Lyons 11-game winning streak snapped

MANSFIELD, Conn.  – The Wheaton College baseball team, ranked No. 23 in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 poll, fell to Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) by an 8-6 score in a non-conference matchup on Thursday evening at Eastern Stadium.

ECSU senior reliever Greg Porter (Mystic, Conn./R.E. Fitch) picked up the win yielding one hit in one inning of work out of the pen. Sophomore Adam Merritt (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) notched his fourth save of the season allowing one hit in the ninth alongside 4-6-3 double play and a line out. Junior starter Brent Pelella (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) was handed a no-decision on 4 1/3 innings pitched, five hits, four runs (all earned), three walks and three strikeouts.

Lyons' junior Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) took the loss on 1 2/3 innings, three hits, four runs (two earned), one walk and a punchout. Classmate Mike Gibbons (Simsbury, Conn./Avon Old Farms) received a no-decision through five innings pitched, seven hits, four runs (two earned), a free pass and a strikeout.

Trailing 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth, the Warriors struck for four runs on three hits, one error and a runner left on base. Senior Brendan Lynch (Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield) worked a bases loaded walk to make it a 6-5 contest after ECSU registered back-to-back singles and had another student-athlete reach base on a fielder's choice due to an error on an attempted double play.

Senior Adam Roderick (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) followed with a two-run single to left-center and classmate Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott, Conn./Wolcott) scratched home the last run in the frame on a 5-3 ground out.

Wheaton built up its 6-4 lead over the first seven innings of play using eight hits including three extra-base knocks.

Justin Peluso (North Reading, Mass./Saint John's Prep) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field scoring sophomore Jimmy Smith (Worcester, Mass./Saint John's) who led off the inning with a triple down the left field line.

In the fifth, Bisceglia smacked a three-run double, his first of two doubles on the evening, to right-center scoring junior Apolinar De La Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical), Peluso and Smith. De La Cruz and Smith both reached base via walks, while Peluso ripped a single up the middle before scoring.

Peluso added an RBI single through the left side of the infield in the sixth and senior Kevin Foley (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) had a run-producing base hit through the right side of the infield in seventh.

ECSU scored three times in the fourth and added a solo run in the fifth before completing its comeback victory over the Lyons.

Wheaton (19-7-1, 8-2 NEWMAC) hosts Emerson College tomorrow for a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup at Sidell Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ECSU (14-4), who is receiving votes in the D3baseball.com Top 25 poll, welcomes Plymouth State University to its campus this Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.

For the latest on Wheaton College Athletics, follow the Lyons via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.