Baseball (17-1, 4-0) Runs Winning Streak to 16, Remains Perfect in NEWMAC Play

The nationally-ranked Wheaton College baseball team went 5-0 last week, extending its winning streak to 16 contests, one shy of the second-longest run in program annals. The Lyons, who were ranked sixth in last week's D3baseball.com national poll, earned a 9-2 win at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth on Thursday and a 6-2 victory at Endicott College on Friday. Wheaton swept a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) twinbill on Saturday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 11-5 and 15-1 before downing visiting Brandeis University, 19-2 on Sunday.

Wheaton scored the first nine runs over seven innings at UMass-Dartmouth. Senior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) finished 3-for-5 with two runs, junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) had two hits, two RBI and a home run, and freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) also went deep while finishing with three RBI and two runs. Sophomore Kevin Calabro (Andover, MA/Andover) allowed only two hits and one run in seven frames to earn the win.

Junior Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) was 4-for-5 with two runs at Endicott, while Malaguti provided three hits. Sophomore Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) went 2-for-2 while walking four times, coming within one of a 10-year-old school record, and freshman Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) provided two hits, two runs, two walks and two stolen bases. Pecora tacked on two hits to back senior Brian Hughes (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional), who went 6.1 innings in notching the triumph.

At MIT, Wheaton swatted four home runs during a doubleheader sweep. In the opener, sophomore Hadi Raad's (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) first career dinger was a grand slam, as he finished 2-for-3 with five RBI. Malaguti and junior Jason Clucas (Peabody, MA/Saint John's Prep) also went yard, as Clucas drove in three runs. Haugh and Landers added two hits and two runs each, while senior Adam Gingras (Woonsocket, RI/Woonsocket) fanned eight in six innings to pick up the victory.

In the second contest, junior Sean Buckley's (Webster, MA/Bartlett) grand slam highlighted a nine-run eighth inning, as Buckley swatted his first career dinger in finishing 2-for-2 with five RBI off the bench. Pecora was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, Landers went 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Munley added two hits and two RBI. Lieneck and Raad both collected two hits, while Haugh scored four times and drew three walks. Senior Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New Gloucester) yielded four singles during seven shutout frames, corralling the win.

Wheaton posted 19 runs over the first three innings during its lone home game of the week, a win over Brandeis. Pecora doubled twice with three runs and four RBI, Buckley went 3-for-5 with two runs, while Malaguti and Munley both had two hits, three runs and two RBI. Junior Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) earned the victory after allowing two runs over six innings.

After hitting 32 home runs in 91 total games the past two seasons, the Lyons have already swatted 18 in 18 contests this spring. With four sacrifice flies, Raad is tied for sixth in a single season at Wheaton, while Clucas is tied for 10th with six sacrifice bunts.

Lieneck is second in program history with three career grand slams and sixth in times hit by a pitch (22), Clucas is tied for eighth in sacrifice bunts (9), Pecora is tied for ninth in triples (5), and Malaguti is tied for 10th in times hit by a pitch (16). Senior Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI/Cranston West) is second in pitching appearances (67) and saves (19), classmate Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) is sixth in pitching appearances (53), while Bernardini is fifth in innings pitched (198.2), sixth in wins (17), tied for sixth in complete games (4) and is eighth in strikeouts (127). Gingras is tied for ninth in wins (14) and tied for 10th in complete games (3). For their careers, Malaguti has 98 hits in 77 games, while Lieneck is close behind with 93 knocks in 74 contests.