WORCESTER, Mass. – No. 2 Clark baseball (18-20) opened the NEWMAC Tournament with a home contest against No. 3 Babson (25-15) on Saturday afternoon and fell to the Beavers 4-2 from Granger Field.

No. 2 Clark will return to action tomorrow in an elimination game against No. 4 MIT beginning at 9:30 a.m., with the game being played at Wheaton. No. 3 Babson will take on No. 1 Wheaton at 12:30 p.m.

How it Happened

• Junior Maxwell Gitlin took the mound for the Cougars and after allowing a leadoff single to Tanner Santos, the southpaw set down the next two batters and junior Anthony LoCasto threw out Santos trying to reach second to end the inning.
• Clark got on the board in the bottom of the first when sophomore Tyler Jones belted a homer to left field to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
• Gitlin and Babson's Tim Noone each set down the side in order in the second before the Beavers plated three runs in the top of the third as Justin Guest, Patrick Manning, and Jack Pirkl each scored to give the Beavers a 3-1 edge.
• Senior Ethan Belt singled to center in the bottom of the third and stole second before Noone got out of the jam by striking out two of the next three batters to end the third inning.
• Gitlin tossed a scoreless top of the fourth and in the bottom of the inning, junior Anthony LoCasto and sophomore Carter Doran each reached base with two outs, but Noone got out of the inning with a forced fly out to keep it a 3-1 contest.
• Gitlin again allowed no hits in the top of the fifth before junior Samuel Farrell cut the deficit to one with a homer to left field to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
• The Beavers got a base runner in the top of the sixth as Chris Basile singled to right center before Gitlin forced a 4-6-3 double play to clear the bases.
• Noone and Gitlin each tossed scoreless half innings and in the bottom of the seventh, Sullivan singled to right field before Noone forced a 4-6-3 double play as the Beavers took a 3-2 lead into the top of the eighth.
• In the top of the eighth, Gitlin struck out the first batter of the inning before Brant Savage singled to short and the southpaw got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.
• Farrell singled to center and stole second, but was picked off at second and Caulfield doubled to right center before being left on third base as Clark trailed 3-2 heading into the ninth.
• Michael Cook hit a leadoff homer to left center on the top of the ninth and Ike Kiely and Ryan Hvozdovic each singled, but Gitlin set down the next three batters as the Beavers took a 4-2 edge into the bottom of the ninth.
• Noone was able to retire the side in order in the bottom of the ninth as Babson came away with a 4-2 win.

Inside the Stats

• Gitlin pitched a complete game, struck out three batters, and only allowed one earned run.
• Farrell went 2-3 with a homer, a run scored, and a stolen base.
• Jones also belted a homer and drove in a run.
• Clark recorded seven total hits in the game.