NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team enjoyed a five-run fifth to overcome a two-run deficit for a 9-6 victory over visiting United States Coast Guard Academy this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The Lyons win their ninth straight game and extend their home-win streak to 20 in a row to match State University of New York Brockport for the longest home success string in the nation. Wheaton is now 22-10 overall and 11-3 in league play, while the Bears fall to 17-12 and 8-6.

Sophomore center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) and senior right fielder Jake Studley (Barrington, R.I.) were both 2-5 with a run batted in for the Lyons. Studley hit a solo home run. First year Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) was 1-4 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored. Junior shortstop Cavan Brady (Great Barrington, Mass.) reached base three times with a walk and two singles and junior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) knocked in a pair of runs. Junior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) tied a school-record by getting hit with a pitch three times to match the mark set by Jeff Lieneck vs. Babson College on April 10, 2010. The Wheaton bullpen combined to throw four and two-thirds innings of two-hit shutout ball, while striking out six and issuing no walks. First year relief pitcher Jackson Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) picked up the win to improve to 2-0 after going an inning and two-thirds and fanning two batters, while yielding two hits. Junior Max Pierce (Scituate, R.I.) earned a hold with two hitless frames that saw him strike out two batters, while senior Dom Cunha (Lincoln, R.I.) earned his league-leading seventh save with a hitless ninth that included a pair of strikeouts.

Junior catcher Greg Boland (Acworth, Ga.) paced the Coast Guard offense by going 2-4 with a home run, three runs batted in and two runs scored, while sophomore left fielder John Carroll (Yardley, Pa.) was 1-4 with a double and two RBI. Junior center fielder Blake Carroll (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) was 1-3 with two runs scored and a solo homer. Senior lefty Dan Wolf (Pass Christian, Miss.) (2-1) suffered the loss after giving up five runs (three earned) on two hits and a walk in an inning of work.

The Lyons sent 11 batters to the plate in the fifth during a five-run inning to take the lead for good at 9-6. Studley began the frame by hitting a rocket over the left field fence for his NEWMAC-leading eighth home run of the season to pull Wheaton to within 6-5. The next six Lyons all reached base. Senior first baseman Drew Spirito (Cranston, R.I.) was hit by a pitch, followed by a Teberio walk and a bunt single down the third base line from Brady to load the bases. Spirito scampered home with the tying run on a wild pitch, before Croteau reloaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch. Wirtanen reached on a fielder's choice to score Teberio with the go-ahead run. Guindon came through with a two-out single up the middle to plate Brady and junior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) gave the home team some insurance with an RBI single through the left side to give Wheaton a 9-6 lead.

Lyon senior starting pitcher Zach Begin (Georgetown, Mass.) quickly set down the first two Coast Guard batters he faced in the first inning before Blake Carroll worked a 1-2 count into a base on balls to keep the inning alive. Boland also found himself down 1-2 in the count before working it full and then hitting a two-run homer over the center field fence for a 2-0 visitors' lead.

Wheaton matched the runs in the bottom of the second for a 2-2 tie. Brady drew a one-out walk and later scored on an error and Croteau was hit by a pitch and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of first year left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.).

The Bears reclaimed the lead in the top of the third when Blake Carroll hit his fifth home run of the season over the left field fence for a 3-2 edge. Teberio returned the favor for the Lyons with a two-run blast to left field to score Spirito and give Wheaton a 4-3 margin after three innings of play.

Coast Guard answered to take the lead for the third time with three runs in the fifth for a 6-4 lead. Senior second baseman Nate Nam (Cypress, Calif.) worked a leadoff walk, before first year Wyatt Duthu (Madison, Ala.) laced a single up the middle. Boland delivered a run-scoring single down the left field line to knot the game at 4-4. Carroll gave the Bears a 6-4 lead with a two-run double to right center, but ended the inning getting thrown out at third base trying to stretch the knock into a triple. 

The Lyons return to the diamond on Friday, April 29 when they travel to Babson Park, Mass. to begin a three-game NEWMAC series with Babson College at 3:30 p.m., while Coast Guard hosts Springfield College on the same day at the same time for the first of three games over two days with the Pride.