FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 28, 2009

LYONS WIN SLUGFEST WITH ANCHORMEN
Teams Combine for 32 Runs on 35 Hits

Norton, MA-The nationally-ranked Wheaton College baseball team scored the final seven runs during their last two turns at bat, rallying past Rhode Island College, 19-13 on Tuesday in Sidell Stadium. The Lyons, who are ranked 15th in the D3baseball.com poll and sit fifth in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association's (NEIBA) regional rankings, improved to 29-9 overall and 10-1 in the all-time series. The Anchormen are now 23-13.

In a contest where the teams combined for 32 runs on 35 hits, each team went down in order only once, while Rhode Island College grabbed a 5-0 lead during the opening inning. Each of the first six Anchormen got a hit in the first, as junior Tim Schabowski (Pascoag, RI) keyed the attack with a two-run double.

 Junior First Baseman Tim Schabowski

Wheaton countered with three runs in the home half and two more in the second. After a pair of hits to begin the first, including senior Nick Pecora's (Highland Park, NJ) school-record 19th double of the season, junior Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA) knocked a two-run single, and classmate Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA) followed with a two-out RBI knock. The Lyons tied it the next inning on sophomore Sean Munley's (Trenton, NJ) two-out, two-run double.

 Rhode Island College took the lead right back on a run-scoring groundout in the third before sophomore Gary Levesque (East Providence, RI) swatted a solo home run in the fourth. Two more runs came around in the fifth, with junior Jared Rossi's (Johnston, RI/) two-out RBI single giving the visitors a 9-5 advantage. Sophomore Hadi Raad's (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) RBI single brought the Lyons within three runs in the fifth, but two more Rhode Island College runs came home in the following frame with two out on a base-loaded walk and an infield single, giving the visitors an 11-6 advantage.

 The hosts came all the way back in the home half, scoring six times to take a 12-11 lead. Pecora led off with a solo home run, and a two-out, two-run single by Raad later made it 11-10. Facing a two-strike count, freshman John Keating (Duxbury, MA) drilled a two-run double into right center, putting Wheaton in front for the first time during the contest.

 Schabowski gave the Anchormen the lead right back in the seventh, hitting an opposite-field two-run homer into left with two down, but the hosts countered with a pair of runs in the bottom half. Freshman Dan Demeo (Glastonbury, CT) beat out a bases-loaded bunt single to knot the game at 13, and Raad walked with the bags packed to force in the go-ahead run. Wheaton put it away with a pair of homers in the eighth, as Lieneck drove a two-run shot over the right center fence before Malaguti followed with a three-run drive to right.

 Munley finished 4-for-5 with three doubles and a school-record-tying five runs, Lieneck went 4-for-6 with four RBI, while Malaguti and Raad each plated four runs. Pecora scored three times, and freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA) drew three of Wheaton's 11 walks while scoring a trio of runs. Five pitchers saw action, with senior Karl Olson (Bethel, ME) earning his first collegiate win in relief. Sophomore Pat Martin (Rockland, MA) and senior Josh Simmons (Cranston, RI) fired shutout eighth and ninth innings, respectively, with Simmons matching the program mark with his 79th career appearance.

 Schabowski finished 3-for-4 with four RBI, three runs and two doubles among three extra-base hits. Levesque and Rossi also both had three knocks, with Levesque scoring three times. Junior Eric Gelsomino (Johnston, RI) took the loss in relief, yielding six runs in two innings.

In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will host Babson in its regular season finale tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.

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