MANSFIELD, Conn. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team scored four times in the fifth, en-route to a 5-2 victory over host Eastern Connecticut State University this evening at Holowaty Family Field in Mansfield, Conn.
The Lyons improve to 19-8 on the season, while the Warriors fall to 20-7-1.
Wheaton collected six hits and drew seven walks in the game.
The Lyons got on the board first with a run in the second, before adding four in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Eastern Connecticut State tallied both of its runs in the eighth inning.
Senior third baseman Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.) was 1-2 with a double, a walk and a run batted in, while senior first baseman Collin Reilly (Marshfield, Mass.) was 1-3 with a pair of walks and an RBI for Wheaton. First year left fielder Brayden Lewis (Hopedale, Mass.) was 1-4 and knocked in a run, drew a walk and stole a base to extend his Wheaton rookie record to 22 thefts on the season. First year right-handed pitcher Cameron Hasenfus (Norfolk, Mass.) started the game on the mound and tossed four scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and no walks to go with a strikeout to improve to 2-0 on the season and extend the Lyons' starting pitchers' streak to 18 consecutive innings without allowing a walk. Senior left-handed reliever Josh Fischer (Plymouth, Mass.) picked up his third save of the year after a scoreless and hitless ninth that saw him issue a free pass.
Junior first baseman Ian Moser (Bellingham, Mass.) was 1-4 with two RBI for the Warriors and sophomore center fielder Cameron Forte (Easton, Conn.) was 2-3 with a stolen base. Junior second baseman Teige Kimbler (Albany, N.Y.) contributed with a 1-3 day to go with a base on balls. First year pitcher Brian Goglia (Milford, Conn.) suffered the loss to drop to 0-1 on the year.
Wheaton took advantage of first year right fielder Derek Babineau Jr. (Scituate, Mass.) getting plunked by a pitch with two outs when Roth belted a double to right field to bring Babineau Jr. all the way around to score the first run of the game.
The Lyons scored four runs in the fifth to take a comfortable 5-0 lead. First year shortstop Evan Jones (West Haven, Conn.) was hit by a pitch to open the frame, before sophomore second baseman Logan Downey (Warwick, R.I.) ripped a double down the right field line to put both runners in scoring position with no outs. Lewis grounded to short to plate Evans and Reilly followed with a single to the gap in right center to knock in Downey and give the visitors a 3-0 margin. Junior center fielder Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.) reached on a fielder's choice and stole second before sophomore designated hitter Declan Lush (Seekonk, Mass.) drew a two-out walk. Lamond drew an errant pick-off throw to second and was able to score, while Lush took third base. Babineau Jr. delivered a single to center to drive in Lush with Wheaton's fifth and final run of the night.
Eastern Connecticut State cracked the scoring column in the eighth with a pair of runs to cut the deficit to three. Sophomore right fielder Eric Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) led off with a single to center, before junior shortstop Matthew Carrera (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) reached on an infield error to put both runners in scoring position with one out. Senior designated hitter Lucas Malave (Toms River, N.J.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Moser came through with a two-run single to spoil the Lyons' shutout bid and make it 5-2.
Wheaton returns to the diamond on Saturday, April 18 when it travels to New London, Conn. to take on New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe United States Coast Guard Academy for a Noon twinbill, while the Warriors host Keene State College on the same day and time for a Little East Conference doubleheader.
