Athletics > Weekly Lyon > April 21, 2008
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Baseball (27-7, 9-3) Wins Four of Five, Clinches Second Seed in NEWMAC Tournament
The Wheaton College baseball team, ranked ninth in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll, went 4-1 last week but dropped a key New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest to finish out of first place for the initial time in the 10-year-old league's history. The Lyons downed visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 4-0 on Tuesday but fell at home to Babson College, 4-2 on Thursday. Wheaton responded with wins of 8-0 over homestanding Bridgewater State College on Friday, 20-3 against visiting Brandeis University on Friday and 5-4 in 10 innings at perennial regional power University of Southern Maine on Sunday. After at least tying for each of the first nine NEWMAC regular season crowns, the Lyons open up the league tournament as the second seed by hosting number-five WPI on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Against WPI, sophomore Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) tossed eight shutout innings of four-hit ball, fanning five, before senior Keith Pescosolido (Newton, MA/Newton North) struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth. Senior Ken Depasse (Holden, MA/Saint John's) had two hits, while sophomore Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) was 2-for-4 with a triple. Freshman Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) drove in two runs.
Freshman Sean Munley's (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) two-out, two-run single in the eighth brought the Lyons within 3-2 against Babson before Wheaton fell short. Munley had two hits, while senior Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) fanned six in seven innings.
At Bridgewater State, junior Adam Gingras (Woonsocket, RI/Woonsocket) blanked the Bears on four hits over 7.2 innings before sophomore Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) tossed the final 1.1 scoreless frames. Munley was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double, Malaguti had two hits and two runs, while junior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) and sophomore Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) recorded a pair of hits each, with Lieneck doubling.
Wheaton scored 20 runs for the second time this season during its win over Brandeis, with seven coming home in a big fifth inning. Senior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) was 4-for-5 with two runs, four RBI, a home run and a double, while classmate Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) had three hits, three runs and three RBI. Lieneck and Malaguti each had two hits, two runs and two RBI, while freshman Tad Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Lost among all the offense was junior Brian Hughes' (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) stellar pitching performance, as he yielded four hits during six scoreless innings.
At Southern Maine, Pecora's RBI double with two down in the ninth tied the game before Lieneck's RBI single with two out in the 10th put Wheaton on top for good. Freshman pinch runner Colin Lynch (Danvers, MA/Danvers) stole second with two out in the ninth and scored the tying run on Pecora's hit. Seven Lyons had one hit, including junior Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole), who slugged a solo home run. Guillerault walked three times. Kostaras struck out six in 6.1 innings before junior Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI/Cranston West) earned the win by striking out three in two frames.
Thanks in large part to Gingras and McDonough, who have each tied a program record with two shutouts this season, Wheaton has notched a school-record seven shutouts in 2008. McDonough is just the second Lyon to record a pair of two-shutout campaigns, having also done so last year, while Simmons has moved into fourth at Wheaton with eight saves this spring. The Lyons have a program-record 25 sac flies.
Guillerault is among the top five in a number of career categories at Wheaton, ranking first in games played (175) and hit-by-pitch (33), second in home runs (25), walks (119) and sacrifice flies (12), third in RBI (163) and doubles (51) and tied for third in runs (145). Yagjian is tied for third in sacrifice flies (11) and is fourth in bases on balls (74) and times hit by a pitch (25). McDonough is first in strikeouts (221) and complete games (11), tied for second in shutouts (4), third in innings pitched (242) and tied for third in wins (20). Simmons is second in saves (16) and fourth in pitching appearances (55), while Pescosolido is fifth in appearances (53).
Men's Lacrosse (5-8, 3-2) Posts 2-1 Mark, Wins Both Pilgrim League Contests
The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team went 2-1 last week, winning twice against Pilgrim League competition. The Lyons dropped their opener at Connecticut College, 14-3 on Tuesday before downing Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 8-5 on Thursday. Wheaton won its third straight conference contest by defeating Norwich University, 19-4 on Saturday. With two games remaining, the Lyons currently hold down fourth place in a league that sends four teams to its postseason tournament.
Wheaton trailed Connecticut College just 3-2 early in the second quarter before yielding 11 of the game's final 12 goals. Sophomore Alex Lewis (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) made nine saves.
At Massachusetts Maritime, the Lyons broke out of a 2-2 tie with three straight goals en route to a key league win. Sophomore Tim Horan (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) and freshman Duncan Smith (Centerport, NY/Harborfields) had two goals apiece, while sophomore Drew Schaffer (New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) turned in one marker and two assists. Classmate Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford School) recorded 12 saves.
