NORTON, Mass. -- The top-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team opened with seven unanswered runs, en-route to a 7-2 victory over visiting fifth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The Lyons win their 15th straight game to improve to 28-10 on the season, while the Engineers fall to 16-22-1.
Wheaton will play number three seed Babson College, a 7-1 winner over second-seeded Springfield College, tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. at Sidell Stadium, while MIT will take on Springfield at 12:00 p.m. at the same site.
The Lyons win streak is the fourth-longest current streak in the nation and the fourth-longest string in school history. Wheaton has also won 24 straight games at home to match State University of New York Brockport for the longest success streak in the nation.
The Lyons are now 18-5 in opening games they have played in the NEWMAC Tournament.
Wheaton scored twice in the bottom of the first, three times in the second and plated two more runs in the fourth to give the Lyons all the runs they needed.
Senior catcher Zach DeMattio (North Attleboro, Mass.) was 1-3 with two runs batted in for Wheaton, while sophomore center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) was 2-3 with a run batted in, a stolen base and two runs scored. Senior right fielder Jake Studley (Barrington, R.I.) had two hits in four at-bats, knocked in a run and scored a run and junior shortstop Cavan Brady (Great Barrington, Mass.) knocked in two runs with a double and stole a base. Senior righty starting pitcher Stephen Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) improved to 7-2 and allowed just two runs on six hits and no walks to go with eight strikeouts in eight innings, before senior reliever Zach Clesas (Johnston, R.I.) threw a hitless ninth and fanned two batters.
Sophomore center fielder Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) paced the Engineers at the plate, going 3-4 with a double and a run scored and first year Malachi Soqui (Castaic, Calif.) hit a solo homer. Senior right-hander Casey Bussone (Danvers, Mass.) (2-3) was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs on two hits and four walks to go with a strikeout in an inning of work.
The first four batters in the Lyons' lineup all reached with two of them scoring to give Wheaton a 2-0 lead. Guindon and junior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) both drew walks to begin the frame before Studley hit a sharp single to right field to plate Guindon with the game's first run. DeMattio reached on a fielder's choice to knock in Maher to give the Lyons a 2-0 margin.
Wheaton took advantage of the base on balls again in the second and also collected two hits to fuel a three-run frame. Junior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) drew a leadoff walk and senior first baseman Drew Spirito (Cranston, R.I.) ripped a single up the middle before first year left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. Guindon hit a deep fly ball to center to bring home Croteau and Maher grounded out to plate Spirito to increase the Lyons' advantage to 4-0. DeMattio singled down the right field line to drive in another run and give Wheaton a 5-0 cushion after two innings.
The Lyons added two more insurance runs in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead. Guindon beat out an infield single on a high hop to shortstop, Studley laced a single to center field and DeMattio was intentionally walked to load the bases. Following an out, Brady doubled down the left field line with two outs to bring home two more runs for the seven-run lead.
MIT got on the board when Soqui crushed a one-out pitch over the right field fence for his team-leading seventh homer of the season to make it 7-1. The Engineers added their second run in the eighth to pull within 7-2. Schoenfeld smacked a leadoff double to left center and later scored on a Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) ground out.