NORTON, Mass. — Sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Ryan McCarroll (Clifton Park, N.Y.) allowed just one run through six and a third innings to lead the No. 11/14 Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over visiting Babson College, 4-1, this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference three-game series, at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. 

The Lyons, who are ranked 11th in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll and 14th in the Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association survey, have won six straight, 14 of their last 15 and 24 of their last 26 games and improve to 30-5 overall and 14-1 in league play. Wheaton captures its 19th NEWMAC regular season crown – all under Head Coach Eric Podbelski – and reaches the 30-win mark for the 14th time in the program's 26-year history, including two seasons shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Beavers fall to 22-14 and 10-5.

The Lyons wasted no time with a run in the bottom of the first before Babson tied it with a run of its own in the fifth. Wheaton scored three times in the sixth to provide the difference of the game.

McCarroll improved his record to 8-1 on the season after allowing six hits and a pair of walks to go with three strikeouts for the Lyons. Junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) was one of two Wheaton players with multiple hits, going 2-4 with a solo home run, while senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) was 2-4 with a run scored. Sophomore left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) was 1-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored and sophomore Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) and sophomore first baseman Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) each singled and knocked in a run. Senior lefty reliever Zach Nichols (Chicopee, Mass.) earned his fourth save of the season with a scoreless ninth, including a strikeout.  

Senior left fielder Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.) and senior center fielder Patrick Manning (Weymouth, Mass.) each recorded two singles in four trips to pace the Beavers, while Manning also scored a run. Senior left-handed starting pitcher Tim Noone (Needham, Mass.) suffered the loss to dip to 4-2 after yielding four runs on eight hits and a walk in addition to four strikeouts in six innings.

Guindon wasted no time in putting the Lyons on the board, crushing the third pitch he saw well over the left field fence to lead off the bottom of the first with his second long ball of the season and give Wheaton a 1-0 edge.

Babson matched the run in the top of the fifth inning to knot the game at 1-1. Manning opened the frame with a single to center, before Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, N.Y.) placed a perfect bunt that was out of the diving Lyon first baseman's reach to put both runners on base without an out. The runners moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt before first year first baseman Chris Basile (Miami Beach, Fla.) reached on a fielder's choice when Brady elected to cut down Pirkl at third with Manning coming across to score the lone run for the Beavers. 

The first three Wheaton hitters all reached base as part of a three-run sixth inning to give the home team the lead for good. Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) took a pitch off his helmet to open the inning, before Brady singled through the left side. Matos ripped a double down the line past the draw in first baseman to plate Croteau and put Brady on third. Teberio grounded out to knock in Brady with an all-important third run, before Beauregard came through with a single dumped into right field to drive in Matos and give the Lyons a 4-1 margin.

Babson put runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but senior right-handed reliever Max Pierce (Scituate, R.I.) got out of the frame when Basile grounded to Croteau at third, who stepped on the bag and threw across the diamond to complete the twin killing and end the inning and the threat. Nichols nailed down the win with a dominant ninth, popping the first two Beavers up with putouts in foul ground before fanning the final Babson batter to end the game.

The teams will meet again tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. to begin a doubleheader in Babson Park, Mass.