NORTON, MA- Having not suffered a loss in 16 games and 22 days, the second-ranked Wheaton College baseball team came up short to non-conference foe Suffolk University, 4-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.

Wheaton, which moved up four spots to second nationally according to the most recent D3baseball.com poll, falls to 17-2 after losing for just the sixth time in its last 57 home games. The Rams, who are receiving votes in the poll, picked up their sixth consecutive victory to improve to 12-3.

Suffolk received a strong start from senior Reid Jackson (Burlington, MA/Arlington Catholic), who limited Wheaton's high-powered offense to two runs and seven hits in 6.2 innings. The Lyons entered today ranked sixth in the country in scoring with 10.8 runs per game. Jackson fanned six batters and walked three in helping hold the Blue and White to its lowest scoring output of the season.

The Ram offense was firing on all cylinders early with three runs on seven hits in the first two frames before Wheaton junior reliever Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) slammed the door by tossing 4.1 innings of hitless ball with three strikeouts. Shepard retired 13 of the 14 batters he faced, as Suffolk's lone runner came courtesy of a defensive miscue.

After trailing by three through the middle of the second, the hosts began to chip away at their deficit, scoring lone runs in the second and fourth to get within one. A second-inning triple down the right field line by freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) was followed by an RBI single from junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover), whose sacrifice fly in the fourth made it a 3-2 game.

Shepard retired nine straight batters in the middle three frames while helping his cause in recording six assists for the game. After senior hurler Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) gave the Lyons a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, Wheaton had a golden opportunity in the home half go for naught. Sophomore Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) singled and stole second to ignite a two-out rally before advancing to third on a ball-four wild pitch that placed senior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) on first, but the opportunity was squandered when the visitors ran a successful pick-off play.

The Rams added an insurance run in the eighth, as senior Keith Carter's (Newburyport, MA/Newburyport) RBI double proved to be Suffolk's lone hit in the final 7.1 frames. Four Wheaton relievers combined to strike out six Ram batters, as senior Karl Olson (Bethel, ME/Gould Academy) fanned two while sophomore Chad Kasik (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) tossed a hitless ninth. Classmate Kevin Calabro (Andover, MA/Andover) had one strikeout in 1.2 innings and suffered the loss.

Suffolk senior reliever Dan Delia (Boston, MA/Savio Prep) kept the Lyon offense at bay, firing 2.1 frames of hitless action with three strikeouts and one walk en route to the save. Carter and junior Rory Gentile (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) had two hits apiece for the Rams, while Haugh was Wheaton's lone multiple hitter.

The Lyons look to get back to their winning ways with Thursday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) home tilt against Clark University at 3:30 p.m.