Lyons knock in 17 runs on 17 hits
PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Wheaton College, ranked no.1 in both the NCBWA/D3Baseball.com and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper national preseason polls, claimed a 17-1 victory over St. Joseph's (Long Island) in its 2013 season opener on Saturday afternoon at Alfano Field.
Senior right-handed pitcher Frank Holbrook (Middletown, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey) earned the win on six innings pitched, five hits, one run (earned), zero walks and three strikeouts. Freshman Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) tossed a pair of shutout innings to go along with four punchouts while senior Corey Laliberte (Fall River, Mass./B.M.C. Durfee) pitched a clean ninth inning.
Junior Robert Hyde (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) suffered the loss on four innings of work, seven hits, five runs (all earned), four walks and one strikeout. Classmate Thomas Moore (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning for the Golden Eagles.
Wheaton took an early 2-0 lead in the second as senior right fielder Paul O'Neill (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) knocked in sophomore first baseman Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical) with an RBI double to right. Freshman third baseman Mike Beneduce (North Kingstown, R.I./Moses Brown School) closed out the scoring in the inning with an RBI groundout to second base.
The Lyons made it 3-0 in the third as senior shortstop Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H./Gorham) singled to right field with two outs and eventually came around to score on a single from De La Cruz and a throwing error.
Wheaton busted the game open over the next three innings with seven runs on seven hits to take a 10-1 advantage. Sophomore left fielder Kevin Foley (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) plated Beneduce and O'Neill in the fourth inning with a single up the middle for a 5-0 gap. In the sixth, Foley jumpstarted the rally with an RBI single through the right side of the infield, De la Cruz drew a bases loaded walk and senior catcher Dan Gusovsky (Andover, Mass./Andover) cleared the bases with a three-run double into right-center field to cap the scoring.
Foley went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, three RBI's and a stolen base out of the leadoff spot for the Lyons. Jensen ended the contest with a 3-for-6 performance at the plate, two runs scored and three runs batted in. Freshman second baseman Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) went 3-for-4 in his collegiate debut with two runs scored, two walks and three RBI's.
Wheaton (1-0, 0-0 NEWMAC) takes on Farmingdale State in Farmingdale, N.Y. tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. St. Joseph's (1-1, 0-0 Skyline) hosts Western New England on Sunday at noon.