LEESBURG, Fla. - The Wheaton College baseball team suffered its first loss of the season on Monday, succumbing to a late-game rally against Rowan University during a 6-1 loss at Lake Sumter Community College.  The Profs scored five runs over the last three innings.

Ranked 21st nationally by D3baseball.com, Wheaton evened its record at 1-1, while Rowan raised its mark to 5-3.

Freshman righty Alec Palioca (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip Regional) turned in a strong outing during his collegiate debut, giving up just one run on four hits through six innings.  Taking the loss, he finished with three earned runs allowed on eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk in seven-plus innings.

Senior Sean Munley (Ewing, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) and sophomore Dan Gusovsky (Andover, Mass./Andover) each went 2-for-3, with Munley scoring a run and drawing a walk and Gusovsky recording an RBI and swiping a base.  Freshman Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) was 2-for-4 during his debut.

Wheaton struck first with a run in the second, as Munley drew a walk to lead off the frame, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a Gusovsky check-swing single down the right field line.  The Profs tied the score with a run in the top of the fourth.  Palioca and the Rowan hurler engaged in a pitcher's duel through six innings, as the teams combined for just one earned run and eight hits.  The pair also totaled 12 strikeouts.

After getting picked off in each the fifth and sixth frames, the Lyons strung together three hits in the seventh but came away empty, as a double-play ball and fly out to center field ended the threat.  Rowan extended its lead to 5-1 courtesy of a three-run eighth.  Wheaton only mustered a single over the final two innings, while the Profs added an insurance run in the ninth.

The Lyons return to the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex tomorrow morning to face nationally-ranked Keystone College at 9:30 a.m.  The Giants are ranked 23rd in the country.