Filloramo throws five shutout innings
NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College baseball team, ranked no.14 overall in the latest D3baseball.com national poll, posted a 2-1 victory over UMass Boston on "Senior Day" at Sidell Stadium in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon.
Prior to the game, seniors Justin Connor (Arlington, Mass./Arlington), Sean Ryan (Norton, Mass./Norton), Dan Gusovsky (Andover, Mass./Andover), Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H./Gorham), Paul O'Neill (Framingham, Mass./Framingham), Frank Holbrook (Middletown, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey School) and Corey Laliberte (Fall River, Mass./B.M.C. Durfee) were all honored for their contributions towards the baseball program.
Junior right-hander Nick Filloramo (Rochester, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) improved his record to 5-3 overall on the season yielding three hits and zero walks over five shutout innings to go along with three strikeouts. Laliberte fanned one batter over two scoreless frames and junior closer Ryan Grant (Easton, Mass./Avon Old Farms School) collected his tenth save allowing one hit in the ninth.
UMass Boston right-handed pitcher junior Lucas Ilges (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) was dealt the hard-luck loss scattering seven hits over eight innings, giving up two runs (one earned), one walk and a game-high seven strikeouts.
The Lyons struck for both of their runs in the bottom of the first as freshman Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) and Jensen notched back-to-back singles to jumpstart the offense. Ryan laid down a successful sacrifice bunt (1-4) and sophomore Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical) reached on a throwing error knocking in Lavanchy while Jensen scored through the back door.
Filloramo and Ilges matched one another over the next four innings until Laliberte spelled Filloramo in sixth. Laliberte retired all six batters he faced in order compiling a pair of fly outs and a strike out looking along the way. Laliberte also received a fine defensive play from O'Neill in the seventh as his fellow classmate robbed the Beacons of a leadoff extra-base hit with a diving catch near the right field line.
Sophomore Todd Ezold (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) broke up the shutout in the eighth ripping an RBI single to right-center off of Wheaton freshman reliever Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) to make it a 2-1 game. Dumas held the tying run from scoring at third base with a ground out to the hot corner for the final out of the inning. In the top of the fifth, the Beacons had runners at the corners with one out but Filloramo rolled a 6-4-3 double play to keep UMass Boston off the board.
Wheaton (28-10) will host the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship round on Saturday, May 4 at Sidell Stadium needing just one win to claim its 13th conference title in the league's 15-year history. The Lyons will play the winner of second-seeded MIT and third-seeded Babson College at 3:30 p.m. The Engineers and the Beavers will square off at noon. UMass Boston (15-19) closes out its regular season on Friday afternoon when the Beacons host Western Connecticut State University for a Little East Conference (LEC) doubleheader at noon in Brockton, Mass. at Campanelli Stadium.