Weekly Lyon

Baseball (31-11, 9-3) Goes 4-1 Against Regional Foes, Podbelski Wins 300th Career Game

The Wheaton College baseball team went 4-1 last week against some of the toughest competition in New England, as head coach Eric Podbelski won his 300th career game. The Lyons, who are ranked first in the region and seventh in the nation by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), knocked off the visiting University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, 7-1 on Tuesday before picking up a 2-1 win on Thursday at Eastern Connecticut State University, which is second in New England and 11th in the nation. On Friday, the Lyons won 11-1 at the University of Southern Maine, which is third and 26th, respectively, for the milestone victory. Wheaton split a doubleheader on Saturday with Western New England College, losing 1-0 before posting a 4-3 win. The Golden Bears are eighth in the region.

The Lyons moved to 6-1 against teams currently regionally ranked in New England. Since a 1-4 start, Wheaton is 30-7. During its last eight games, the Blue and White posted a 0.62 earned run average, giving up just five earned runs in 72 innings. The Lyons have yielded multiple runs in an inning only twice in the last 79 frames, a span covering nine contests.

Against UMass-Dartmouth, the Lyons grouped their runs into the three middle innings. Junior Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) tripled and scored to tie the game in the fourth, and his three-run single with two down in the fifth broke the stalemate. Sophomore Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) went 3-for-5, senior Adam Laplante (Harwich, MA/Harwich) was 2-for-3 with two runs and a double, and classmate Jeff Martin (Marblehead, MA/Marblehead) added a pair of hits. Seven pitchers saw duty, as they combined to allow six hits and one walk while striking out eight batters. Freshman Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) picked up his first career decision after putting together a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

At Eastern Connecticut State, five relievers combined for 5.1 innings of two-hit shutout relief. Laplante's RBI double in the third inning made it 2-0 before the Warriors got on the board in the bottom of the frame. With two down in the fourth, junior hurler Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) was hit with a batted ball and had to leave the game, putting the lead in the bullpen's hands. Sophomores Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) and Brian Hughes (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) bridged the gap into the eighth, when junior Keith Pescosolido (Newton, MA/Newton North) registered a 1-2-3 inning. Freshman Pat Martin (Rockland, MA/Rockland) came on in the ninth with two on and no one out but retired all three batters he faced for his first collegiate save. Junior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) went 2-for-4.

Junior Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New Gloucester) carried a shutout into the eighth inning at Southern Maine, and Podbelski picked up his 300th win. Bernardini, who was pitching within an hour of his hometown, moved to 7-0 and retired the first 14 batters en route to tossing 7.2 shutout innings before the Huskies plated an unearned run. Bernardini finished with six strikeouts and only one walk while yielding five singles in eight innings. Senior Brandon Leonard (Brockton, MA/Brockton) went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles, while Pecora added a pair of hits. Martin drove in two runs, while senior Travis Anthoine (Portland, ME/Portland) scored three times and stole two bases.

In a twinbill with visiting Western New England, senior Joe White (Bedford, NH/Manchester West) tossed a gem but was the hard-luck losing pitcher in game one. White fanned seven and walked two while allowing just two singles and the lone run of the contest during the ninth inning. In the second game, Laplante's solo home run in the third tied the game, and Leonard's two-out RBI single in the seventh put Wheaton on top for good. Laplante finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, while junior Josh Moore (Manchester, NH/Manchester Memorial) yielded three unearned runs in eight innings. Pescosolido worked a one-hit ninth for his first collegiate save.

A number of Lyons continue to climb the program's career charts. Guillerault is second in home runs (22) and bases on balls (87), third in RBI (129), tied for eighth in doubles (36), ninth in runs (107) and 10th in hits (152). Leonard is tied for second in stolen bases (59), is fourth in runs (142), triples (9) and walks (67), tied for fourth in games (163), sixth in hits (192) and tied for eighth in RBI (102). Moore is fourth in wins (19), while McDonough is third in complete games (9) and strikeouts (170), sitting just nine shy of the school standard, and is fifth in victories (16).

Foote and McDonough Sweep Final Weekly NEWMAC Honors

McDonough and sophomore Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole) garnered New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) accolades for the week ending on Sunday, April 29. McDonough earned the top pitching honor after sharing the award the week before, and Foote was named player of the week for the second time this spring. McDonough spun a five-hit shutout to send Wheaton past Babson College, 2-0 in the second round of the NEWMAC Tournament on April 28. He struck out four and did not walk a batter over nine innings while tossing his second shutout of the spring and completing his fifth game. Foote went 9-for-19 (.474) with four RBI and three runs while slugging .684. In the NEWMAC Tournament championship game against Babson, Foote scored the game-tying run after going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in a semifinal victory over Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He added two hits and a run during the tournament opener with Babson. Earlier in the week, Foote was 2-for-4 with a go-ahead RBI in a win versus 11th-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University. He also went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI against Rhode Island College on April 24.

Men's and Women's Track and Field Athletes Turn in Strong Showings at New Englands

The Wheaton College men's and women's outdoor track and field teams took part in the NCAA Division III New England Championship over the weekend at Springfield College, where freshman Howard Powell (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) set a school record and a pair of women won events. The Lyon women placed eighth among 28 scoring teams, while the men tied for 14th out of 26 squads.

Powell's school record came in the 110-meter hurdles during a second-place finish, as his time of 14.59 eclipsed a year-old program standard by 0.17 seconds and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championship. Freshman Merzudin Ibric (Revere, MA/Phillips Academy) also turned in a runner-up showing during the 400M. For Wheaton's women, senior All-American Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) won the high jump with a height of 5' 6 1/2", which provisionally qualified her for NCAAs. Freshman Renee Thompson (Hartford, CT/Weaver) won the 400M in 58.49. Harlow's time of 15.03 during a fourth-place finish in the 100M hurdles left her 0.03 seconds shy of an NCAA Championship time. Harlow joined Thompson and sophomores Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) and Samira Sanders (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) as the 4x100M relay quartet came in third. Sophomore Morgan Jamiel (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) was third during the heptathlon, while classmate Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) was fifth in the 400M. Sophomore Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) tied for fifth in the 400M hurdles.

Ezeigwe Draws First ECAC Honor of Spring, Third of Academic Year

Ezeigwe was named Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Track Athlete of the Week for the week ending on Sunday, April 29. This was the first honor of the outdoor season for Ezeigwe, who earned two during the indoor campaign. Ezeigwe won a pair of individual events while helping a relay team to victory on April 28 at the NEWMAC Championship. Ezeigwe's time of 12.35 in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash was 0.03 seconds shy of an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, and her time of 12.41 in the finals was 0.40 better than the runner up. In the 200M, she reached an NCAA time at 25.09, winning by 1.34 seconds. During the 4x100M relay, Ezeigwe helped the team clock in at 48.96, which was 0.16 seconds off a provisional time and 0.65 ticks faster than the second-place team.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/8/08.
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