Palioca hurls a shutout in game one
NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College baseball team, ranked no.10 overall in the latest D3baseball.com national poll, swept a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader against Clark University by scores of 7-0 (seven innings) and 8-0 on Sunday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
Wheaton 7, Clark 0 (seven innings)
Junior right-handed pitcher Alec Palioca (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip Regional) allowed just three hits over seven innings of work to push his record to 3-1 overall on the season. Palioca did not issue a single walk, struck out a game-high seven batters and only allowed two runners to reach scoring position in his entire outing.
Clark senior Derek Dubois (Haverhill, Mass./St. John's Prep) took the loss on five innings pitched, eight hits, four runs (all earned), three walks and three punchouts. Junior Saul Rameriz (New York, N.Y./Eleanor Roosevelt) shut out the Lyons for the final two innings of play.
Senior designated hitter Sean Ryan (Norton, Mass./Norton) put Wheaton ahead 1-0 in first inning with an RBI ground out to third base plating freshman second baseman Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass./Walpole). Lavanchy singled to center field with one out, advanced to second on a base hit through the left side of the infield from senior Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H./Gorham) and both runners moved up a respective base on a double steal to set up the scoring.
Sophomore Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical) made it 2-0 in the third with a run-producing single through the left side of the infield scoring sophomore Kevin Foley (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) on the play. Wheaton tacked on two more runs in the fifth and another three runs in the sixth on a combined seven hits, no errors and one runner left on base.
Wheaton 8, Clark 0
Junior Nick Filloramo (Rochester, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) stymied the Cougars over six-and-one-thirds innings pitched allowing five hits, no runs, two walks and three strikeouts. Freshman Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) kept his scoreless innings streak intact with one-and-two thirds innings of shutout pitching on one hit, zero walks and three strikeouts. Sophomore Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) completed the combined shutout effort for the Lyons with a clean ninth.
Freshman Miles Sheehan (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) was tagged with the loss on seven-and-two-thirds innings, seven hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and six punchouts.
Ryan lifted Wheaton to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with another RBI ground out to third base to get the offense going. Foley reached first on an infield single, stole second base and advanced to third on a base hit to right from Jensen before scoring.
The Lyons tacked on single runs in the fourth and the eighth and busted the game open in the ninth with a five-run inning on four hits, no errors and two runners left on base. Freshman Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass./BC High) and De la Cruz were both hit by a pitch to drive in runs. Senior Dan Gusovsky (Andover, Mass./Andover) ripped a two-run single down the left field line and classmate Paul O'Neill (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to cap the inning.
Gusovsky knocked in five runs total on the afternoon to lead the offense. Jensen went 5-for-7 with one double and three runs scored while De la Cruz was 4-for-7 at the plate with three runs, one double and two runs batted in.
Wheaton (8-4, 3-0 NEWMAC) hosts Bridgewater State University for a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 26 at 3:30 p.m. Clark (4-12, 0-6 NEWMAC) travels to Nichols College on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup at 3:30 p.m.