NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team hung on for a 5-4 victory over visiting United States Coast Guard Academy this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons win their third in a row and five of their last six to improve to 14-9 overall and 6-1 in league play, while the Bears drop to 13-9 and 3-2.
Wheaton scored four times in the bottom of the fourth to break a 1-1 tie, but Coast Guard got two back in the sixth and another run in the ninth to make it a one run game before the Lyons closed it out for the win.
Junior starting pitcher Ben Oliveira (Somerset, Mass.) earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the year after giving up three runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out five for Wheaton. The Lyon bullpen was outstanding, allowing just two hits, while striking out seven to get the final 10 outs of the game over three and a third innings. Senior righty reliever Liam Goldthwaite (Braintree, Mass.) struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth, before giving way to classmate Josh Fischer (Hopkinton, Mass.), who earned his fifth save of the season after surrendering one unearned run on two hits and a walk to go with a pair of strikeouts. The first eight hitters in the Wheaton lineup all collected at least one hit on the day. Senior second baseman Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) was 1-4 with two stolen bases, a walk, a run batted in and a run scored, while senior first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) was 1-2 with an RBI and a walk. Sophomore third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) was 2-4 with a double for the Lyons.
Junior shortstop Rick Barkley (Bellevue, Wash.) hit a pair of solo homers as part of a 3-5 effort to lead the Bears and junior third baseman Luke Percifield Pinellas Park, Fla.) was 2-4 with a run batted in from the nine-hole in the order. Sophomore right-handed starter Jack Gausselin (Long Beach, Ind.) was saddled with the loss to drop to 1-1. He allowed four runs on six hits, while fanning two batters in three and a third innings. Sophomore righty Jackson Dorsey (Newark, Del.) was excellent in relief, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts in three innings of work.
Wheaton pushed four runs across in the fourth to take a 5-1 margin that held up for the remainder of the contest. Sophomore right fielder Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.) ripped a double down the left field line to open the frame and later scored when junior designated hitter Collin Reilly (Marshfield, Mass.) delivered with a single to center field to give the home team a 2-1 edge. Junior shortstop Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, before Reilly scored on another wild pitch with Toth reaching third on the play. Beauregard laced a single through the left side to plate Toth with the Lyons' fourth run of the game. Beauregard made it easy for sophomore Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.), by stealing second and third base to set up a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 5-1.
Coast Guard scored twice in the sixth to pull within 5-3. Barkley led off an inning with a solo round-tripper for the second time in the game to give him a league-leading eight for the season. He launched an opposite field shot over the right field fence to cut the deficit to 5-2. Two outs later senior left fielder Jack Steel (Medford, Lakes, N.J.) kept the inning alive by getting hit by a pitch. Junior center fielder Kael Godshalk (Bangor, Pa.) followed with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners, before Percifield came through with an RBI single through the left side to make it a two-run game.
The Bears gave their host a scare in the ninth, scoring a run with two outs and threatening for more, before Wheaton came away with the victory. Senior catcher Parker Madden (Ruston, La.) and Barkley put together back-to-back two-out singles to put runners on the corners with a two-run deficit. Senior second baseman Wyatt Duthu (Madison, Ala.) reached on an infield error to score Madden and keep Coast Guard's hopes alive. Junior pinch-hitter Drew Basque (Kealakekua, Hawaii) drew a walk to load the bases to push the tying run within 90 feet of the plate. Fischer got out of the jam with his second strikeout of the inning to record the save for the Lyons.
Wheaton broke into the scoring column with a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 edge. Lamond served a single to center field, before Wensley belted an opposite field double down the left field line to put both runners into scoring position. Wagner followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Lamond with the first run of the afternoon.
The Bears wasted little time getting the run back in the top half of the second with Barkley going deep for his first long ball of the game.
The Lyons return to action on Thursday, April 10 when they travel to Springfield, Mass. to take on Western New England University at 4:00 p.m., while Coast Guard heads to Hartford, Conn. on the same day to play University of Hartford at 6:05 p.m.
