NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College baseball team saw its five-game
winning streak come to an end on Sunday, falling to the University
of Massachusetts at Boston in Sidell Stadium by an 18-6 count. The
Lyons, who are receiving national votes from D3baseball.com, are
now 8-5, while the Beacons moved to 9-3. The squads met for the
just the second time, and for the first time since 2007.
Freshman Eric Jensen (Gorham, NH/Gorham) went
2-for-2 with two runs for the hosts while drilling his first
college home run, and junior Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro,
NH/Holderness School) and sophomores Dan Haugh
(Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) and Hal Landers
(Salem, NH/Salem) each provided two hits. Junior
Kevin Calabro (Andover, MA/Andover) took the loss,
yielding seven earned runs in three-plus innings.
Junior Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA/Newton North) led
UMass-Boston by going 4-for-5 with four runs, three RBI and two
doubles, while classmate Connor Reinfurt (Manchester,
NH/Northfield Mount Hermon School) was 3-for-5 with three
runs, three RBI and a pair of two-baggers. Junior Jose
Ramon Santos (Tenares, Dominican Republic/Madison Park Technical
Vocational) homered, while sophomore James Dalton
(Apopka, FL/Apopka) went five innings for the win,
striking out six. Senior Danny Gomez (East Boston, MA/East
Boston) notched a four-inning save.
The Beacons led 7-0 by the second inning behind four hits, three
walks and two Wheaton errors. Reinfurt had three RBI in that time,
including a two-run double during a four-run first frame.
UMass-Boston plated four more in the fourth, with three coming
around on a pair of wild pitches. Wheaton clawed away at the 11-0
deficit thanks to Jensen's solo homer in the fourth and a Haugh
two-out RBI single later in the frame, but the Lyons trailed by
nine after leaving nine runners on base through four frames.
UMass-Boston extended upon a 12-3 lead with four runs in the
seventh and single tallies in the eighth and ninth before Wheaton
showed a little life in the bottom of the ninth. Freshman
Justin Connor (Arlington, MA/Arlington) ripped a
two-run single for his first college hit, and junior Hadi Raad's (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) sacrifice fly
plated the third run of the frame, and the Lyons' final of the
game.
The Lyons continue non-league play Tuesday at Roger Williams
University at 3:30 p.m.
