NORTON, MA- During the sixth meeting of the season between New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) and regionally-ranked foes Wheaton College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Lyons were handed an 11-4 loss in Friday's non-league game at Sidell Stadium.
Ranked 16th nationally by D3baseball.com and first in the region by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA), Wheaton fell for just the fifth time in 30 games while slipping to 29-9. MIT, which is ranked seventh in the region and seeking an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, is 23-12.
Junior John Keating (Duxbury, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) recorded a pair of doubles and a run for the hosts, classmate Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) was 2-for-4 with a solo home run, while seniors Sean Munley (Ewing, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) and Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) each went 2-for-4 with a run.
Sophomore Eric Jensen (Gorham, NH/Gorham) batted 1-for-2 with an RBI, while senior Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) and freshman Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, NH/Goffstown) also drove in a run apiece. Sophomore Corey Laliberte (Fall River, MA/B.M.C. Durfee) suffered the loss, surrendering six runs, two of which were earned, on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in 5.2 innings.
The visitors finished with 15 hits, as senior Ryne Barry (Phoenix, AZ/Thunderbird) went 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs and a homer. Classmate Dan Hyatt (Wallingford, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) and freshman Sean Karson (Winter Park, FL/Trinity Prep) notched three hits apiece, junior A.J. Hansborough (Deltona, FL/Deltona) was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while sophomore James McKinney (Wakefield, RI/South Kingstown) added a pair of RBI.
Sophomore Aric Dama (Winfield, IL/Wheaton North) earned the win in 5.2 innings of work, giving up three earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Classmate Henry Zhu (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) was credited with the save after tossing the final 3.1 frames and allowing one earned runs on three hits while fanning five batters and walking three.
The teams were even at one after four innings, as MIT scored on a wild pitch in the third before Haugh took Dama's offering over the left field fence the following frame, marking the first home run Dama has yielded all season. The Engineers jumped out to a 6-1 advantage courtesy of their five-run fifth, which included four unearned runs following a two-out error. McKinney provided a two-run double in the frame.
The Lyons immediately cut into their deficit, pushing two across on sacrifice flies in the home half of the fifth to pull within 6-3. A Hyatt RBI single in the seventh made the score 7-3 before Wheaton brought the margin back to three on Bisceglia's two-out base knock the next inning. MIT put the game out of reach in the ninth, as Barry's single swing of the bat contributed to three Engineer runs. Hansborough had the other RBI.
Wheaton wraps up its regular season slate tomorrow afternoon on Senior Day against non-conference opponent Suffolk University at 1:00 p.m.