NORTON, Mass. – Despite a four-run eighth inning that brought the Corsairs within two runs, Wheaton College outpaced UMass Dartmouth, 12-7 on Thursday afternoon. The Lyons move to 19-12 overall, while the Corsairs slip to 20-16-1 overall.
Wheaton's bats were hot to start the game, taking a 5-2 lead after two innings of play. The Corsairs brought it back within a run after bringing in a pair in the fourth inning, but Wheaton responded with three runs over their next two at-bats. The Lyons were leading 9-3 after seven innings.
UMass Dartmouth showed life in the top of the eighth, starting with a leadoff single from junior second baseman
Devyn Vezina. Grad student left fielder
Joe Muzio followed with his third hit of the game on a base hit up the middle that advanced Vezina to third. Senior DH
Tre Coleman brought in the first run of the inning on a grounder back to the pitcher.
With one out, senior first baseman
Andrew Possi singled, putting two runners on base for senior catcher
Matt Tempone. Tempone crushed a three-run homer, bringing the Corsairs back within a two-run margin at 9-7. However, the Lyons were able to get out of the eighth inning and then put away the Corsairs in the ninth to hold on to a 9-2 victory.
Credited the win on the mound for Wheaton was junior pitcher Ryan McCarroll. He allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work. Junior reliever Joe Mulhern picked up his sixth save of the season for the Lyons. Shouldering the loss for UMass Dartmouth was sophomore pitcher A.J. Rourke. Rourke allowed five runs on nine hits with a strikeout in 3.0 innings on the mound.
From the plate, Wheaton College saw freshman third baseman Casey Wensley go 4-for-6 with four RBIs. Senior center fielder AJ Guindon went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored, while junior first baseman Timmy Wagner was 3-for-6 with two RBIs and a run. Five different batters notched more than one hit for the Lyons.
The Corsairs saw seven different batters pick up hits, including a 4-for-5 game from Muzio. Tempone went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including his three-run homer in the eighth. Possi also recorded three hits on four at bats and scored three runs.
UMass Dartmouth Baseball looks forward to their final conference doubleheader of the 2024 regular season on Friday. The Corsairs take on the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut in a twin bill with the #1 seed in the LEC Tournament on the line. The Corsairs will end the season atop the conference with at least one win tomorrow. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12:00PM in Dartmouth.
