NORTON, Mass. — Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) was 3-5 with a home run and a career-high five runs batted in to lead the No. 16/18 Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over visiting Suffolk University this afternoon at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons, which are ranked 16th in the most recent Collegiate Baseball American Baseball Coaches Association national poll and 18th by D3baseball.com, have won eight of its last nine and 18 of its last 20 to improve to 20-4 overall, while the Rams fall to 7-12.

Wheaton saw 24 batters reach base via a hit (11), walk (12) or hit batter (1) in the game, while stealing seven bases to fall just one shy of the school record for thefts in a game. Thirteen different Lyons reached base during the afternoon.

Wheaton owned a 3-0 lead by the third inning, before Suffolk cut the deficit to 3-1 with a run in the fourth. The Lyons scored two in the fifth, four in the sixth and five more in the eighth inning to take a 14-1 advantage, before the Rams scored the final run of the contest in the top of the ninth.

Croteau scored three runs in the game as well for Wheaton to go with his third round tripper of the campaign, while junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) was 3-4 to give him seven hits in a span of two days, including a pair of doubles to go with three runs scored, two stolen bases and a walk. Sophomore designated hitter Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) was 2-3 with a pair of stolen bases, an RBI and a run scored. Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) drove in two runs with a double, drew two walks and scored a run. First year right-hander Benjamin Oliveira (Somerset, Mass.) picked up the win to improve to 2-0 after allowing just one run on two hits and no walks in addition to five strikeouts in five innings. 

Sophomore designated hitter Harry Painter (Essex, Mass.) hit a pair of homers for the second straight day to lead Suffolk at the plate. Graduate student first baseman Marc Birbiglia (Saint James, N.Y.) also collected two hits in four at-bats, including a double. Senior right-handed starter Caleb Piwnicki (Alton, N.H.) suffered the loss after giving up nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and four walks to go with three strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings to drop to 1-1 on the season.

The Lyons opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second when senior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) worked a walk and later scored on a two-out single through the left side from Beauregard to give the home team a 1-0 edge. 

Wheaton added two more runs in the third to make it 3-0. Guindon led off the third with a hustle-double dumped into right field, before scoring on a single up the middle from Croteau. Sophomore left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) delivered an RBI single through the left side after Croteau stole second to plate the third baseman with the Lyons' third run.

The Rams got a run back in the top of the fourth when Painter crushed a pitch over the right field fence to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Croteau answered with a blast of his own over the right field fence in the bottom of the fifth to bring home Guindon, who had opened the frame with a double down the left field line, and increased Wheaton's margin to 5-1.

The Lyons gave themselves some comfortable breathing room with a four-run sixth to take a 9-1 cushion. Beauregard singled, prior to Guindon and senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) each being issued two-out walks to load the bases. Croteau came through with a two-run single through the left side, before Brady roped a double down the left field line to bring home two more runs and give Wheaton an eight-run lead.

The Lyons scored five more runs in the eighth, after the first two hitters in the inning were retired, with just one hit, but capitalized on seven walks, including three with the bases loaded. Junior pinch-hitter Will Haskell (Natick, Mass.) registered the biggest blow in the inning with a two-run single to right field, before junior Amedeo Ucci (Warwick, R.I.), sophomore pinch-hitter Ty Cali (Taunton, Mass.) and first year pinch-hitter Marcus Rodrigues (Lincoln, R.I.) each worked run-scoring base on balls.

Painter's second long ball of the afternoon and sixth of the season went over the center field fence to open the top of the ninth for Suffolk.

Wheaton returns to the diamond on Friday, April 14 when it hosts Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 3:30 p.m for the first of a three-game New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference series this coming weekend, while the Rams head to Newton, Mass. tomorrow to take on Lasell University at 7:00 p.m.