CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Senior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) matched his career high with five runs batted in, including a grand slam home run, to lead the No. 16/18 Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team to a 15-8 victory over host Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep at Fran O'Brien Field in Cambridge, Mass. The win also gives the Lyons a three-game series sweep over the Engineers.

Wheaton, which is ranked 16th in the most recent Collegiate Baseball American Baseball Coaches Association national poll and 18th by D3baseball.com, has won seven straight, 11 of its last 12 and 21 of its last 23 to improve to 23-4 overall and a perfect 9-0 in league play, while the Engineers drop to 9-14 and 4-5.

The Lyons scored six runs in the top of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie and take a 9-3 lead over the Engineers, but the home team rallied for five runs in the eighth to close to within 9-8. Wheaton effectively put the game away with another six spot in the ninth to give it 15 runs and mark the third straight game with double-digit runs and hits against MIT.

Wirtanen was 2-4 with his third homer of the season for the Lyons, while senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) was 3-5 with two runs batted in, a walk and two runs scored. Senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) smacked a pair of doubles and knocked in two runs to go with three runs scored and junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) also cracked two doubles as part of a 3-6 effort that saw him score three times and drive in a run. Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) also drove in three runs and reached base three times with a pair of base on balls and a single. Senior right-handed Max Pierce (Scituate, R.I.) earned the win to improve to 3-0 on the year after hurling two innings and allowing four runs on three hits and two walks to go with a pair of strikeouts. Junior right-handed starting pitcher Liam Goldthwaite (Braintree, Mass.) allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk to go with a pair of strikeouts in five innings of work. 

Junior first baseman Tyler Godfrey (Rowley, Mass.) led the Engineers, going 3-3 with a pair of doubles, three runs batted in and a run scored, while starting right-handed pitcher Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) was 2-2 with a homer, two RBI, a pair of walks and two runs scored. Senior second baseman Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) was 3-6 with a double, two runs scored and a run batted in and senior catcher Jake Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) finished the day, going 2-5 with a run scored. Senior lefty reliever Matt Leonard (San Antonio, Texas) was charged with the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk to go with a strikeout in an inning and two-thirds.  

Wheaton rallied for six runs in the top of the seventh to snap a 3-3 tie and take a 9-3 lead behind three hits and an error in the frame. Sophomore Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) smacked a leadoff single, followed by a bases on balls issued to junior right fielder Amedeo Ucci (Warwick, R.I.), before Maher stroked a double to center to plate Beauregard with the go-ahead run. Croteau knocked in Ucci with a ground out to make it 5-3 for the Lyons. Brady was intentionally walked and sophomore left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) worked a two-out walk to load the bases for Wirtanen, who delivered with his first career grand slam over the left field fence to supply the big blow and give Wheaton a 9-3 cushion. 

MIT responded in the bottom of the eighth with five runs to make it a one-run game at 9-8. Junior center fielder Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) singled and Kyle Sonandres doubled to the gap in right center to bring him around to score the home team's fourth run of the game. Jake Solandres put runners on the corners with an infield single and Cartwright was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior left fielder Kennan Gumbs (New York, N.Y.) was issued a free pass to force in a run, before Godfrey launched a bases-clearing double to right center to plate three runs and cut the deficit to 9-8 for the Engineers. 

The Lyons' bats gave their pitchers a sigh of relief by scoring six more runs in the top of the ninth to give Wheaton a 15-8 advantage. Brady and Matos came up with back-to-back singles to open the frame and put runners on the corners, before Wirtanen picked up his fifth RBI of the contest with a ground out. Sophomore first baseman Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) later roped a single down the left field line to score Matos and give the Lyons an 11-8 lead. Beauregard followed with a single to center, before Guindon came through with a two-out double down the right field line to bring home Wheaton's 12th run of the game. Maher followed with a base on balls to set up a run-scoring walk drawn by Croteau for run number 13. Brady capped the day's scoring with a two-run single to center field. 

MIT cracked the scoring column with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the second when Cartwright helped his own cause as the starting pitcher and blasted a home run over the center field fence for a 1-0 edge. 

The Lyons responded with a pair of runs in the third to take a 2-1 lead. Cartwright struck out the first two batters he faced to open the frame, before Guindon singled to left center and Maher doubled to right center to plate Guindon with the game-tying run. Croteau singled through the left side for the third straight hit of the inning to drive in Maher and provide a one-run lead for the visitors.

Wheaton extended its lead to 3-1 with a run in the top of the fifth when Guindon belted a double to left center and took advantage of a bobbled ball and circled the rest of the bases for the Lyons' third run of the contest. 

MIT pulled to within a run with some two-out timely hitting in the bottom of the inning. Kyle and Jake Sonandres struck consecutive singles before Cartwright came through again with a two-out RBI single to right center to make it 3-2. The Engineers continued their offensive momentum with a run in the sixth to tie the game. Godfrey ripped a leadoff double down the right field line and later scored on a single up the middle from first year third baseman Lawrence Tang (Hopkinton, Mass.) to even the score.

Wheaton returns to action tomorrow when it heads to Springfield, Mass. to take on Western New England University at 1:00 p.m., while MIT meets NEWMAC foe Worcester Polytechnic Institute on April 18 at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass. for a 3:30 first pitch.