Box Score AUBURNDALE, Fla. - Trailing 7-5 heading into the bottom of the 11th, the Wheaton College baseball team put together a one out rally to defeat UMass. - Boston 8-7 in the RussMatt Invitational at Myrtle Lake.
After having a chance to score in the opening inning, Wheaton plated a run in the second with with an RBI triple to center by Zach Goodwin-Boyd. Ty Calabro came around to score on the play, while Goodwin-Boyd, who blazed around the bases, held up at third.
Dan Southerland, who got the start for the Lyons, sat the Beacons down in order in the third and the fourth before UMass. - Boston posted three runs in the fifth. The Beacons tacked on another run in the sixth to make it a 4-1 contest.
Wheaton responded in the eighth, scoring three runs on three hits and three Beacon errors. With the bases loaded, senior Joey Santigate singled to left, knocking in Nick Raposo and Josh LaJoie. Later in the inning with two outs and the bases still loaded, a UMass. - Boston error at first allowed the Lyons final run of the inning to come home.
First-year Zach Pipa, who came in to pitch in the seventh, sat the Beacons down in order in the top of the ninth. Wheaton managed a hit in the bottom half of the inning, but would not be able to score, forcing extra innings.
UMass. - Boston took the lead in the 10th with a single run coming in to score, but Wheaton matched them in their half of the inning. A double down the left field line from Tyler Walsh brought in Casey Twomey, who led off the inning with a single to left.
With the game now deadlocked at 5-5, the Beacons managed to score two in the 11th on two hits and a Lyon error. Trailing 7-5, Wheaton put together an all-around team effort to come from behind to get the victory.
The Lyon half of the inning began with a quick out before Jared Sharkey made his way on base with a single to right. Willy Boyd came in to pinch run for Sharkey and quickly moved to second courtesy of a Beacon error. A single to right by Twomey loaded the bases for the Lyons, setting up Jimmy Gianquitti for an RBI single to left. Now down by one, with the bases still loaded and one out, Calabro picked up his first RBI of the game after taking a pitch off the elbow. With the game tied, Goodwin-Boyd laced a long, high fly ball to to right, which was caught, but allowed enough time for Twomey to score.
Wheaton returns to the field at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 17 against Rutgers-Camden.
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