Seniors Reid Jackson (Burlington, MA) and Dan Delia (Boston, MA) put a halt to Wheaton College's 16 game win streak as the Rams defeated the Lyons 4-2 on Tuesday afternoon. Wheaton (17-2) who came into the game as the # 2 team in the nation were slowed down offensively by Jackson and Delia as the Rams (12-3) have now won five game in a row up north and nine of their last ten contests.
Jackson (3-1), who was named GNAC Pitcher of the Week for his efforts last week, went 6 2/3 innings, striking out six before giving way to Delia, who picks his first save of 2009.
Suffolk jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first as junior Rory Gentile (Gloucester, MA) started the game off with a single to right field. After advancing to second on a ground ball to third, Gentile then stole third base and came around to score when senior Keith Carter (Newburyport, MA) hit a single through the left side of the infield.
Suffolk put up two more runs in the second inning. After a long fly ball to center field off the bat of senior Mike Kenneally (Georgetown, MA) for the inning's first out, sophomore Mark Addesa (Revere, MA) hit a ball off the left field fence for a double. Sophomore Nick Travelyn (Manchester, NH) then beat out a chopper to third for an infield single, and Addesa came around third to score when the throw bounced past Wheaton's first baseman. Travelyn was then thrown at second on the very next pitch trying to steal the base on a close call. Gentile followed up with his second hit of the game lacing a single into left center and came around to score when senior Paul Vittozzi (North Reading, MA) doubled deep into the left center gap.
Junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA) got Wheaton on the board with a RBI single to right in the bottom half of the second. Malaguti knocked in freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA) who tripled down the right field line past a diving Carter. Malaguti knocked in another run later in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 3-2.
The Lyons had a chance to tie in the seventh. Sophomore Eric Laliberte (Nashua, NH) hit an infield single between first and second to reach base and then stole second. Laliberte advanced to third when a Jackson changeup skipped in the dirt to the backstop. Senior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ) then drew a walk to bring runners on the corners with two outs as Rams skipper Cary McConnell summoned Delia in from the bullpen.
The Rams escaped out of the jam as Delia picked off Pecora who was trying to steal second base and put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Alertly Delia gave the ball up to second baseman Paul Vittozzi who applied the tag before Laliberte could advance home and tie to game to get the inning's final out.
Suffolk tacked on an insurance run in the 8th when Carter struck again, doubling down the left field line to plate junior Bobby Barrett (Milton, MA).
Delia finished the game pitching the final 2 1/3 striking out three hitters, walking one while not allowing a hit. Carter and Gentile each finished the game with two hits for Suffolk.
Dan Haugh finished the game with two hits for Wheaton. Junior Jon Shepard (Salisbury, MA), seniors Karl Olson (Bethel, ME), Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA) and sophomore Chad Kasik (Dudley, MA) combined to only allow one hit out of the bullpen for Wheaton.
Suffolk is back in action on Thursday as they take on Eastern Nazarene College on the road. The game will begin at 3:30 pm.
Suffolk University 4, Wheaton College 2 (Mar 31, 2009 at Norton,
Mass.)
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Suffolk University.. 120 000 010 - 4 8
0 (12-3)
Wheaton College..... 010 100 000 - 2 7
2 (17-2)
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Pitchers: Suffolk University - Reid Jackson; Dan Delia(7). Wheaton
College - Calabro;
Shepard(2); Barnes(7); Olson(8); Kasik(9).
Win-Reid Jackson(3-1) Save-Dan Delia(1)
Loss-Calabro(2-1) T-2:25 A-120