NORTON, Mass. — Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) knocked in three runs and senior starting pitcher Zach Clesas (Johnston, R.I.) allowed just two runs over seven innings to lead the No. 15 Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over visiting Emerson College, 6-2, this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons, who are ranked in the most recent Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com national polls, improve to 26-5 overall and 11-1 in league play and clinch a NEWMAC Tournament playoff berth. The Lions fall to 15-18 and 3-9.

Wheaton made the most of its six hits, scoring six times in the game. The home team scored four runs in the first two innings, including three in the second to take a 4-0 lead, before Emerson got on the board with a run in the top of the third. The Lions made it a two-run game with a run in the fifth, before the Lyons added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-2 margin.

Brady was 1-3 with a double and a stolen base for Wheaton, while Clesas allowed just six hits and no walks to go with five strikeouts to improve his season mark to 5-1. Junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, Mass.) was 3-4 with a walk, a triple, three runs scored, two stolen bases and a run batted in. Guindon now has five triples to rank as the sixth-most in a season in program history. Senior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) contributed with a 1-3 effort and drove in a run.

Senior third baseman Jake Hatch (Carlisle, Mass.) paced Emerson with a double and a triple in four at-bats, while knocking in a run and scoring a run. Senior Matt Nachamie (Merrick, N.Y.) also drove in a run and was 1-4. Junior right-hander Benny Guevara (Hobart, Ind.) suffered control problems early, but settled in and struck out the side in the third inning, leading to a game-high of 10 strikeouts. He allowed six runs (five earned) on four hits and three walks in six innings and was tagged with the loss to drop to 3-1.

The Lyons manufactured a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 edge. Guindon drew a leadoff walk, stole second and stood on third base following a bunt single down the third base line that refused to go foul off the bat of senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.). Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Guindon.

Wheaton scored three times in the bottom of the second to take a 4-0 lead. First year Nick Giangregorio (Belmont, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to open the frame, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score when Guindon laced a single up the middle to make it 2-0. Croteau later walked and Brady scorched a double down the left field line to plate both runners and give the Lyons a 4-0 margin.

The Lions cracked the scoring column with a run in the top of the third to make it a 4-1 game. Following two outs to start the frame, Hatch doubled down the left field line to keep the inning alive, before Nachamie dumped a single into center field to plate Hatch with the visitors' first run of the game to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Emerson rallied for another two-out run in the fifth to pull to within 4-2. Graduate student center fielder Quinton Copeland (Houston, Texas) punched a two-out single to center field and came around to score the Lions' second run when Hatch belted a triple to right center field.

Wheaton added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to increase its advantage to 6-2. Guindon ripped a leadoff triple to center field and later scored on an error to give the Lyons a three-run lead. Wirtanen singled home Wheaton's sixth run later in the inning to give the Lyons a 6-2 lead.