GORHAM, ME- Wheaton College baseball freshman Sean Ryan's (Norton, MA/Norton) seventh-inning sacrifice fly delivered what proved to be the game-winning run during the nationally-ranked Lyons' 5-4 victory over non-conference foe University of Southern Maine on Friday at USM Baseball Stadium.

Collecting its 11th straight victory, which ties for the fourth-longest winning streak in school history, Wheaton improved to 28-7.  Sweeping the Huskies while raising its mark against Little East Conference (LEC) teams to 6-1, the Blue and White entered today's action ranked 18th by D3baseball.com and second regionally by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA).  Southern Maine fell to 17-14-1.

For the second game in as many days, a relief pitcher earned the Lyon win, as freshman Mike McGinnis (Mashpee, MA/Mashpee) picked up his third victory after tossing 2.1 shutout innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts.   Senior closer Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) worked a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.  Classmate Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) went 5.2 innings, yielding just one earned run while fanning four batters and walking none during the no-decision.

Senior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) went 2-for-4 with two runs as Wheaton's lone repeat hitter, junior Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) drove in a pair of runs on a double in the sixth, and sophomore Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) tripled to begin the Blue and White's seventh-inning rally.  Freshman Eric Jensen (Gorham, NH/Gorham) drew two walks.

Five different Huskies recorded two hits each, freshman Tucker White (Deerfield, NH/Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) plated a pair of runs, and senior southpaw Mark Schmidt (Gorham, ME/Gorham) was saddled with his second setback to the Lyons this season, giving up five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks over 6.2 innings.

Sophomore Dan Haugh's (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) two-out single in the first brought around Malaguti, who reached base with a double, for Wheaton's initial run.  The Lyons had a golden opportunity in the fourth go for naught, as they loaded the bases with one down but came away empty.  Southern Maine also had its chances, as the hosts stranded six runners through five.

Malaguti singled and advanced a base on a wild pitch to open the sixth and, three batters later, senior Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) made the score 2-0 by belting a base knock to left center.  After a Wheaton walk, Raad's two-bagger to left center scored a pair while extending his team's lead to 4-0.

The hosts came right back in the home half, using four hits and two Lyon miscues to push across three unearned runs and four total for a 4-4 knot.  White accounted for half of the scoring thanks to a two-RBI triple.  After Wheaton went ahead 5-4 in the seventh, the Lyons threatened for more in the ninth, putting two runners on with two out, but Southern Maine induced a groundout to avoid further damage.

In the last half of the ninth, the Huskies put the tying run on with a single and stolen base to begin the frame.  However, during a sacrifice attempt by the next hitter, a batter's interference was called resulting in the first out.  A ground ball advanced the runner to third before Shepard forced another groundout to end the game.