AMHERST, Mass. -- Sophomore Will Haskell (Natick, Mass.) homered and drove in four runs and senior right-handed starting pitcher Stephen Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) allowed just one unearned run on one hit to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over host Amherst College, 16-1, this afternoon at Memorial Field in Amherst, Mass. The Lyons, who received votes in the most recent National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association/D3baseball.com Coaches Poll, improve to 4-5 on the season, while the Mammoths fall to 4-3.
Wheaton's offense has scored 13 or more runs in all of their wins this season and scored all of their runs in just four innings, including an eight-run seventh inning, today.
Quigley improved to 2-1 and issued just one walk, while fanning two batters in six innings for the Lyons. The Wheaton bullpen of first year righties Jackson Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) and Tim Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) combined with sophomore southpaw Matthew Pizzelli (Weymouth, Mass.) to throw three scoreless innings on just one hit with each striking out a batter in one inning of work. Senior catcher Zach DeMattio (North Attleboro, Mass.), junior shortstop Cavan Brady (Great Barrington, Mass.) and first year first baseman Anthony Teberio (Andover, Mass.) each went 2-4 with a double and an RBI as part of six Lyons to collect multiple hits on the day.
First year shortstop Ryan McIntyre (Larchmont, N.Y.) and junior Jimin Kang (Winchester, Mass.) each singled for the only hits of the game for Amherst. Sophomore right-hander Jacob Ribitzki (Long Beach, Calif.) (2-1) was charged with his first loss after giving up six runs (four earned) on 10 hits and a walk, while fanning three batters in five innings.
Wheaton scored five times in the top of the second to take a 5-0 lead. Brady doubled to left center to lead off the inning, before junior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) reached on an error and Haskell crushed a pitch over the right field fence for his first collegiate home run to give the Lyons a 3-0 margin. Wheaton added another run on a ground out and DeMattio singled home the fifth run.
Maher reached on a single in the fifth and later scored on a two-out Teberio single to give Wheaton a 6-0 advantage.
The Mammoths took advantage of a pair of infield errors and a wild pitch and scored their only run when senior Daniel Qin (Issaquah, Wash.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate junior right fielder Jackson Reydel (Marion, Mass.).
The Lyons effectively put the game away with eight runs in the seventh to take a 14-1 lead. The frame was highlighted by an RBI double off the bat of first year left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.), a run-scoring double from Brady and senior right fielder Jake Studley's (Barrington, R.I.) second homer of the season – a three-run shot to left center field.
Wheaton tacked on two more runs in the eighth when sophomore Tommy Ambrosone (Hopkinton, Mass.) singled, sophomore Chris Taranto (Slingerlands, N.Y.) walked and junior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) singled to set up a bases loaded walk drawn by sophomore Amedeo Ucci Jr (Warwick, R.I.) to force in the 15th run. Taranto later scored on a wild pitch to cap the day's scoring.
The Lyons return to the diamond tomorrow when they host Framingham State University for a noon first pitch in their home opener at Sidell Stadium, while Amherst travels to Waltham, Mass. tomorrow for a twinbill against Brandeis University at 12:00 p.m.