Norton, MA --- Senior Preseason All-America selection Dan Haugh (Andover, MA) went 3-for-5 with four RBI as the No. 6 Wheaton College baseball team improved to 22-4 with a 9-3 win over WPI in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action Friday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
Senior John Keating (Duxbury, MA), junior Sean Ryan (Norton, MA), and freshman Kevin Foley (Southbury, CT) each recorded two hits and two runs for Wheaton, which improved to 11-2 in the NEWMAC. Senior Nolan Corr (Somersworth, NH) started on the bump and surrendered two runs (one earned) on six hits over seven innings to improve to 4-1. The Lyons have won seven of their last eight games.
Haugh staked the Lyons to a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single that brought in juniorEric Jensen (Gorham, NH). The Engineers tied the game in the fourth on an RBI double by junior Brendan Walsh (Windham, NH).
In the fifth, the Lyons manufactured a run on a fielders choice off the bat of Jensen for a 2-1 lead. Later in the frame, Haugh cleared the bases with a long double down the right field line which gave Wheaton a 5-1 lead. Freshman Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, RI) followed with a single up the middle to plate Haugh and make it 6-1. The hit gives De la Cruz at least one in 22 of the Lyons 26 games.
A pair of sac flies by seniors Dan Demeo (Glastonbury, NY) and Hal Landers (Salem, NH) in the sixth pushed Wheaton's lead to 8-1. WPI (19-11, 8-5 NEWMAC) got one back in the seventh on an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Tim Erlandson (Hudson, MA).
In Wheaton's half of the frame, Ryan led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-2 Wheaton. Sophomore David Trujillo(Sutton, MA) capped the scoring with a run-scoring single in the eighth.
Trujillio and Matt Blakeman (Bedford, NH) eached rap out a pair of hits to account for four of WPI's eight base knocks on the day.
Corr walked one and struck out four. Senior Sean Minor (Sherman Oaks, CA) fell to 6-2 with the loss, allowing nine hits and eight runs over five innings. He walked four and fanned two.
The two schools play a doubleheader tomorrow at noon in Worcester at Holy Cross.
Release Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information