Lyons and Golden Bears split twinbill during pair of one-run games

May 5, 2007

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College and Western New England College each won one-run baseball games Saturday afternoon at Sidell Stadium, as the Lyons bounced back from a hard-fought 1-0 loss to post a 4-3 victory in game two to earn the non-conference doubleheader split.

Ranked seventh nationally and first in New England according to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Wheaton had its seven-game win streak snapped in moving to 31-11. The Golden Bears, who are ranked eighth in the region, have won 14 of 16 and are 27-10.

Game one turned out to be a pitcher's duel, as Wheaton senior Joe White (Bedford, NH/Manchester West) and Golden Bear senior Eric Smolin (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) battled through eight scoreless innings before the visitors pushed across the game's lone run with one down in the ninth.

The Lyons put their leadoff batter on base in five of the first six innings. Junior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) led off the fifth with a base knock to spark the Lyons' best chance, as classmate Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) also reached to put two on with none out, but Smolin fanned a batter and induced two fielder's choices.

For Wheaton, White allowed only four Golden Bears to reach base over the first eight innings, with only one reaching second base. In the ninth, sophomore pinch hitter Chris Newell (Wallingford, CT/Sheehan) drew a leadoff walk before senior Josh Jacobs (Essex Junction, VT/Essex) came up three batters later and poked an RBI double down the left field line with one out. However, sophomore southpaw Brian Hughes (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional) got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by inducing two fielder's choices.

In the home half, sophomore Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole) singled with one down, and junior Ken Depasse (Holden, MA/Saint John's) stole second as a pinch runner with two outs, but Smolin fanned the side to earn the win.

White yielded only one run on two hits in eight innings, striking out seven while walking two. He, Hughes and sophomore Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) combined to allow one run on four hits to a team that had plated 10 runs in each of its last eight wins. Smolin finished with nine strikeouts during his seventh complete game of the year, walking three while allowing four hits. Jacobs went 2-for-4.

Game two saw more runs scored in the bottom of the first than in the previous nine-and-a-half innings. Senior Travis Anthoine (Portland, ME/Portland) singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on sophomore Nick Pecora's (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) triple down the right field line. Senior Adam Laplante (Harwich, MA/Harwich) gave the Lyons a 2-0 edge with a groundout to second.

The Golden Bears used three hits coupled with a Wheaton error to plate three unearned runs in the third. Junior Travis Schwamb (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield) drew a bases-loaded walk before classmate Ryan Kravontka (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) drove in a pair on a two-out single to right. Laplante's solo shot over the left center field fence in the home half knotted the game at three, and senior Brandon Leonard's (Brockton, MA/Brockton) two-out RBI single to center in the seventh proved to be the game-winner.

Junior southpaw Josh Moore (Manchester, NH/Manchester Memorial) became Wheaton's second seven-game winner in as many days, yielding zero earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk in eight innings of work, while classmate Keith Pescosolido (Newton, MA/Newton North) forced a game-ending double play after getting his first batter to ground to short in the ninth. Pescosolido picked up his first career save in the process. Laplante finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run to pace the Lyon offense.

For Western New England, sophomore Mike Beck (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was the team's lone multiple hitter and scored a run, while classmate Jason Pizzoferrato (Windsor, CT/Windsor) took the loss after surrendering four earned runs on eight hits with one strikeout and two walks in 6.2 innings.

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