NORTON, Mass. -- Senior right-handed pitcher Gavin Reily (Bridgewater, Mass.) threw seven and a third innings of one run ball and senior catcher Zach DeMattio (North Attleboro, Mass.) blasted a two-run home run to lead the top-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over third-seeded Babson College this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament at a cold, windy Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons, who received votes in the most recent National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association/D3baseball.com Coaches Poll this week, win their 16th straight game to improve to 29-10 on the season, while the Beavers fall to 24-14.
Wheaton will play for the NEWMAC Championship tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. at Sidell Stadium and will take on the winner of Babson and fifth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who play tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at Sidell. MIT was a 2-1 winner over number two seed Springfield College, earlier today.
The Lyons' current win streak is tied for the third-longest in the nation and also matches the third-longest stretch of success in school history, matching a streak from March 9-29, 2009. Wheaton has also won 25 straight home games for the longest current streak of any school in all three divisions.
Reily improved to 6-2 after giving up just one run on five hits and no walks to go with three strikeouts on 87 pitches, including 62 strikes for the Lyons. DeMattio was 2-4 with three runs batted in and a run scored. Senior right fielder Jake Studley (Barrington, R.I.) was 2-4 with a run scored and senior first baseman Drew Spirito (Cranston, R.I.) was 2-4 with a stolen base. Senior righty reliever Dom Cunha (Lincoln, R.I.) tossed a scoreless ninth inning and allowed just one walk, while fanning two batters to earn his league-leading 10th save of the year. Junior shorstop Cavan Brady (Great Barrington, Mass.) was able to reach on a walk, but his 12-game hitting streak came to an end.
Senior shortstop Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, N.Y.) led the Beavers at the plate with a 1-3 effort and knocked in their only run, while senior right fielder Sean Burychka (Mount Laurel, N.J.) was 1-3 with a double and a run scored. Junior southpaw Tim Noone (Needham, Mass.) suffered the loss for Babson, falling to 6-2 after giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts in eight full innings.
Runs were hard to come by with a strong wind that kept a number of well-hit balls in the ballpark.
Wheaton cracked the scoring column with a run in the bottom half of the third to take a 1-0 edge. Sophomore center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) beat out an infield single to shortstop to open the frame, went to second on a sacrifice, before scoring on a two-out single up the middle off the bat of DeMattio for the first run of the game.
The Lyons received two huge insurance runs from DeMattio in the sixth for a 3-0 margin. Studley nubbed a slow roller down the third base line that he beat out for a hit to bring DeMattio to the plate. The senior catcher beat a strong win, which had been undefeated for the entire day, with mammoth shot on a 1-1 pitch that resulted in his eighth homer of the season and a three-run lead for Wheaton.
The Beavers got on the board with a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-1. Reily had retired 12 straight batters before Burychka roped a one-out double down the left field line for Babson. Pirkl then served a single to left field for Babson's only run.
The Beavers looked to rally in the ninth when first year left fielder Walter Sadowsky (Morristown, N.J.) drew a two-out walk, but Cunha struck out the final batter to end the game and send Wheaton to the championship game for the 19th time in conference history.