NORTON, Mass. – Senior first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) knocked in five runs to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team to an 11-4 victory over visiting Emerson College in the nightcap of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons have won four of their last five and improve to 13-9 overall and 5-1 in league action, while the Lions fall to 7-12 and 1-5.
Wheaton scored seven runs in the first four innings and rapped out 11 hits for the game. Emerson scored a single run in the fifth and two more in the seventh to pull within 7-4, but the Lyons scored four times in the eighth to secure the win.
The first four hitters in the Wheaton line-up combined to go 9-16 with eight RBI. Wagner was 3-4 with a run scored and a walk and drove in five runs in a game for the fourth time this season for Wheaton, while sophomore third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) was 2-4 with two RBI, a stolen base and three runs scored. Sophomore center fielder Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.) was 2-4 with a double, a walk, three runs scored and a run batted in and senior second baseman Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) contributed with two singles and three runs scored in four at-bats and drew a walk to go with a school-record tying three stolen bases. Sophomore starting pitcher Greg Strite (San Jose, Calif.) picked up the win to raise his record to a perfect 4-0 after giving up two runs on three hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts in five innings.
Junior second baseman Justin Fields (Glen Ridge, N.J.) led the Lions at the plate, going 2-4 with two runs batted in, while senior right fielder Jordi Arboleda (New York, N.Y.) was 1-3 with a double and two RBI. Graduate student Chris Ferara (Coral Springs, Fla.) contributed with a 2-3 outing to go with a pair of runs scored, Graduate student starting hurler Aidan Rice (Columbus, Ohio) suffered the loss to drop to 2-4 after allowing six runs on seven hits and a walk over three and a third innings to go with a pair of strikeouts.
The Lyons got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Lamond dumped a single into left field and later scored when Wagner laced a two-out single up the middle to give Wheaton a 1-0 edge.
Emerson matched its host with a run in the top of the third for its first run of the day in a span of 11 ? innings. Ferara worked a lead-off walk, moved to second on a ground out, and later scored on a two-out single to right off the bat of Fields to knot the game at 1-1.
The Lyons scored three runs in the bottom of the inning and three more in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-1 advantage. Beauregard ripped a single up the middle and stole second, which paid immediate dividends with Lamond belting a double to the left-center gap to score Beauregard with the go-ahead run. Wensley followed with an RBI single up the middle and promptly stole second to put himself into scoring position with one out. Wagner delivered a run-scoring single to plate Wensley and give Wheaton a 4-1 margin.
The Lyons loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth and cashed in with three runs on just one hit to take a six-run lead. Junior shortstop Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.) opened the inning with a single to center field and Beauregard and Wensley were later issued walks to load the bases. Wagner also drew a walk to force in a run and give him another RBI. Beauregard scampered home on a wild pitch to score Wheaton's sixth run. Sophomore designated hitter Nick Ayres (Duxbury, Mass.) drew a walk to reload the bases and senior left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to bring home Wensley and increase the home team's cushion to 7-1.
The Lions got a run back in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-2. Sophomore Braeden O'Connell (Boxford, Mass.) worked a two-out walk and scored all the way from first when Arboleda belted a double to right field.
Emerson took advantage of an error and tacked on two more runs to pull within 7-4 in the seventh. The Lions loaded the bases with one out after senior Robby Posio (Queens, N.Y.) reached on an error, Ferara singled and O'Connell drew a walk. Arboleda followed with a sacrifice fly to right to plate Posio with the third run. Fields came through with an RBI single to right to knock in Ferara with Emerson's last run of the afternoon.
The Lyons put four runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth to give them a comfortable 11-4 advantage heading into the final frame. Beauregard stung a single up the middle, before Lamond drew a walk and Wensley followed with a single to center to score Beauregard. Wagner repeated the theme of his day with another RBI opportunity fulfilled, drilling a single down the left field line to knock in both Lamond and Wensley to increase the home team's margin to 10-4. Junior pinch-hitter Colin Reilly (Marshfield, Mass.) capped the day's scoring with a booming double to left field to bring Wagner around to score the 11th run for Wheaton.
Wheaton returns to the diamond on Tuesday, April 8 when it hosts United States Coast Guard Academy in NEWMAC action with a 3:30 p.m. first pitch at Sidell Stadium, while Emerson heads to Northboro, Mass. on the same day to take on NEWMAC foe Worcester Polytechnic Institute at New England Baseball Complex at 3:30 p.m.
