NORTON, Mass. – Junior right-handed starter Ryan McCarroll (Clifton Park, N.Y.) tossed seven innings of three-hit shutout ball and junior first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) hit a two-run home run to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over visiting Brandeis University, 2-0, this afternoon at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons win their fifth straight game to improve to 6-3 in their home opener, while the Judges fall to 4-9.
The teams combined for eight hits in a game that lasted an hour and forty-five minutes.
McCarroll struck out 10 batters and allowed just one walk to earn the win and improve to 2-1 on the season for Wheaton. The outing marked the first time in his career that he did now allow a run. Wagner was 1-4 with a run scored and homered in his second straight game, while junior left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) reached base three times with a single, a walk and a hit batsman. Junior righty reliever Jackson Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) earned his first save of the season after hurling two innings of no-hit ball and struck out a pair of batters.
Sophomore designated hitter Jordan Greenaway (Clifton, N.J.), graduate student first baseman Eddie Zanor (Branford, Conn.) and graduate student right fielder Jake Freed (Vernon Hills, Ill.) each collected a single to pace the Brandeis offense. Graduate student left-handed starter Marc Maestri (Katonah, N.Y.) (2-2) pitched well in defeat for the Judges, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, while fanning eight batters in eight complete innings.
The Lyons scored the only runs of the afternoon in the bottom of the third inning. Matos kept the inning alive with a two-out infield single to first base, before Wagner blasted his third homer of the season over the left field fence to give Wheaton a 2-0 lead.
The Judges' reached second base just once in the game when Greenaway and Zanor collected back-to-back one-out singles in the top of the fourth, but the threat was quelled quickly with McCarroll inducing a double-play to end the frame.
Aside from the Wagner round-tripper, the Lyons advanced as far as third base just once to punctuate how tough runs were to come by in the game. Junior designated hitter Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) opened the bottom of the second with a single through the left side and first year third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) followed with a single to center. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, but Maestri escaped without further damage with a pop-up to the mound and a fly out to left field.
Wheaton pitching was dominant to close out the game, setting down 10 straight Brandeis hitters to end the contest.
The Lyons return to the diamond on Sunday, March 24 when they travel to Hartford, Conn. to take on Trinity College at 1:00 p.m., while the Judges host Lasell University on March 27 at 3:30 p.m.
