Lyons now 24-10-1 overall, 13-4 in NEWMAC play

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College baseball team, ranked No. 24 in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 national poll, dropped a pair of New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) games to MIT by scores of 5-3 (10 inn.) and 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.

MIT 5, WHEATON 3 (10 Inn.)

Engineers' sophomore reliever Michael Wymer (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) earned his first win of the season throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the pen while yielding three hits alongside a pair of strikeouts. Classmate Nicholas Lacoascio (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) was dealt a no-decision on seven innings pitched, eight hits, two runs (both earned), zero walks and four punchouts.

Wheaton sophomore Jared Clement (Wrentham, Mass./Saint Sebastian's) took the loss on two innings out of the pen allowing one hit, two runs (both unearned) and two walks. Senior starter Alec Palioca (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip Regional) shouldered the no-decision over 6 2/3 innings, seven hits, two runs (all earned), no walks and three strikeouts.

Tied 3-3 in the top of the tenth, MIT struck for a pair of runs on a fielder's choice RBI by junior Phil Reiser (Alpharetta, Ga./Chattahoochee) and a run-producing single to right-center from classmate Parker Tew (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill). The Engineers loaded the bases prior to Reiser's fielder's choice RBI on a walk, fielding error and an intentional walk to junior Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, Calif./Jserra Catholic) with one out in the frame.

Wheaton forced extra innings in the eighth inning as sophomore Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass./BC High) drove in junior Apolinar De La Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical) with a one-out single to right-center. Wymer prevented a potential big inning for the Lyons by fanning back-to-back hitters with runners at first and second after he relieved senior Brandon Lowe (Brier, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway) out of the pen.

MIT claimed its 3-2 advantage headed into the bottom of the eighth with a Patrick Dayton (Archer City, Texas/Archer City) sac fly and a Sean Karson (Orlando, Fla./Trinity Prep) RBI single up the middle in the seventh and an RBI base knock from sophomore Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis) in the top of the eighth.

The Blue and White drove in solo runs in the third and the fifth innings on a sacrifice bunt RBI ground out by Justin Peluso (North Reading, Mass./Saint John's Prep) and a sacrifice fly from sophomore Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass./Walpole), respectively.

MIT 5, WHEATON 2

Freshman David Hesslink (San Diego, Calif./West Hills) improved to 5-0 on the season scattering eight hits over eight innings of work, allowing two unearned runs and one walk with a strikeout. Senior reliever Rob Bertucci (Belleville, Ill./St. Louis Univ. HS) allowed one hit in an otherwise clean ninth inning for his second save of the year.

Wheaton senior Nick Filloramo (Rochester, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) suffered the hard-luck loss on 7 1/3 innings pitched, six hits, five runs (one earned), zero walks and three strikeouts.

The Lyons led 2-0 through the first three innings of action as junior designated hitter Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) lined an RBI single to left field in the first and De La Cruz drove a run-producing base hit through the right side of the infield in the third.

MIT answered with four runs in the fourth inning on two hits, three errors and one runner left on base. Tew, Reiser and senior Jon Rea (Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) all had RBIs in the frame for the Engineers.

In the eighth, junior K.J. Parent (Knoxville, Tenn./Web School) capped the scoring in the contest as he crossed home plate on a wild pitch after being hit-by-a-pitch with one out and advanced to third on a single to right field by Reiser before scoring.

Silvestro finished the afternoon going 5-for-9 at the plate with one RBI, while junior catcher Zach Horton (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) went 4-for-8 with a run scored and Bisceglia compiled a 4-for-9 day with one RBI.

Wheaton (24-10-1, 13-4 NEWMAC) hosts Endicott College on Tuesday, April 22 for a non-conference matchup at Sidell Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. MIT (16-10, 12-5 NEWMAC) welcomes Gordon College to its campus next Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

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