Five-Run Fifth Lifts Pushes Lyons Past Saint Joseph's of Maine, 6-1

More news about: Wheaton (Mass.)

AUBURNDALE, FL- The Wheaton College baseball team used a five-run fifth inning to capture a 5-1 advantage against Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Wednesday morning before winning 6-1 at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

Ranked 18th in the country by D3baseball.com, the Lyons collected their second straight victory to raise their overall record to 3-1, while the Monks slipped to 2-4.

Picking up his first collegiate victory, sophomore righty Frank Holbrook (Middletown, RI/Portsmouth Abbey School) was solid on the hill, fanning five batters with one walk while surrendering no earned runs on three hits in six frames.  Senior Kevin Calabro (Andover, MA/Andover) struck out three with two hits allowed in two shutout innings, while freshman Ryan Grant (Easton, MA/Avon Old Farms School) tossed a perfect ninth.

Junior Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) reached base safely four times, going 3-for-4 with three singles, a walk, a run and an RBI.  Senior Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and a steal, while sophomore Sean Ryan (Norton, MA/Norton) recorded a pair of hits.

Saint Joseph's lone run came in the first courtesy of a pair of Wheaton defensive miscues, while the Lyon offense put together four hits through the opening four frames before creating separation in the fifth.  The Blue and White took advantage of two Monk errors on sacrifice bunts while stringing together a trio of hits with a walk and hit batsman.

Sophomore Dan Gusovsky's (Andover, MA/Andover) two-bagger got things going to lead off the fifth, followed by back-to-back sacrifices that resulted in throwing miscues.  Four of Wheaton's five runs went down as being unearned, with Landers, junior Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) and freshman Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, NH/Goffstown) each picking up an RBI in the frame.

After a first inning that included a hit, walk and hit batsman, Holbrook settled in nicely and retired 13 of 14 batters in one span.  In the sixth, the Monks loaded the bags with nobody out, but Holbrook got out of the inning unscathed, inducing two groundouts sandwiched around a pop fly. 

Calabro and the Wheaton defense kept Saint Joseph's off the board in the seventh, as two Monk hits went for naught.  Haugh began the inning by snagging a line drive to take away extra bases, while Calabro finished the frame with a strikeout, which was the first of three straight.

The Lyons will take tomorrow off before returning to the diamond on Friday afternoon to face Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven at 3:30 p.m.