Lyons stretch winning streak to seven with twinbill sweep of Coast Guard

March 22, 2008

NEW LONDON, CT- Senior southpaw Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) spun a seven-hit shutout in game one, and the Wheaton College baseball team sent home a season-high 15 runners in the second contest to complete Saturday's twinbill sweep at New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe United States Coast Guard Academy, as the Lyons won 1-0 and 15-1 in the teams' league openers.

Today's games were scheduled as Wheaton's home opener but were forced to be moved due to unplayable field conditions in Norton. Having reached double-figure runs in five of their last seven games, the Lyons extended their winning streak to seven games. Ranked 13th in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, the Blue and White is 9-4. The Bears fell to 4-6.

McDonough, who picked up his 18th career win and third shutout, scattered seven hits while fanning three batters and walking none. McDonough set down 11 of his final 12 batters while allowing just one Coast Guard runner past second base. He faced just six batters over the minimum.

Freshman Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) provided the game's lone run in the fifth, scoring senior Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional), who drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Munley's hit was one of only three base knocks for the Lyons.

Wheaton's offense broke out in game two, scoring in six of the first seven frames, including pushing four across in the sixth and six in the seventh. The Lyons also capitalized on seven Coast Guard errors while drawing 10 walks and stealing a program-high-tying seven bases. Nine different Wheaton players notched hits, with Yagjian and sophomore Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) each going 3-for-5. Yagjian plated a run, scored once, drew a walk and stole a base, while Malaguti accounted for two runs.

A pair of freshmen also got into the act, as Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) drove in his first three collegiate runs while walking twice and swiping a bag, and Scott Ciccone (Malden, MA/Arlington Catholic) plated the first two runs of his career on a pinch-hit double in the seventh.

Sophomore Jason Clucas' (Peabody, MA/Saint John's Prep) bases-clearing double in the sixth highlighted the four-run frame. He also scored a run. Sophomore Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) went 1-for-2 with three runs, two RBI, a pair of walks and a double, while junior Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole) scored two runs with a walk and stolen base. Munley and senior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) each drew two walks and scored once, while Guillerault also stole two bags and drove in a run, and Munley had one steal.

Junior starter Adam Gingras (Woonsocket, RI/Woonsocket) turned in an impressive eight-inning outing, limiting the Bears to just the lone run on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Freshman reliever Kevin Calabro (Andover, MA/Andover) struck out two batters through a scoreless ninth.

Wheaton remains on the road this Tuesday in a non-league game at Brandeis University at 3:30 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 3/22/08.
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