AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Junior shortstop Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.) knocked in five runs and hit a grand slam, while sophomore starting pitcher Greg Strite (San Jose, Calif.) hurled five innings of one-hit, shutout ball to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over Immaculata University, 12-2, this morning at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex as part of the RussMatt Central Baseball Invitational.
The Lyons win their fourth straight game to improve to 4-2 on the season, while the Mighty Macs fall to 1-9.
Wheaton collected 10 hits on the day to give it double-digit hits for the third straight game and 10 or more runs for the second game in a row.
Strite carried a no-hitter into the top of the fourth inning for the Lyons before surrendering a one-out single. He picked up his first win of the season to improve to 1-0 after striking out nine batters and allowing two walks. Toth also walked and scored a run, while senior left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) was 2-4 with two RBI, a double, a walk, a run scored and a stolen base. Junior first baseman Justin Colpack (Easthampton, Mass.) homered and scored three times and sophomore third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) was 2-5 with a double and a pair of runs scored.
Graduate student second baseman Steven Theisen (Garnet Valley, Pa.) reached base four times to lead Immaculata with a pair of singles and two walks to go with a stolen base and a run batted in. Graduate student Will Kelley (Broomall, Pa.) and senior Matt Passerini (Morgantown, Pa.) each contributed by going 1-3 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base. Senior starting pitcher Kade Breisblatt (Phoenixville, Pa.) suffered the loss to dip to 0-2 after giving up eight runs (four earned) on eight hits and three walks to go with a strike out in four complete innings. Junior left-handed reliever Brian Dino (Succasunna, N.J.) was outstanding in relief for the Mighty Macs, yielding just one hit and no walks over three innings, while fanning seven.
Wheaton scored the first eight runs of the game over the initial four innings, including a tone-setting six-run first.
Sophomore right fielder Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch with one out, before Wensley beat out a bunt single pushed down the third base side in the wet grass to put runners on first and second. Senior Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) followed with a two-run double to left center field to quickly give the Lyons a 2-0 margin. Colpack reached on an error and junior catcher Collin Reilly (Marshfield, Mass.) became the second batter in the inning to take a pitch off his body to load the bases with two outs. Toth stepped into the batter's box from the right side and hit a mammoth blast over the left field fence for his first collegiate home run and the Lyons' first grand slam of the season to give them a 6-0 lead.
Wheaton tacked on single runs in the second and fourth innings to increase its advantage to 6-0. Wensley slapped an opposite field double down the left field line, before Matos delivered a two-out double to the gap in left-center to plate Wensley with the seventh Lyon run. Colpack registered his first collegiate round tripper as well, hitting a high fly ball that finally landed on the other side of the fence to bump the Wheaton margin to 8-0.
In the meantime, Strite was working on a no-hitter in the fourth, before Theisen singled to left with Immaculata's first hit of the game.
Just when it looked like Wheaton might reach double digits much sooner, Dino came on in relief to shut the Lyons down for three innings, while the Mighty Macs put two runs on the board in the top of the sixth inning. Kelley opened the frame with a walk and Passerini singled down the left field line. Both runners moved into scoring position on a ground out, before Kelley scored on an infield single off the bat of Theisen to make it 8-1. Passerini later scored from third on the back end of a double-steal when the throw went to second to stop Theisen, but was off the mark.
The Lyons put the game away with four runs on just one hit in the eighth to halt the contest due to the 10-run rule after seven innings. Cali recorded the only hit of the frame with a single, while Wagner and Colpack were both hit by a pitch to load the bases. Consecutive base on balls issued to Matos, Reilly and Toth all resulted in RBI walks, before Matos scored the final run on a bases loaded wild pitch.
Wheaton returns to play tomorrow when it takes on University of Massachusetts Boston at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex at 4:00 p.m., while Immaculata plays Western New England University in Davenport, Fla. at 12:15 p.m.