The Lyons recorded a season high in goals by halftime at Norwich, pushing to a 17-4 lead by intermission. Freshman Ben Cederberg (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) led all scorers with three goals and four assists, sophomore Warren Garceau (Guilford, CT/Canterbury School) had two goals and two helpers, and Schaffer, sophomore Conor Whitney (West Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford School) and freshmen Bobby Barry (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury), Corey Best (Brentwood, TN/Ravenwood) and Chris Landers (Manchester, MA/Proctor Academy) finished with two markers apiece. Best and freshman Alex Voucas (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Ludlowe) each recorded the first goals of their respective careers, while classmate Peter Buongiorno (Pittsburgh, PA/Winchester Thurston School) tallied two assists for his first points. Lewis made five saves before Horn stopped three shots in relief.
With 106 points, senior Richie Rasamny (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) is four shy of being 10th in program history. In addition to 57 goals, Rasamny is tied for fifth at Wheaton in assists (49), as he could become the fourth Lyon with 50 career goals and assists. Having appeared in 57 contests, Rasamny is two short of matching the school mark for games played.
Women's Lacrosse (7-8, 3-3) Goes 2-1, Occupies Final Home Playoff Spot in NEWMAC
The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team went 2-1 last week, including winning twice in NEWMAC action. The Lyons opened play on Tuesday by downing visiting Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 17-16 before falling at nationally-ranked Amherst College, 17-5 on Thursday. On Saturday, Wheaton rallied for an 11-9 victory at Smith College in its regular season league finale. With the NEWMAC Tournament opening on Wednesday, April 30 and the conference's remaining six teams each having one game left, the Lyons will find out their postseason fate on Saturday.
Against MIT, the Lyons rallied from a six-goal deficit with a 10-1 second-half run before holding on for victory. Down by a 12-6 margin, Wheaton scored seven straight goals in 4:22 of the final stanza and then later broke out of a 13-13 tie with three consecutive markers. Junior Caitlin Grant (Walpole, MA/Walpole) had four goals, senior Sara Dimick (Cumberland, ME/Greely) notched three tallies and two helpers, while classmates Meredith Hurd (Bath, ME/Hyde School) and Alexa Jurczak (Davidsonville, MD/Miss Porter's School), junior Madeline Williams (Annapolis, MD/Key School) and sophomore Brittany King (Georgetown, MA/Proctor Academy) scored twice each. Senior Simone Safyer (New Rochelle, NY/The Masters School) recorded her first collegiate game-winner. In goal, freshman Annalisa Carson (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) started and relieved, making eight saves for the win, and classmate Marianna Marcellino (Milton, MA/Thayer Academy) had one stop in 17 minutes.
Wheaton trailed Amherst, which was ranked ninth by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), just 3-1 nearly nine minutes into the contest before coming up short. Dimick and Grant had two goals apiece, while Carson and Marcellino split time, combining for six stops.
At Smith, the Lyons overcame a two-goal deficit with a 4-0 second-half run before breaking out of a late tie for the win. In a 9-9 game, Jurczak scored with 4:43 remaining, and Williams tallied at 3:51. Dimick had four markers, while Jurczak added two. Carson made 11 saves.
Hurd is fourth in program history in career goals (146) and fifth in points (164).
Softball (28-12, 12-4) Goes 1-3, Clinches Second Place with Split of Wellesley
The Wheaton College softball team lost three of four games last week but clinched second place in the final NEWMAC standings by splitting with nationally-ranked Wellesley College on Friday, losing 6-2 in nine innings before picking up a 4-3 win during 19th-year head coach Gina Loudenburg's final regular season contest at Clark Field. The Lyons twice fell on Saturday at Endicott College, which is ranked first in last week's New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association (NEISCA) poll, 5-2 and 6-5. As the second seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, Wheaton will host a neutral-site game between third-seeded Springfield College and number-six Smith College on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. before playing the winner in the second contest of the afternoon.
Against visiting Wellesley, which is ranked 21st by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), freshman Nicole DeRosa's (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich Academy) two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning of game one knotted the contest, but the Blue scored four times in the ninth. DeRosa finished 2-for-4, while senior Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) struck out eight in nine frames. During the nightcap, freshman Kristen Hunt's (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) sacrifice fly tied the game, and junior Stacey Kelleher's (Brockton, MA/Brockton) three-run blast put Wheaton up for good in the third. Kelleher went 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI, while sophomore Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) allowed one earned run while striking out seven.
The Lyons scored first in game one at Endicott before the Gulls plated four runs in the fifth. Senior Erika Marini (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) finished 2-for-3, while junior Lynn Cotto (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield) launched her second home run of the spring. Moynagh fanned seven in five innings. In the second contest, Kelleher's two-out, two-run home run in the seventh put Wheaton up 5-4, but the hosts rallied with two runs in the home half. Kelleher ended up 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI, while Marini was 2-for-4 with two runs. Senior Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) had two hits, and Bagley went the distance in the circle.
