for his remaining six innings of work.
” [That was] a great pitching performance by Chris Pease,” Harvey said. “[The] first inning he kind of went through a little rough spot and couldn’t settle in and after that he got into a zone, kind of pitching the way he’s been pitching all year.”
Despite the loss, Babson head coach Matt Noone reflected on what was a good year for his program.
“I guess this is the one bad thing about college sports,” he said. “You have a pretty good year and you gotta go home disappointed. We had a good run this year, obviously it hurts today, [there’s] a little pit in my stomach. We had the game unravel today, but they hit the ball, they deserved the win.”
With the win, seventh seeded Husson will face the winner of the Southern Maine and Eastern Connecticut game which is currently underway.
Whatever team they face, look for the Eagles to keep up their chippy style of play that has been their hallmark all season long.
” We’ve got guys that come up in key situations in the pressure,” Harvey said. “That’s what good teams do in the tournament, they come up with big hits.” “It’s a nine inning game, its a long game. [We go] one pitch at a time, one bat, and just go from there.”
