WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Wheaton College (Mass.) senior starting pitcher Zach Begin (Georgetown, Mass.) struck out 10 and allowed just three hits and one unearned run over seven innings and sophomore AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) had three hits and knocked in three runs to lead the baseball team to a 5-3 victory over host Westfield State University this afternoon at Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.

The Lyons, who received votes in the most recent National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association/D3baseball.com Coaches Poll this week, win their 14th straight game to improve to 27-10 on the season, while the Owls fall to 22-13. Wheaton's win streak is tied for the fifth longest current streak in the nation and matches the program's fourth-longest success string from March 11-27, 2012.

Begin set down the first eight batters he faced in order and recorded at least one strikeout in all but one inning for Wheaton. He did not walk a batter during his outing. Guindon was 3-5 with a double from the top spot in the order and first year Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) was 3-5 with a run scored. Senior catcher Zach DeMattio (North Attleboro, Mass.) was 2-4 with a walk, a run batted in and a run scored and registered his 100th career hit with a single in the top of the fourth inning. Senior reliever Dom Cunha (Lincoln, R.I.) earned his ninth save of the season with a dominant ninth inning that saw him strike out the side.

Senior second baseman Zack Graveline (Prospect, Conn.) led the Westfield State offense going 2-3 with a run batted in, while graduate student first baseman Casey Boudreau (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was 1-4 with a double and an RBI. Junior starting pitcher Luke Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) (1-1) took the loss for the Owls, tossing an effective five innings while scattering seven hits with two earned runs to go with a strikeout.

The teams were scoreless through the first four innings of play until the Lyons grabbed the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, junior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) singled to lead off the inning and eventually came around to score on Guindon's base hit to center field. In the sixth, senior right fielder Jake Studley (Barrington, R.I.) led off with a double down the left field line and scored when DeMattio followed with a single to right center to give Wheaton a 2-0 margin. 

Westfield State got on the board in the seventh with a run to cut the deficit in half. Graduate student catcher Max Sliverman (Westford, Mass.) singled through the hole on the left side for just the second hit of the day for the Owls. A passed ball advanced Silverman to second and Boudreau rapped a double into the right-field corner, two batters later, to score Silverman to trim the lead to 2-1. 

The Lyons salted the game away with three runs in the eighth to take a 5-1 advantage. Wheaton's first three hitters all reached base to load the bases with no outs. DeMattio drew a leadoff walk, followed by a single to right from Teberio and a bunt single to third from junior shortstop Cavan Brady (Great Barrington, Mass.). Senior first baseman Drew Spirito (Cranston, R.I.) worked a walk to push a run across and Guindon knocked in two more runs with a two-out single to left center field.  

Westfield managed a rally in the bottom half of the inning, getting RBI singles from Graveline and senior center fielder Nick Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.). The Owls looked to continue the rally, but with two on and one out, Silverman lined into a double play with a smash up the middle that was gloved by Wheaton junior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.), who threw to Brady covering at second to double off Graveline on a bang-bang play that ended the threat.

The Lyons return to action on Friday, May 6 as the top seed in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament. Wheaton will face the winner of fourth-seeded United States Coast Guard Academy and number five seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Sidell Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch. Westfield State will be back in action on Friday, starting a three-game set against Bridgewater State University