Baseball (28-9, 9-3) Set to Continue Season After Falling in NEWMAC Semifinal Round

The nationally-ranked Wheaton College baseball team went 2-2 last week in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament and has five regular season games remaining as it looks to claim an at-large berth into its ninth NCAA Tournament. The Blue and White was ranked 12th in last week's D3baseball.com national poll and was tied for third in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association's (NEIBA) regional rankings. As the second seed in the league tournament, the Lyons knocked off visiting number-five Springfield College, 4-2 in Thursday's opening round before falling, 13-9 on Friday to visiting Babson College, the fourth seed and eventual champ. Wheaton bounced top-seeded host Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 5-3 in the third round on Saturday before falling to the Beavers, 8-7 later in the day's semifinals. The Lyons, who had won each of the past four league tournament crowns, have captured nine titles in the NEWMAC's 11-year history.

Senior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) came within a triple of the cycle in Wheaton's win over Springfield, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Classmate Adam Gingras (Woonsocket, RI/Woonsocket) yielded a pair of unearned runs in seven innings, scattering eight hits while striking out four without walking a batter and notching the win. Sophomore Chad Kasik (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) worked a shutout eighth inning, and senior Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI/Cranston West) fanned two while tossing a shutout ninth for the save.

Against Babson, Wheaton nearly overcame an 11-run deficit before falling short, as a five-run ninth proved to not be enough. Pecora was 3-for-5 with three runs, sophomore Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) turned in a 2-for-2 performance while scoring twice off the bench, and junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) added two hits while being plunked twice. Classmates Jason Clucas (Peabody, MA/Saint John's Prep) and Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) contributed a pair of hits apiece, and sophomore Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) drove in two runs.

Munley was 3-for-4 with four RBI at WPI, while Pecora added a 2-for-4 showing with two runs. Malaguti turned in two hits, and freshman Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) walked twice. Junior Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) worked six-plus innings for the win, striking out eight, before senior Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) retired all three batters he faced in the seventh. Simmons inherited a two-on, none-out situation in the eighth and fanned two batters before setting the side down in order during the ninth for the save.

Wheaton led by two during its semifinal with Babson before yielding three runs in the eighth. Munley was 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs and a home run, while Landers was 3-for-4 with two runs. Sophomore Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) was 2-for-3 with three RBI, Pecora went 2-for-4 with two runs, and freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) added two hits.

Pecora is tied for first at Wheaton in single-season doubles (18) and is 10th in runs (45), while Raad is second in sacrifice flies (6). Simmons is fifth in saves (8) and tied for ninth in pitching appearances (18), while junior Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) is eighth in games pitched (19). Munley is tied for sixth in RBI (46), tied for seventh in sac flies (4) and stands eighth in walks (26), Lieneck is tied for sixth in both times hit by a pitch (11) and sacrifice bunts (8), and sophomore Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) is tied for seventh in sac flies (4) and tied for ninth in walks (25). Malaguti is tied for seventh in sac flies (4), Clucas is tied for eighth in sac bunts (7), while Landers is tied for eighth in triples (3) while standing alone at ninth in stolen bases (14).

Lieneck is second in program history with three career grand slams, tied for second in times hit by a pitch (29) and tied for eighth in sacrifice bunts (10), while Pecora is tied for sixth in triples (6), tied for eighth in both walks (53) and sac flies (8), tied for ninth in hits (178) and stands 10th in doubles (33). Malaguti is seventh in times hit by a pitch (20), Clucas is tied for eighth in sacrifice bunts (10), and Laliberte is tied for ninth in hit by pitches (18). Simmons is second in pitching appearances (78) and saves (26), Barnes is fourth in games pitched (59), while senior Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New Gloucester) is fifth in innings (208.2), sixth in wins (17), tied for sixth in complete games (4), is eighth in strikeouts (134) and is tied for ninth in pitching appearances (44). Senior Brian Hughes (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) is eighth in appearances (45), while Gingras is tied for seventh in wins (15), sits 10th in innings pitched (163.1) and is tied for 10th in complete games (3).