AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie it and one in the 10th to serve as the margin of victory in a 4-3 comeback victory over Rochester Institute of Technology this afternoon at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Fla. as part of the RussMatt Central Baseball Invitational.

The Lyons remained unblemished, improving to 4-0 on the season, while the Tigers dip to 5-6.

Hits came at a premium in the game with both teams combining for 11 base knocks, but strikeouts were in abundance with both sides going down on strikes a combined 30 times. All three of RIT's runs came courtesy of the home run ball, while Wheaton threatened for more with 13 runners left on base.

Sophomore shortstop Logan Downey (Warwick, R.I.) was 1-4 in the game with the eventual-game winning RBI and a run scored for the Lyons, while senior designated hitter Collin Reilly (Marshfield, Mass.) was 1-3 with a two-run single to send the game into extra innings in the ninth. Sophomore first baseman Brandon Westerfield (Wakefield, R.I.) was 1-4 with a run batted in. Senior left-handed reliever Josh Fischer (Plymouth, Mass.) earned the win to improve to 1-0 on the season after setting down all four batters he faced, including a strikeout. Sophomore righty reliever Blake Kamoen (Killingworth, Conn.) earned his first collegiate save with an inning of hitless relief that saw him issue two walks and strike out a pair of batters in his first college outing.

Senior center fielder Caelan Kim (Fairfax, Va.) led the Tigers' offense, going 1-3 with a two-run homer, a walk and a stolen base and graduate student left fielder Hayes Waddell (North Hampton, N.H.) was 1-4 with a solo long ball. Sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Owen Fisher (Lancaster, Pa.) gave up one unearned run on just two hits and a walk, while fanning nine batters in four innings. First year reliever James Kelly (Sydney, Australia) suffered the loss after giving up a run on two hits and a walk to go with a pair of strikeouts in the 10th inning.

Wheaton faced a 3-1 deficit entering the ninth inning, before scoring twice to send the game into extra frames. Downey and senior second baseman Marcus Rodrigues (LIncoln, R.I.) sandwiched walks around a strikeout, before both runners moved into scoring position following a ground out. Reilly came through with a two-out single through the left side to plate Downey and first year pinch-runner Derek Babineau Jr. (Scituate, Mass.) to pull the Lyons even at 3-3. 

Fischer set down RIT in order in the bottom of the ninth to give Wheaton a chance to take the lead in the 10th. First year left fielder Brayden Lewis (Hopedale, Mass.) singled to left, before senior third baseman Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.) worked a full-count walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Downey ripped a ball up the middle on a hit-and-run that ricocheted off the pitcher and went into the outfield, allowing Lewis to score the go-ahead run from second base to give the Lyons a 4-3 edge. 

The Tigers threatened to re-tie the game in the bottom of the frame when Kim drew a walk and, an out later, junior shortstop Evan Kurtz (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) worked a two-out walk. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a double-steal, but Kamoen got a strike call on a 2-2 pitch on the inner half to senior right fielder Jackson Rusiecki (Southington, Conn.) to end the game. 

Wheaton opened the game's scoring with a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead. Rodrigues drew a lead-off walk on four pitches and later went to second on a costly error. Junior center fielder Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.) popped up to third base and Rodrigues strayed a little too far off first base, to elicit a throw from the third baseman. With no one covering first, the throw allowed Rodrigues to take second. Westerfield later beat out a throw to reach on an infield single with Rodrigues scoring on the play.

RIT wasted no time taking the lead in the bottom of the second with senior catcher Roberto Reade (Newburgh, N.Y.) serving a single to center field and Kim wrapping a home run just inside the left field foul pole to give the Tigers a 2-1 margin. 

RIT tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Waddell pulled a homer over the right-center fence for a 3-1 lead. 

The Lyons return to action on Wednesday, March 11 when they take on University of Rochester for a 5:15 p.m. first pitch at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex, while the Tigers play Washington & Jefferson College tomorrow at 10:15 a.m. in Auburndale.