NORTON, MA- The nationally-ranked Wheaton College baseball team scored the final seven runs during its last two turns at bat, rallying past Rhode Island College, 19-13 on Tuesday in Sidell Stadium. The Lyons, who are ranked 15th in the D3baseball.com poll and sit fifth in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association's (NEIBA) regional rankings, improved to 29-9 overall and 10-1 in the all-time series. The Anchormen are 23-13.

In a contest where the teams combined for 32 runs on 35 hits, each team went down in order only once, while Rhode Island College grabbed a 5-0 lead during the opening inning. Each of the first six Anchormen got a hit in the first, as junior Tim Schabowski (Pascoag, RI/Burrillville) keyed the attack with a two-run double.

Wheaton countered with three runs in the home half and two more in the second. After a pair of hits to begin the first, including senior Nick Pecora's (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) school-record 19th double of the season, junior Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) knocked a two-run single, and classmate Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) followed with a two-out RBI knock. The Lyons tied it the next inning on sophomore Sean Munley's (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) two-out, two-run double.

Rhode Island College took the lead right back on a run-scoring groundout in the third before sophomore Gary Levesque (East Providence, RI/East Providence) swatted a solo home run in the fourth. Two more runs came around in the fifth, with junior Jared Rossi's (Johnston, RI/New England Christian Academy) two-out RBI single giving the visitors a 9-5 advantage. Sophomore Hadi Raad's (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) RBI single brought the Lyons within three runs in the fifth, but two more Rhode Island College runs came home in the following frame with two out on a base-loaded walk and an infield single, giving the visitors an 11-6 advantage.

The hosts came all the way back in the home half, scoring six times to take a 12-11 lead. Pecora led off with a solo home run, and a two-out, two-run single by Raad later made it 11-10. Facing a two-strike count, freshman John Keating (Duxbury, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) drilled a two-run double into right center, putting Wheaton in front for the first time during the contest.

Schabowski gave the Anchormen the lead right back in the seventh, hitting an opposite-field two-run homer into left with two down, but the hosts countered with a pair of runs in the bottom half. Freshman Dan Demeo (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) beat out a bases-loaded bunt single to knot the game at 13, and Raad walked with the bags packed to force in the go-ahead run. Wheaton put it away with a pair of homers in the eighth, as Lieneck drove a two-run shot over the right center fence before Malaguti followed with a three-run drive to right.

Munley finished 4-for-5 with three doubles and a school-record-tying five runs, Lieneck went 4-for-6 with four RBI, while Malaguti and Raad each plated four runs. Pecora scored three times, and freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep) drew three of Wheaton's 11 walks while scoring a trio of runs. Five pitchers saw action, with senior Karl Olson (Bethel, ME/Gould Academy) earning his first collegiate win in relief. Sophomore Pat Martin (Rockland, MA/Rockland) and senior Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI/Cranston West) fired shutout eighth and ninth innings, respectively, with Simmons matching the program mark with his 79th career appearance.

Schabowski finished 3-for-4 with four RBI, three runs and two doubles among three extra-base hits. Levesque and Rossi also both had three knocks, with Levesque scoring three times. Junior Eric Gelsomino (Johnston, RI/Johnston) took the loss in relief, yielding six runs in two innings.

The Lyons are back in action tomorrow in a battle between two of the top teams in New England, as Wheaton travels to seventh-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University for a 7:30 p.m. contest.