NORTON, Mass. – Junior right-hander Ryan McCarroll (Clifton Park, N.Y.) hurled seven and two-thirds innings of four-hit shutout ball to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team over No. 7 Salve Regina University this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons have won six of their last seven and improve to 15-7 overall and 9-2 in league play, while the Seahawks, who are ranked in the most recent D3baseball.com poll, have their win streak snapped at four and slip to 23-5 and 9-2.
Wheaton pitching held Salve Regina to just five hits on the day and did not allow a runner past second base, while the offense scored single runs in the third, fourth and seventh innings.
McCarroll struck out seven and issued three walks to record the victory and improve to 5-1 on the season for the Lyons, before senior righty reliever Liam Goldthwaite (Braintree, Mass.) allowed a hit and a walk in the midst of recording his third save of the season with the final four outs of the game. First year left fielder Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.) reached base four times, going 2-2 with a double and a run scored, while drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch. Junior first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) was 2-4 with a double and first year third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) was 2-4 with a pair of runs scored.
Senior center fielder Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) paced the Seahawks' offense, going 2-3 with a walk and a stolen base, while graduate student designated hitter Hunter Yaworski (Brooklyn, Conn.) was 1-4 with a double. Sophomore right-hander Sean Mulligan (Verona, N.J.) suffered the loss to fall to 6-2 after giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks to go with nine strikeouts in seven innings for Salve Regina.
Wheaton got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third to take a 1-0 edge. Cali opened the frame with an infield single to shortstop, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch. Senior right fielder Tommy Ambrosone (Hopkinton, Mass.) grounded out to first base with Cali scoring the first run of the game on the play.
The Lyons added a run in the fourth to bump their margin to 2-0. Wensley singled to right field and Cali followed with a two-out double to the gap in right center field to bring Wensley all the way around from first with the second run of the ballgame.
Wheaton tacked on an insurance run in the seventh to take a three-run lead. Wensley served a lead-off single to center, before Cali was hit by a pitch to push Wensley into scoring position. Two strikeouts later, senior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) came through with an RBI single up the middle to plate Wensley and give the home team a little more breathing room.
The Seahawks looked to rally in the top of the ninth when Yaworski laced a one-out double down the right field line and senior right fielder Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) followed with a base on balls to put the potential tying run at the plate. Goldthwaite retired the final two hitters with a fly out and an infield pop-up to end the threat and the game.