SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Wheaton College baseball team suffered its
first loss to Springfield College since 2004 before rebounding to
salvage a split in Sunday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic
Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams at Berry-Allen
Field. The Lyons won by an 8-1 count following a 4-1 setback
in game one.
Returning to New England for the first time after a six-game
slate in Florida, Wheaton, which currently stands 17th nationally
by D3baseball.com, is 4-4. Springfield moved to 5-4.
In the opener, the Lyons struck first in the first but didn't
score again, as they were held to a single run for the initial time
this spring. Wheaton managed just four hits while
surrendering nine, as senior starter Nick Kostaras (North
Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) struck out five and walked
two during the complete-game loss. Offensively, sophomore
Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) tallied a double,
stolen base and run.
Landers led off the game with his two-bagger down the left field
line, moved to third on senior Jeff Lieneck's (Foxboro,
MA/Xaverian Brothers) sacrifice before scoring on
classmate Paul Malaguti's (Andover, MA/Andover)
sac fly.
Springfield responded with three runs on four hits in the home
half of the first, with junior Brian Harris (East Hartford,
CT/East Hartford) delivering the big blow with a two-out,
three-run double. That proved to more than enough run support
for classmate Mark Grant (Danbury, CT/Danbury),
who fanned two and walked a pair during the complete-game
win. His defense also came to his aid, turning three double
plays, including in each the sixth and seventh frames.
Sophomore Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's
Prep) drove in half of Wheaton's eight runs in game two,
while junior southpaw Kevin Calabro (Andover,
MA/Andover) earned his eighth career win and first of the
season, going six innings while scattering six hits with five
strikeouts and three walks.
The Lyons stretched a three-run lead to seven thanks to their
four-run ninth, while their bullpen quieted the Pride bats, as
sophomore David Longley (Brunswick, ME/Brunswick)
went 1-2-3 in each the seventh and eighth innings, fanning three in
the process. Freshman Mike McGinnis (Mashpee,
MA/Mashpee) pitched a perfect ninth, as Wheaton's hurlers
set down Springfield's final 12 batters in order.
Haugh's two-run double in the third began the scoring, as the
Blue and White never trailed. After the Pride made it a 2-1
ballgame after four, the Lyons slowly began to pull away with a run
in the fifth and another in the seventh. Malaguti singled
home Landers in the fifth, while junior Sean Munley
(Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) brought around
Landers in the seventh.
Wheaton's first four batters in the ninth reached base safely,
as Haugh's two-RBI single extended the lead to 6-1. Junior
Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings)
produced a two-run double with one down to complete the
scoring. For the game, Lieneck was one of three multi
hitters, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs.
Haugh had two hits and a run to go alongside his four RBI, while
Munley went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
The Lyons step away from league play on Tuesday with a game at
Brandeis University at 3:00 p.m.
