NEWPORT, R.I. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team dropped a 10-5 decision to host No. 15 Salve Regina University this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference twinbill at Toppa Field in Newport, R.I.
The Lyons fall to 16-13 overall and 8-3 in NEWMAC play, while the Seahawks improve to 20-7 and 8-3.
The game was played in a tidy hour and 50 minutes. Salve Regina rang up 13 hits, including seven extra-base knocks.
The Seahawks notched at least one run in each of the first five frames to take a 10-0 lead. Wheaton scored twice in the seventh and three times in the ninth to cut the deficit in half.
The Lyons were led by senior left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.), who was 2-4 with a home run, four runs batted in and a run scored. Senior Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) was 2-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, while sophomore third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) contributed with a hit in three at-bats to go with a run scored and a walk. Sophomore left-handed starter Aiden Cardoza (Dartmouth, Mass.) allowed nine runs on 11 hits and struck out one over three and a third innings to get tagged with the loss and drop to 2-4 on the season for Wheaton.
Graduate student third baseman Wil McCarthy (Pembroke, Mass.) paced Salve Regina with a 2-3 day that saw him homer, double and knock in three runs to go with two runs scored. Junior left fielder Evan O'Rourke (Arlington, Mass.) was 2-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored and junior right fielder Shane Williams (Georgetown, Mass.) was 1-4 with a home run and two runs batted in. Senior catcher Brady Smolinski (North Grafton, Mass.) doubled and singled in four at-bats to go with a pair of runs scored. Graduate student starting pitcher Brayden Clark (Beverly, Mass.) picked up the win to improve to 7-2 after yielding five runs on six hits and two walks in addition to fanning six hitters in eight and a third innings of work.
The Seahawks loaded the bases with one out in the first, before scoring the game's first run. Graduate student center fielder Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, before senior Christian Homa (Fairfield, Conn.) singled to left field. One out later, graduate student Hunter Yaworski (Brooklyn, Conn.) also took a pitch off his body to push the sacks full. McCarthy delivered the first run of the contest with a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Grover.
Salve Regina added three more runs in the second to increase its lead to 4-0. The Seahawks loaded the bases again with one out after graduate student Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) laced a leadoff single through the right side, before Smolinski and Grover both followed with singles to put a runner on every base. Homa registered the second sacrifice fly in as many innings for Salve Regina, before O'Rourke ripped a two-run double to left field to give the home team a 4-0 lead.
The Seahawks quickly added to their lead in the third with the first two batters reaching and scoring. McCarthy opened the frame with a double and Williams hit his first round-tripper of the year to bump Salve Regina's lead to 6-0.
The Seahawks benefited from the long ball again in the fourth as part of a three-run inning to increase their advantage to 9-0. O'Rourke served a one-out single to center, before coming around to score on a double to center field off the bat of Yaworski. McCarthy followed with his second home run of the season to deliver Salve Regina's eighth and ninth runs of the game.
In the meantime, Clark carried a perfect game into the fifth inning for the Seahawks, before Wagner ripped a single to left to open the frame and give the Lyons their first base runner of the day.
Salve Regina tallied its final run of the game in the bottom of the frame. Smolinski drilled a double to the left-center gap and later scored on a ground out to put the home team into double-digits in the scoring column
Wheaton got on the board with a pair of runs in the seventh. Wagner reached on a fielder's choice and Matos followed with his ninth homer of the season to cut the deficit to 10-2. The Lyons tacked on three more runs in the ninth to cut the margin in half at 10-5, but it was as close as they would get for the game. Sophomore right fielder Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice and Wensley drew a walk to set up a one-out double down the left field line off the bat of Wagner to score Cali. Matos came through again with a two-run single to right-center field to plate Wensley and Wagner to make it a five-run game.
The teams will meet again in game two of the twinbill later today.
