NORTHBORO, Mass. – Senior left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) hit a grand slam and knocked in four runs and classmate Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) also homered as part of a four-hit effort to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team to a 15-5 victory over host Worcester Polytechnic Institute this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference game at the New England Baseball Complex in Northboro, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 11-8 overall and 3-1 in league play, while the Engineers fall to 10-9 and 0-2.
The teams combined for 26 hits, including 14 for Wheaton.
The Lyons broke the game open with a nine-run second inning to take a 10-2 advantage. Wheaton scored three more runs in the third to expand its lead to double-digits and scored a single run in the fifth to take a 12-run lead. WPI scored three runs in the bottom of the frame, before the Lyons scored the final run in the seventh to give them a 10-run lead that held up after seven innings to end the contest due to the league's 10-run mercy rule.
Matos was 2-4 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored and Wagner added two doubles, two RBI and a career-high four runs scored for Wheaton. His four-hit day matched his output in Saturday's game two at Springfield College to give him consecutive four-hit outings. Sophomore third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) was 3-5 with two runs scored, a stolen base and a run batted in and senior second baseman Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) was 3-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored from the lead-off spot. Senior right-handed starter Ben Oliveira (Somerset, Mass.) improved to 2-1 on the season after allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts in five innings or work.
Junior first baseman Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, Conn.) led the Engineers at the plate, going 2-2 with three runs batted in, while first year shortstop Chuck Cappello (Southboro, Mass.) was 3-4 with an RBI. Senior right fielder Andrew Cash (Marlboro, Mass.) contributed with a 2-3 outing with a run scored and a double. Junior starting pitcher Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.) picked up the loss to drop to 0-1, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on five hits and a walk and a strikeout in one and a third innings.
WPI was unable to recover from the Lyons' nine-run outburst in the second that put it in an eight-run deficit at 10-2. Matos walked and sophomore catcher Tyler Bellan (Franklin, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to open the frame, before sophomore right fielder Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.) launched his first career home run over the center field fence to give Wheaton a 4-2 margin. Beauregard followed with a single to right and sophomore center fielder Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.) kept the line moving after getting hit by a pitch to set up a run-scoring single to right field from Wensley to increase the Lyons' lead to three. Wheaton loaded the bases when Wagner cracked a double that one-hopped the fence and sophomore designated hitter Nick Ayres (Duxbury, Mass.) worked a walk. Matos followed with a grand-slam to effectively break the game open and give the Lyons an eight-run cushion.
Wheaton took advantage of an outfield error in the third to score three runs in the inning and take a 13-2 lead. Wensley and Wagner collected back-to-back two-out singles, before Ayres hit a fly ball to center field that would have ended the inning without a run, but it was dropped and Wensley and Wagner both scored. Bellan later knocked in Ayres with a single up the middle.
The Lyons made the most of another WPI miscue in the fifth when Wagner doubled down the left field line and later scored when a two-out pop-up off the bat of Bellan was dropped to give Wheaton a 12-run advantage.
The Engineers got three runs back in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 14-5. Senior center fielder Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, N.J.) reached on a fielder's choice and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lattimer. Junior left fielder Jack Zawacki (Pittsord, N.Y.) followed with an RBI single to left center to drive in Cash, who had doubled, and a Cappello single to the left center gap, brought home WPI's final run with Zawacki crossing the plate.
Wagner drove his fourth home run of the season over the left field fence in the top of the seventh to give the Lyons the margin they needed to end the contest early.
Wheaton cracked the scoring column with a run in the top of the first for a 1-0 edge. Lamond reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and later scored on an infield error.
The Engineers got the run back and added another in the bottom of the inning to double their guests at 2-1. Wiberg reached on an infield single to open the inning and Burns walked, before a Cash single to right field loaded the bases with one out for Lattimer. The first baseman ripped a single to right center to plate Wiberg and Cash with WPI's first two runs of the day.
The Lyons return to action tomorrow when they host Worcester State University at Sidell Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch, while the Engineers host Wentworth Institute of Technology on April 3 at 3:30 p.m. at NEBC.
