NORTON, MA- Wheaton College baseball senior Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) went 3-for-4 while scoring the winning run in the sixth inning to lead the Lyons to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over non-league opponent Endicott College on Thursday at Sidell Stadium.
Originally scheduled to be played in Beverly, today's game was moved to Norton due to poor field conditions. Wheaton, which is receiving national votes in the latest D3baseball.com poll, moved to 6-4, while the Gulls fell to 7-5.
The Lyons didn't allow any earned runs on the day, as a combined six errors ensued between the teams. Freshman Nick Filloramo (Rochester, MA/Old Rochester Regional) won for the second time in as many starts, fanning one while walking two others and surrendering three hits in seven-plus innings.
Senior southpaw Kevin Calabro (Andover, MA/Andover) got out of a jam in the eighth, while freshman Ryan Grant (Easton, MA/Avon Old Farms School) struck out one during a shutout ninth to record his first save.
In addition to Raad's multi-hit day, sophomore Sean Ryan (Norton, MA/Norton) was 2-for-4 with two runs, junior Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) rapped two hits while scoring once, while junior Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) drove in two runs.
Endicott junior Danny Mello (Peabody, MA/Peabody) and freshman Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard/MA/Martha's Vineyard Regional) each had two hits, while junior Mike Nich (Orange, CT/Amity Regional) suffered the pitching loss. He gave up an unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks in three innings of relief.
The Lyons pushed three runs across on three hits in the first, with Haugh smacking a two-run triple down the right field line. Senior Sean Munley (Ewing, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) then plated Haugh with a comebacker to the pitcher. The Gulls picked up two unearned runs with two outs in the second before tacking on two more unearned runs in the third to take a 4-3 lead.
In the fifth, Wheaton took advantage of an Endicott defensive miscue to knot the game at four. The hosts then took the lead for good in the sixth, when Raad singled to the pitcher, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a sacrifice before scoring on an errant throw.
The Gulls had runners at the corners with one down in the eighth but were gunned down at the plate after Calabro threw over to first. Calabro then induced a groundout to end the inning. Endicott put two more on in the ninth but had nothing to show, as Grant forced an inning-ending pop fly to second.
Wheaton remains at home tomorrow for a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game against the United States Coast Guard Academy at 3:30 p.m.