Kostaras' eight-inning gem propels host Wheaton to 4-0 shutout of WPI

April 15, 2008

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College sophomore righthander Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) and senior righty Keith Pescosolido (Newton, MA/Newton North) combined for a four-hit shutout Tuesday against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and led the Lyons to a 4-0 triumph in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action at Sidell Stadium.

Running its home winning streak to 10 games while earning its 22nd victory in its last 24 games, Wheaton improved to 24-6 overall and 9-2 in league play. The Lyons, who are seeking their 10th NEWMAC regular season title in the conference's 10-year history, finish their league slate at home on Thursday against first-place Babson College at 3:30 p.m. WPI fell to 13-15-1 on the season and 3-7 in the NEWMAC.

Kostaras led the nation's ninth-ranked team with eight shutout innings, striking out five while walking one and allowing just four hits to improve to a perfect 4-0 this spring. Pescosolido went 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth, as Wheaton matched a program record with its sixth shutout. Engineer senior Ryan Smalanskas (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury) suffered the loss after yielding all four runs on seven hits with one strikeout and three walks over 6.1-plus innings.

The hosts provided Kostaras all the run support he would need with their first two batters, as sophomore Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) and senior Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) opened the scoring with a triple and RBI single, respectively. Malaguti roped his three-bagger into the right field corner, while Yagjian dropped his base knock into shallow right.

Kostaras pitched around three errors in the third to keep WPI at bay, helping himself with an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play. With two on and one out, Kostaras smothered a comebacker to the mound before firing to second to start the turn. Wheaton made it 3-0 in the fourth thanks to a huge two-out, two-run single from freshman Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin), and Kostaras held the Engineers hitless until their were two down in the fourth.

WPI senior Ryan Rainone (Oakville, CT/Watertown Regional) doubled to lead off the fifth and, three batters later, freshman Bryan Watkins' (Belmont, MA/Belmont) single placed runners on the corners with two down. However, Kostaras retired his next batter on strikes to get out of the frame unscathed.

Kostaras limited the Engineers to one hit in the sixth through eighth innings, and Wheaton tacked on an insurance run on a wild pitch in the seventh to complete the scoring. Malaguti and senior Ken Depasse (Holden, MA/Saint John's) finished as the Blue and White's lone multiple hitters. Depasse went 2-for-3, while Malaguti was 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. Laliberte drove in two runs, junior Robert Foote (Walpole, MA/Walpole) smacked a double and scored a run, and junior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) and freshman Hadi Raad (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY/Hastings) each scored.

Three of WPI's four hits were doubles, as Rainone, junior Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA/Falmouth) and sophomore Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) notched one apiece. Watkins, who had the Engineers' lone single, also stole a base.

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