Already this season, the Lyons have hit 17 triples, tying for third in program history behind the record of 19, and their 26 home runs are fifth in school annals. Wheaton's pitching staff has a school-mark eight saves, thanks in part to Poulton's program-high four this year. Moynagh has become just the third Lyon pitcher to post three 100-strikeout seasons. At 16-4, she is tied for 10th at Wheaton in single-season wins and stands 10th with six shutouts. At bat, Poulton is tied for third with 13 sacrifice bunts, while DeRosa has seven home runs, which is one shy of the program's freshman record, set in 1997. The Class of 2011 already has the highest long ball total for any freshman class in program history with 14.
Senior Alix Brozman (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) is eighth in program history in career sacrifice hits (25), Benton is ninth in home runs (11) and Marini is tied for 10th in long balls (9). Marini is also tied for eighth in sacrifice flies (6), tied for ninth in times hit by a pitch (5) and 10th in doubles (30). Moynagh is tied for second in saves (3), third in each wins (51), strikeouts (490), pitching appearances (92) and innings pitched (514.1), tied for third in complete games (50) and fourth in shutouts (14). Poulton is first in saves (7), fourth in strikeouts (176), fifth in appearances (67) and tied for eighth in wins (22), while Bagley is seventh in strikeouts (117) and 10th in wins (19).
Men's Tennis (8-6, 2-3) Falls Twice on the Road, Including Once in NEWMAC Play
The Wheaton College men's tennis team, ranked 18th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Northeast poll, lost both of its matches last week against regionally-ranked foes, dropping a 9-0 decision at Salve Regina University on Friday before falling by the same score at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the next day in NEWMAC action. With its regular season now complete, Wheaton will be the fourth seed in the league tournament, which begins when the Lyons host number-five United States Coast Guard Academy on Thursday.
At Salve Regina, the 17th-ranked team in the region, Wheaton won five games during doubles action, while sophomore James Little (Mount Desert, ME/Mount Desert Island) and freshman Brian Krantz (Milford, CT/Joseph A. Foran) each fell in singles despite losing one set apiece by a 7-5 count.
Against MIT, which is 13th in the Northeast and the lone team to win the NEWMAC regular season title in the league's 10-year history, freshman Harry Altman (Riverdale, NY/The Dwight School) fought through an epic singles match but came up short, 6-4, 3-6, 3-10. Junior Nii Manfoi Davies (Town & Country, MO/The Principia) lost his match after only dropping the first set 7-5.
Track and Field Athletes Among Top Finishers at MIT, Jamiel Competes at Holy Cross
The Wheaton College men's and women's track and field teams took part in the non-scoring Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Coed Invitational on Saturday after junior Morgan Jamiel (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) competed in the heptathlon during the week at the College of the Holy Cross.
During the Holy Cross Multi-Event Meet, a two-day competition that came to a close on Thursday, Jamiel placed sixth among 21 athletes in the heptathlon with 3,868 points while coming within 143 points of the nine-year-old school standard. She was third among Division III competitors, finishing 114 points shy of the top finisher from the division, and won the 100-meter hurdles portion of the event.
At MIT, the Lyon women came up with 11 top-five placements, including a trio of runner-up showings from senior Megan Brousseau (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) in the 800-meter run, junior Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) during the 400M hurdles and sophomore Kelly Libert (New Haven, CT/James Hillhouse) in the 400M. Placing third were junior Christine Moreau (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) in the 400M hurdles, sophomore Renee Thompson (Hartford, CT/Weaver) in the 200M, freshman Laurenmaria Smith (Providence, RI/Hope) during the 100M and classmate Diana Kornberg (Highland Mills, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) in each the discus and shot put. Finishing fifth were juniors Lily Calderwood (Harvard, MA/Bromfield School) and Amanda Rawson (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) in the 400M and 1,500M, respectively. Wheaton's 4x400M relay quartet also came in fifth, with Brousseau, Calderwood, Karpow and sophomore Katie Pratt (Litchfield, CT/Litchfield) each running a leg. On the men's side, junior Albi Skenderi (Glendale, NY/Grover Cleveland) place fourth during the 400M hurdles. The Lyons saw their 4x400M relay foursome also take fourth, as junior Brian Dundon (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield), sophomore Miles Souza (Norton, MA/Saint Sebastian's School) and freshmen Colin Fahey (Waltham, MA/Weston) and Brandon Waltz (South Thomaston, ME/Rockland District) combined on the performance.
Ezeigwe Draws ECAC Weekly Track Athlete-of-the-Week Laurel
Junior Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) was named Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Track Athlete of the Week for the week ending on Sunday, April 13, earning her first weekly honor of the school year. On April 12 at the University of Miami Elite Invitational, Ezeigwe helped her 4x400-meter relay quartet run the fastest time in Division III this season with an NCAA Championship automatic qualifying time of 3:47.27, 5.88 seconds better than the previous best, and provisionally qualified for NCAAs in the 200M at 25.04, tying for fifth nationally at the time.
This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/21/08.
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