Wheaton plates 12 straight before withstanding furious RIC rally, 12-10

March 21, 2008

PROVIDENCE, RI- The Wheaton College baseball team plated the game's first 12 runs before having to withstand a furious late-game rally by host Rhode Island College Friday afternoon, as the visiting Lyons managed to hold on for a 12-10 non-league win at Anchorman Field.

Winners of five in a row, Wheaton, which is ranked 13th in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, raised its record to 7-4. Rhode Island College is also 7-4.

In a game that was moved back a day due to unplayable field conditions in Providence, the visiting Lyons used a pair of big innings to capture what was thought to be a commanding 12-0 advantage after six. Wheaton tallied four runs in the third and six in the sixth, as all 13 of its hits came during the first six frames. Conversely, the Anchormen were limited to four hits in that time, having most of its offensive damage take place in the final three innings, including plating six runs in the seventh.

Despite sophomore starter Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) going a solid six innings to pick up his first collegiate win, Wheaton needed seven pitchers to close out the hosts. Junior Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI/Cranston West), who was one of just two Lyon hurlers to not allow a run, got Wheaton out of a jam in the ninth. Entering a three-run game with a runner on first and nobody out, the righthander fanned his second batter before inducing two ground balls to the middle infield to preserve the win while earning the save.

Senior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland), who fell a home run short of the cycle, went 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI, as his run-scoring triple to center in the third was part of a four-run inning. Junior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) and sophomore Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) tripled and doubled in a run each.

A costly Rhode Island College error in the sixth led to two quick Wheaton runs and opened the floodgates, as Guillerault, Pecora, junior Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole) and freshmen Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) and Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) posted an RBI apiece for a 12-0 Lyon advantage. The Anchormen began to chip away, plating a run in the sixth, six in the seventh, another in the eighth and the two in the ninth before coming up short.

Kostaras struck out one batter and walked three but only gave up one run on four hits in the victory, while Simmons' hitless ninth consisted of one strikeout and one walk.

Sophomore Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) was one of three Lyons to notch multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with two runs and a walk, while Foote finished 2-for-5 with an RBI, run and double. Pecora ended up with two runs batted in and a pair of runs scored. Laliberte, Munley and senior Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) each plated and scored a run, with Munley and Yagjian stroking doubles and Laliberte swiping a bag.

For the hosts, junior southpaw Bruce Celico (Westerly, RI/Westerly) was saddled with the loss, surrendering five runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 3.1 innings. Offensively, senior Peter Olson (North Providence, RI/North Providence) and juniors Josh Cardoso (Dartmouth, MA/Greater New Bedford), B.J. Doyon (Douglas, MA/Douglas) and Chris O'Connors (North Kingstown, RI/Bishop Hendricken) were credited with two hits apiece.

The 2007 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season and tournament champions begin defense of their titles tomorrow morning against United States Coast Guard Academy in a doubleheader at 10:00 a.m. The games were originally to be played at Wheaton before being moved to New London, Connecticut, due to unfit field conditions.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 3/22/08.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines.

Wheaton baseball represented among collegiate summer league teams (more)

McDonough signs with Brockton Rox, becomes Wheaton's sixth professional (more)

Gingras named Wheaton's first ABCA All-America pitcher since 2002 (more)

Upcoming Schedule

7-15-Mar Sat-Sun Spring Break Trip N TBA
19-Mar Thu Rhode Island College A 3:00pm
22-Mar Sun Springfield (2) H 12:00pm