Gingras and McDonough twirl shutout wins over MIT in leading Wheaton to 17th straight victory and best start in program history

April 6, 2008

NORTON, MA- Senior southpaw Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) and junior righty Adam Gingras (Woonsocket, RI/Woonsocket) each tossed complete-game shutouts, their second of the season, in leading the Wheaton College baseball team to 6-0 and 3-0 victories over Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action Sunday at Sidell Stadium.

Running the program's second-longest winning streak to 17 games, the American Baseball Coaches Association's (ABCA) 18th-ranked Lyons are off to their best start in the program's 11-year history at 19-4. Wheaton is also unbeaten in the NEWMAC, sitting in first place at 7-0. The Engineers slipped to 8-10 and 2-3.

McDonough tossed a gem in game one, chalking up a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and zero walks while facing six batters over the minimum. Today's shutout marked the fourth of McDonough's career, which stands one shy of the program standard. He fanned at least one batter in six of the seven innings, including striking out three in the seventh frame and two each in the second and fourth. McDonough retired nine straight batters from the third through sixth innings. Improving to 4-1 on the season, he also collected his 20th career victory, which is tied for third in program annals.

Wheaton received all the offense it needed during a four-run fourth, as the Lyons capitalized on five singles and a run-scoring wild pitch. Junior Robert Foote's (Walpole, MA/Walpole) sacrifice fly, freshman Rob Jenkins' (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) first career hit and classmate Hadi Raad's (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) base knock each plated a run in the frame. The Lyons tacked on two more runs in the fifth, this time with senior Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) and Foote hitting consecutive run-scoring doubles.

Raad and junior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) picked up two hits each, Foote plated two runs, Guillerault and senior Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) scored twice apiece, and freshman Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) drew two walks.

Each of MIT's first four hitters delivered a hit, with junior Thomas Phillips (Durham, NC/C.E. Jordan) smacking a double. Freshman Cameron Brown (Lakewood, CO/Wheat Ridge) suffered his first loss on the mound, allowing four runs on seven hits with one strikeout and a walk through four innings of work.

Gingras fired a six-hit blanking in game two, fanning seven while issuing zero walks, as today's pitching staff combined for 17 strikeouts and no bases on balls. Gingras, who also earned his second shutout of the season to tie the program mark, faced six batters over the minimum and yielded six harmless singles. After the Lyons turned two double plays through the first three innings, Gingras retired 10 straight batters from the sixth through ninth frames. He raised his season mark to 3-0 while lowering his earned run average to 1.96.

MIT senior starter Jay Turner (Holliston, MA/Holliston) kept the Wheaton offense at bay through three hitless innings. Turner gave up just one base knock in the fourth but the Lyons still managed to push a run across, as Yagjian led off with a single, moved to second on a fielding error and advanced to third on Guillerault's sac bunt before scoring on Munley's groundout to short. Freshman Eric Laliberte's (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) RBI single in the fifth scored Foote, who opened the inning with a double to deep center, and sophomore Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian Brothers) singled home Guillerault in the eighth to account for all the scoring.

Guillerault and Munley were Wheaton's lone repeat hitters, while senior Kevin Wheeler (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) accounted for half of MIT's six hits, going 3-for-4. Turner went the distance, surrendering two earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Wheaton squares off against second-place Babson College on Tuesday in Babson Park at 3:30 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/6/08.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

2008 NCAA DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL TOURNAMENT - Wheaton suffers first loss with 6-2 setback to 40-0 Trinity (more)

Three Lyons each earn first career NEIBA All-New England accolade (more)

2008 NCAA DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL TOURNAMENT - Four-run seventh snaps tie and pushes Lyons past Keene State, 12-2 (more)

Upcoming Schedule

17-May Sat Southern Maine/WNEC - NCAA Tourn. N 4:00pm (Webcast | Live Stats)
18-May Sun NCAA Tourn. N TBA