East Providence, R.I. -- The Johnson & Wales University baseball team fell to Babson, 4-1 in a non-conference contest at Pierce Field on Friday afternoon.

Babson took the 1-0 lead in the top of the third when freshman Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.) led off with a double and later scored on sacrifice fly by senior Peter O'Toole (Salem, Mass.). Johnson & Wales responded in the bottom of the third after senior Jonathan Melendez (Providence, R.I.) hit a two-out single, advanced to second on a single by junior Nick Alosco (Mahopac, N.Y.) and later scored on a Babson error to knot the game at 1-1. The visiting Beavers regained the lead in the top of the seventh after back-to-back RBI singles by O'Toole and senior Jake Bartlett (Weymouth, Mass.) gave the squad the 4-1 advantage. Babson would then hold on for the 4-1 victory.

O'Toole went 1-for-4 with two RBI for Babson while Bartlett was 1-for-1 with one run and one RBI in the win for the Beavers. Melendez was 1-for-4 with a run scored in the setback for JWU.

Junior Jason Tsangarides (Hinsdale, Mass.) suffered the loss for Johnson & Wales, allowing four runs on five hits with six strikeouts in nine innings while Babson freshman Kyle Lyon (Flemington, N.J.) notched the complete-game victory, giving up one run on six hits with six strikeouts.

With the loss Johnson & Wales falls to 3-19 while Babson improves to 13-3 for the season. The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, April 3rd when they travel to St. Joseph's of Maine for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference double header at 1:00 p.m.