Aizenstadt, Besinger Garner All-New England Second Team Honors

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- After guiding the Babson College baseball team to its second NEWMAC Championship and NCAA Tournament berth this spring, sophomore pitcher Andrew Aizenstadt (Norwell, Mass.) and sophomore second baseman Billy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) have both received All-New England honors. Both were named All-Region Second Team by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), while Aisenstdt also garnered Second Team status from the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA).

The 2008 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-NEWMAC First Team selection, Aizenstadt was magnificent on the mound this spring. The sophomore righty went 8-1 - tying the program record for victories in a season - to go with one save and a sparkling 2.58 ERA. In 69 2/3 innings, he gave up just 20 earned runs on 77 hits, walked 17 and struck out 71 - the second most in a season by a Beaver hurler. Just halfway through his collegiate career, Aizenstadt boasts a spectacular 13-2 record with a 2.69 ERA and 107 strikeouts. He is already tied for fifth on the program's all-time wins list, tied for ninth in strikeouts, and his .867 winning percentage is currently the highest in Babson baseball history.

An All-NEWMAC Second Team selection, Besinger earns his first All-New England nod after an incredible 2009 campaign in which he became just the eighth player in Babson history to bat over .400 over an entire season. After hitting just .265 in 34 at-bats as a freshman, the lefthanded-hitting infielder hit .407 - the seventh highest average in club history - with a school-record tying 68 hits in 167 at-bats. Leading the team with 22 multi-hit games, he recorded 11 doubles, a triple, 36 runs scored, and 32 RBIs while drawing 22 walks, and he paced the Beavers with a .482 on-base percentage. Besinger was also solid in the field, recording 72 putouts and 112 assists for a .963 fielding percentage while turning 17 doubleplays. In two seasons, he now has a .383 career batting average with 12 doubles, a triple, 39 runs scored, 38 RBIs, 28 walks, and a .466 on-base percentage.

Finishing the year 23-20, Babson won four straight in the NEWMAC Tournament to claim the conference championship and the program's second trip to the NCAA Tourney. The eighth-seeded Beavers then stunned top-seeded and national number three Eastern Connecticut State University, 10-6, in the opening game before being knocked out the tournament with consecutive losses to WPI and Husson. Aizenstadt struck out 10 in a complete game victory in the win over ECSU - Babson's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory - while Besinger went 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.