MANSFIELD, CT- The second-seeded Wheaton College baseball team responded from a two-run deficit by scoring seven in the top half of the seventh inning while preventing host Eastern Connecticut State University from reaching the championship round of an NCAA New England or Northeast regional tournament for the first time since 1980, as the Lyons eliminated the number-four Warriors, 9-4 on Friday at Eastern Baseball Stadium.

After also defeating the Warriors in the regular season, Wheaton advances to Friday's 7:45 p.m. elimination game and will face the winner of today's next contest between third seed Western New England College and eighth-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine.  Improving to 34-9, the Lyons entered today ranked 14th nationally and second in the region.  Ranked 20th in the country and fourth in New England, Eastern finishes its season at 31-15.

Junior Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) went 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Lyons, while classmate Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) and freshman Eric Jensen (Gorham, NH/Gorham) each notched two hits with two RBI, with Skelley smacking a pair of doubles.  Senior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) scored two runs and drew a pair of walks, while freshman Sean Ryan (Norton, MA/Norton) had two walks.

Sophomore righty David Longley (Brunswick, ME/Brunswick) earned the win in relief, fanning two while surrendering one run on three hits in two innings.  Freshman starter Corey Laliberte (Fall River, MA/B.M.C. Durfee) tossed five shutout innings before running into trouble in the sixth, as he finished with two earned runs allowed on three hits with three strikeouts.

Three Eastern players finished with two hits apiece, including junior starting pitcher Jim Schult (Wappingers Falls, NY/John Jay), who also swiped two bases.  On the mound, he twirled five shutout frames to begin the game but yielded three earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks over six-plus innings.  Classmate Bill Roveto (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) took the loss in relief.

A pitcher's duel between Laliberte and Schult ensued from the outset, as the tandem combined to allow just three hits while holding batters to 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position during the first five frames.  Laliberte fanned two batters in the bottom of the fourth, while Schult struck out the side in the fifth.  In the home half of the fifth, Laliberte received some stellar defense from his shortstop, as Jensen took away a base hit by snagging a line drive deep in the hole.

During the top of the sixth, Wheaton's offense provided the Lyon righthander with a pair of runs.  Malaguti started the rally by drawing a leadoff walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Munley's single up the middle.  With two down, Jensen singled home Munley with a base knock to left.

The Warriors broke through in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs on four hits in taking a 4-2 edge.  The inning began with a throwing error and was followed by hits for four of Eastern's next five batters, including a pair of doubles.  The lone non-hit came on a sacrifice fly to right.

The Lyons batted around in the seventh, as Skelley led off with a double before sophomore Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) and Ryan drew back-to-back walks to jam the bags.  Malaguti ripped a single through the right side to bring the Blue and White within 4-3, and sophomore Dan Haugh's (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) base on balls scored Landers to knot the score.  Munley's sac fly to left gave the Lyons the lead for good, while Jensen and junior Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) produced consecutive run-scoring singles and Skelley doubled home two to complete the scoring.