NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team defeated visiting Suffolk University, 6-4, this afternoon at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons, who received votes in the most recent American Baseball Coaches Association national poll, improve to 12-5 on the season, while the Rams fall to 2-16.
Wheaton piled up a school-record 11 stolen bases, erasing the old standard of eight. Both junior designated hitter Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.) and first year left fielder Brayden Lewis (Hopedale, Mass.) matched the school standard with three stolen bases apiece. Lamond also snagged three bags in a game last season and becomes the sixth player in school history to do it twice.
The Lyons never trailed in the game after scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Wheaton increased its margin to 5-1 after a three-run fourth, but Suffolk matched the output with three runs in the fifth to close within 5-4. The Lyons got a run back in the bottom of the inning to come away with a two-run victory.
Sophomore shortstop Jeremy Aylward (Hingham, Mass.) was 2-4 with a run batted in, a run scored and a stolen base for Wheaton, while first year catcher Alex Vosburgh (Blackstone, Mass.) made his first collegiate hit a good one with a two-run triple. He also added a stolen base. First year Evan Jones (West Haven, Conn.) came off the bench to go 1-3 with an RBI. Senior right-handed reliever Chris Carbonara (Brockton, Mass.) earned the victory to improve to 1-0 after hurling two and two-thirds innings of hitless ball, while issuing a pair of walks and striking out a batter. Junior righty Braden Young (Foxborough, Mass.) nailed down the win for his first save, giving up no runs on one hit and a walk in the ninth.
Senior shortstop Sam Armbruster (Beverly, Mass.) paced the Rams' offense going 3-4 with two runs batted in, a stolen base an a walk, while junior right fielder Jack Mihalchik (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) was 2-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Junior center fielder Colin Flynn (Dorchester, Mass.) contributed with a 3-5 showing with two runs scored and a stolen base. Junior right-handed starter Ian Maude (Marblehead, Mass.) took the loss to drop to 1-1 after allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk in addition to a pair of strikeouts in five innings.
The Lyons scored both of their first-inning runs with two outs to take a 2-0 lead. Senior first baseman Collin Reilly (Marshfield, Mass.) reached on an infield single to third and Lewis followed with a single that skipped past the shortstop, while Reilly took third base on the play. Lewis moved into scoring position with a stolen base. Both runners scored when sophomore third baseman Logan Downey (Warwick, R.I.) grounded a ball right through the wickets of the Suffolk second baseman for a two-run error.
The Rams cut the deficit in half with a run in the top of the third to make it 2-1. Flynn singled through the left side and stole second base, before Mihalchik dumped an RBI single into right field.
The first five batters all reached safely to begin the fourth during a three-run frame to increase the home team's advantage to 5-1. First year center fielder Derek Babineau Jr. (Scituate, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to open the inning and Aylward followed with a single to right field. Vosburgh crushed the first pitch he saw to the base of the fence in center field and legged out a two-run triple to give Wheaton a 4-1 margin. The Lyons followed the blast with some small ball with Jones reaching on a perfect bunt single pushed down the first base line to plate Vosburgh with the fifth run of the game.
Suffolk saw the first three batters of the fifth all single as part of a three-run rally to cut the difference to 5-4. First year left fielder Shayne King (Plymouth, Mass.) and Flynn smacked back-to-back singles to open the frame, before Mihalchik served a single to center to bring King around to score. Graduate student first baseman Cole Hilliard (Poway, Calif.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the Rams. Armbruster later came through with a seeing-eye single through the left side to drive in Flynn and Mihalchik with the fourth and fifth runs of the afternoon for the visitors, but it was their last runs of the game.
Wheaton engineered an insurance run with two outs in the fifth to take a 6-4 margin. Babineau Jr. drew a two-out walk and stole second base, before Aylward delivered a run-scoring single through the right side to plate the Lyons' final run of the day.
Wheaton returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Springfield College in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at 12:00 p.m., while Suffolk hosts Curry College tomorrow at Noon for Senior Day.
