Baseball Opens With 9-6 Win Over Augustana

BOX SCORE

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Babson College baseball team opened its 2009 campaign with a 9-6 victory over Augusta College (IL) on Friday afternoon in the first game of the team's spring break trip to Fort Myers, Florida.

Sophomore Andrew Aizenstadt (Norwell, Mass.) started and went six strong to earn his first win of the season for the Beavers (1-0), giving up four runs - two of which were earned - on six hits while fanning three. Junior Keane Steiding (Falmouth, Mass.) pitched two innings of relief, allowing two runs, and senior Chris Legrow (North Andover, Mass.) notched his second career save with a perfect ninth.

Offensively, the Beavers were led by sophomore shortstop Corey Highfield (East Hampstead, N.H.), who went 4-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. It was his second career four-hit performance. Sophomore Jeff Browne (Vorhees, N.J.) added three hits, including a double, and scored three runs, while sophomore Billy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) and first-year Billy Miller (Sagamore beach, Mass.) each collected two hits.

For Augustana (9-3), starter Vince Frede took the loss after surrendering four unearned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Four different relievers combined to allow five more runs, while Mark Ramos and John Wagle paced the offense with two hits apiece. The Vikings committed five errors in the contest, leading to a total of six unearned runs.

Playing as the home team, Babson took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Miller reached on an error, moved to second on a single by Highfield, took third on a groundout, and scored on a wild pitch. Augustana then tied the game with a run in the third before plating two more in the fourth for a 3-1 advantage.

The Beavers regained the lead in the fifth, beginning when Highfield reached on an error with the bases loaded, plating Babson's second run of the ballgame. Junior Peter O'Toole (Salem, Mass.) then lined a sacrifice fly to center that once again evened the score, and Besinger followed with an RBI-single to plate Miller and give the Beaver Nine a 4-3 lead.

After Augustana knotted the game with a run in the top of the sixth, Babson scored four more runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. After a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out, Highfield knocked in two with a double. Then, after another hit batter loaded the sacks again, Besinger reached on another Viking error to plate Miller from third. Augustana would induce a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, but a bases-loaded walk to senior co-captain Bryan Evans (Bellaire, Texas) forced in another run to give Babson an 8-4 lead.

The bottom of the order did it again for the Beavers in the seventh inning, as Brown singled with one out, moved to third on a double by Miller, and scored on a Highfield single. The Vikings would get two runs back in the top of the eighth, but Legrow came on to shut the door in the ninth to clinch the 9-6 victory.