PHOENIX, AZ- Each of the Wheaton College baseball team's nine starters recorded at least one hit Monday afternoon, and junior hurler Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) picked up the victory during a 5-3 win over The College of New Jersey.

Improving to 2-1 on the young season, the Lyons, who again face TCNJ tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in the back end of a doubleheader, are ranked 19th in the country according to D3baseball.com. Receiving votes in the national poll, the Lions slipped to 2-3.

Junior Jason Clucas (Peabody, MA/Saint John's Prep) and freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) each went deep, with Haugh going 2-for-4, while sophomore Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) batted 2-for-3. Kostaras struck out four batters and walked one over seven innings, as the righty allowed two earned runs on seven hits.

Sophomore Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) led off the first with a base hit down the left field line, advanced to second on the play thanks to a throwing error, and moved to third on a groundout before scoring on junior Jeff Lieneck's (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) grounder to short. The Lyons extended their advantage in the second when Clucas' towering solo shot sailed over the left field fence.

After TCNJ knotted the scoring in the home half of the third, Wheaton came right back with a run on three hits in the fourth, as freshman Hal Landers' (Salem, NH/Salem) chopper to first base brought home junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover), who reached safely on a fielder's choice. After yielding six hits into the fourth inning, Kostaras allowed just one base knock during his final four frames, including retiring eight of his last nine batters.

Haugh's sixth-inning blast, which was his second in three games, doubled up the Lions by a 4-2 count. The Blue and White then tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, as Malaguti capped off a two-out rally with a double into right center. Munley, who singled in the previous at bat, scored all the way from first on the play.

Sophomore lefty Chad Kasik (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) came on in the eighth and finished things out en route to his first career save. Kasik fanned a pair of batters in the eighth before inducing a game-ending double play in the ninth.

Also recording a hit was Lieneck, senior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) and sophomore Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings).

Wheaton opens the day tomorrow against Rockford College of Illinois at 10:00 a.m.