NORTON, Mass. — The No. 8/11 and top-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team used its aggressive style on the basepaths to produce the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th and come away with a 6-5 walk-off victory over fourth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament at Sidell Stadium on the campus of host Wheaton in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons, who are ranked eighth in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll and 11th in the Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association survey, have won 10 straight, 18 of their last 19 and 28 of their last 30 games and improve to 34-5 on the season. Wheaton advances to play tomorrow vs. third-seeded Babson College, which defeated number two seed Clark University, 4-2, earlier in the day. The teams will meet at 12:30 p.m. at Sidell Stadium.
The Engineers fall to 15-20 and will face Clark in tomorrow's single-elimination game at 9:30 a.m. at Sidell.
The Lyons' walk-off win was its first in the NEWMAC Tournament since May 8, 2021 when Zach DeMattio singled in the bottom of the 12th to knock in the winning run of a 2-1 decision over United States Coast Guard Academy.
Wheaton scored the winning run in the bottom of the 12th this afternoon with what seemed to be an ordinary sacrifice bunt play, but aggressive baserunning by the Lyons turned it into the winning run. Junior right fielder Tommy Ambrosone (Hopkinton, Mass.) beat out a slow roller to first base to open the bottom of the 12th before junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) made his intention to get the runner over with a bunt obvious. On a 2-0 pitch, Guindon's bunt took a high hop in front of the plate where the MIT catcher and third baseman converged. The catcher threw a strike to first for the out, but Ambrosone took advantage of a vacant third base and rounded second base with the intent to take an extra base on the play. The Engineer first baseman's throw across the diamond got away as Ambrosone slid head first into the bag and quickly popped up to scamper home with the game-winning run.
Wheaton managed just six hits in the game with three coming in a five-run bottom of the first. The Lyons were held without a run for the next 11 innings until they scored the game-decider. MIT scored a single run in the third before rallying for four runs in the eighth to knot the game at 5-5.
Junior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) led all hitters with three hits in five at-bats, including a run batted in and a run scored for Wheaton, while sophomore first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) was 1-4 with a two-run double. Senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) also drove in a run with a single in five at-bats. Sophomore right-handed reliever Joe Mulhern (Taunton, Mass.) picked up the victory to improve to 2-1 following two scoreless innings of one-hit relief. Lyon righty starter Ryan McCarroll (Clifton Park, N.Y.) was charged with three runs on five hits and a walk, while fanning five in seven-plus innings of work in his first no-decision of the year..
Junior left fielder Kennan Gumbs (New York, N.Y.) paced the Engineers' offense, going 2-4 with two RBI, a stolen base and a walk. Senior second baseman Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) and senior designated hitter Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) each collected two hits, knocked in a run and scored a run. First year southpaw Cole Foster (Austin, Texas) suffered the loss to drop to 1-3 after giving up an unearned run on one hit in a third of an inning. Senior right-handed starter Ben Burke (Chelmsford, Mass.) gave up five runs on three hits in a 39-pitch first inning, before settling down to surrender just one hit in 61 pitches over the next six innings to end his outing by allowing four hits and two walks in addition to striking out seven batters. Sophomore lefty Ethan Siegel (Austin, Texas) kept MIT in the game with three and a third innings of stellar one-hit, shutout relief that saw him strike out eight batters to contribute to 16 strikeouts for Engineer pitching on the day.
The first four batters all reached base for Wheaton as part of a five-run first inning. Guindon walked and advanced to third on a failed pick-off attempt, before scoring on a single up the middle off the bat of Maher for the first run of the game. Maher stole second and Croteau delivered an RBI single to right field to give the Lyons a 2-0 margin. Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and senior catcher Robert Wirtanen (Brentwood, N.H.) drew a one-out walk to load the bases. First year designated hitter Nick Giangregorio (Belmont, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Croteau, before Wagner crushed a pitch to the base of the left field fence to plate Wirtanen and Giangregorio with the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
Wheaton's bats were quiet for the rest of the game, while MIT got on the board with a run in the third to cut the deficit to 5-1. Tubbs opened the frame with a single through the left side, stole second base and later scored when Sonandres served a two-out single to left field.
The Engineers bats came alive in the eighth after scratching out just three hits through the first seven innings. The number four seed erupted for four runs on five hits to pull even at 5-5. Junior center fielder Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) reached on a perfect bunt down the third base line to open the inning and begin a string of four straight singles for MIT. Sonandres followed with a single through the right side, before Cartwright came through with a run-scoring single through the left side to make it 5-2. Senior catcher Jake Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) followed suit with a seeing-eye single up the middle to plate his brother with the third Engineer run. Gumbs tied the game at 5-5 with a one-out single through the left side to bring home Jake Sonandres and Cartwright. Senior lefty reliever Zach Nichols (Chicopee, Mass.) ended the rally with a strikeout and a pickoff at first base to get the Lyons out of the inning.