NORTON, Mass. – No. 4 Eastern Connecticut State University baseball scored five times in the top of the fourth inning, en-route to a 7-4 victory over No. 21 Wheaton College (Mass.) this afternoon at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons, who are ranked in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll have their 10-game win streak snapped and fall to 12-3 on the season. Wheaton's 29-game home win string also comes to an end. The streak was the longest in the nation of any school in all three NCAA divisions, dating back to 2019. The Warriors improve to 14-3 on the season.

The Lyons outhit Eastern Connecticut, 10-9, in the game and scored two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead. The Warriors rallied for five runs in the top of the fourth and never trailed after that. Eastern Connecticut tacked on two more runs in the sixth to take a 7-2 advantage, before Wheaton got two back in the seventh to cut the deficit to 7-4.

Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) paced the Lyons at the plate with a 2-4 effort and an RBI, while sophomore first baseman Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) knocked in a pair of runs. Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) was 2-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and senior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) was 2-3 with a run scored. Junior righty Liam Goldthwaite (Braintree, Mass.) suffered the loss to dip to 3-1 after allowing five runs on seven hits to go with a strikeout in four innings. 

First year designated hitter Jared Clark (Bristol, Conn.) and senior third baseman Brent Cosculluela (Miami, Fla.) each homered and combined to drive in five runs to lead the Warriors. Clark drove in three runs and was 1-3, while Cosculluela knocked in two runs on a 1-4 day. Senior catcher Matt Malcolm (East Lyme, Conn.) was 2-2 with a double, two walks, a run batted in and a run scored and junior left fielder Josh Cofrancesco (Southington, Conn.) was 2-4 with a double and two runs scored. Junior right-hander Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, N.H.) picked up the victory to improve to 4-1 after giving up four runs on eight hits and a walk to go with four strikeouts in six and two-thirds innings for Eastern Connecticut State. 

The Warriors erased a 2-0 deficit with five runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. Junior Zach Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) led off the frame with a single through the left side, before Malcolm doubled him home with Eastern Connecticut's first run of the day. Junior Ryan Parent (Southington, Conn.) followed with a single through the right side to bring around Malcolm with the tying run. Cofrancesco laced a double down the right field line to put runners in scoring position for Clark, who cracked a sacrifice fly to center to plate Parent with the go-ahead run. Cosculluela gave the Warriors some breathing room with a two-run homer to right to give the visitors a 5-2 margin.

Eastern Connecticut State added two more runs in the sixth when Cofrancesco singled to right with two outs and came around to score ahead of Clark's first collegiate homer to make it 7-2.

Wheaton used some two-out magic of its own with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore designated hitter Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) drew a walk and junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) reached on an infield single to shortstop with two outs to keep his hitting streak alive at 10 games. Senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) came through with a single to left center to plate Beauregard, before Croteau delivered a run-scoring single to left field to cut the deficit to 7-4, but it was the last run of the day for the Lyons.

Wheaton got on the board first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 margin. Wirtanen and sophomore left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) struck consecutive one-out singles to put runners on the corners, before Matos scampered to second on a wild pitch to set up Teberio. The second-year first baseman roped a single to right field to bring home both runners and give the Lyons a 2-0 lead. 

Wheaton returns to action on Thursday, March 30 when it heads to Providence, R.I. to take on Rhode Island College at 3:00 p.m., while the Warriors host Worcester Polytechnic Institute tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.