2007 NEWMAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT - McDonough's five-hit shutout leads Wheaton past Babson, 2-0

April 28, 2007

NORTON, MA- Junior hurler Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) fired a five-hit shutout to lead the top-seeded Wheaton College baseball team to a 2-0 victory over fourth seed Babson College in Saturday's opening game of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament at Sidell Stadium.

The Lyons, ranked seventh nationally and first in New England in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) polls, improved to 25-10 and will face third-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this afternoon. The Beavers, who fell to 21-11 on the season, play seventh seed United States Coast Guard Academy in an elimination game today at Babson. MIT defeated Coast Guard, 15-12 earlier today in Babson Park.

Facing five batters over the minimum on five singles with four strikeouts and no walks, McDonough won his fifth straight decision while tossing his fifth complete game. McDonough retired his first six batters in order and 13 of his initial 14, allowing a harmless single in the third.

Wheaton brought its first run across in the second, as junior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) belted a two-out double into left center field that scored sophomore Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole), who reached on a fielder's choice. Guillerault had the only extra-base hit of the afternoon, as each team finished with five hits.

The Lyons tacked on their second run in the fourth thanks in part to junior Jake Yagjian's (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) run-scoring single to left center. Sophomore Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) began the frame by getting hit, moved to second two batters later on Foote's single and was brought around during Yagjian's next at bat.

The Beavers rallied in the fifth on consecutive one-out singles from freshmen Jake Bartlett (Weymouth, MA/Boston College) and Peter O'Toole (Salem, MA/Saint John's Prep), but McDonough induced a pop fly to first and a line drive to right to get out of the frame unscathed. McDonough also eluded trouble in the sixth as Babson once again smacked back-to-back singles with one down. The southpaw got his next batter to pop up to the catcher before closing the frame with a soft ground ball to first.

The Lyons had an opportunity to extend their lead in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with two down, but sophomore starter Jeff Wojnar (Bellaire, TX/Episcopal) thwarted the threat by forcing a groundout to short. McDonough set down his final 11 batters, including firing 1-2-3 innings in each the seventh, eighth and ninth frames. Wojnar suffered the loss after yielding two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks in six innings. Babson's O'Toole and Wheaton's Foote finished as the game's lone multiple hitters.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/28/07.
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