NORTON, Mass. – Junior starting pitcher Ben Oliveira (Somerset, Mass.) gave up just one run on one hit over five innings and senior first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) knocked in two runs to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team to a 5-3 victory to salvage a split with visiting Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the second game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 18-16 overall and 9-6 in league play, while the Engineers dip to 14-16 and 9-4.
The teams combined for just 11 hits in the game.
Wheaton scored three times in the bottom of the first, before MIT got a run back in the second to make it 3-1. The Lyons increased their margin to 5-1 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The Engineers closed to within two runs after a two-run rally in the top of the eighth, but that was as close as they would get.
Oliveira gave up just one hit and surrendered three walks to go with a strikeout over five innings to improve to 5-1 on the year for Wheaton. Wagner was 1-3 with a walk in the game and sophomore right fielder Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.) homered and drew a walk. Sophomore center fielder Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, Mass.) contributed with a 2-4 effort that included two runs scored and a stolen base. Senior lefty reliever Josh Fischer (Hopkinton, Mass.) nailed down the win for the home team, allowing just one hit, while striking out three in an inning and a third to earn his eighth save of the season.
Junior second baseman Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) paced the MIT offense, going 1-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI. First year center fielder John Spivey (Saint Louis, Mo.) and sophomore catcher John Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) each singled home a run and scored a run. Junior starting southpaw Cole Foster (Austin, Texas) suffered the loss to drop to 2-4 after giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks in addition to four strikeouts.
The first four Lyons all reached to open the first inning, leading to three runs for Wheaton. Senior second baseman Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) and Lamond registered back-to-back singles to open the frame, before sophomore third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) worked a walk to load the bases. Wagner followed with a base on balls of his own to force in the first run of the game for the Lyons. Senior left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice that scored Lamond, and Wensley also crossed the plate on an error on the same play to give Wheaton a three-run margin.
The Engineers got a run back in the top of the second to cut the difference to 3-1. Graduate student left fielder CJ McCarthy (Pawling, N.Y.) doubled to left to open the frame and later scored on a fielder's choice by Dwyer.
The Lyons added two insurance runs with single runs in the fourth and fifth to take a four-run advantage. Cali supplied one of the runs with his third home run of the season over the left field fence with one out in the fourth. Wheaton scored its fifth run, courtesy of the legs of Lamond and Wagner's bat. Lamond served a single to center to lead off the frame, before stealing second and advancing to third after tagging up on a fly out to center field. Wagner laced a single up the middle to plate Lamond and give the home team a 5-1 advantage.
MIT rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the eighth with two outs to close the deficit to 5-3. Dwyer opened the frame with a single up the middle and later scored ahead of a single to center off the bat of Spivey. Moore followed with an RBI double to right field to bring Spivey around to score the Engineers' third and final run of the day.
Fischer was called upon to get the last four outs of the game for the Lyons and did just that, including the last three batters all being set down on strikes.
Wheaton returns to play on Tuesday, April 29 when it heads to Babson Park, Mass. to take on Babson College in the final conference game of the regular season at 3:30 p.m., while MIT heads across the river to take on Emerson College in Boston in NEWMAC play on the same day at the same time.
