NORTON, Mass. – In a game that saw 13 pitchers, 30 hits and 29 runs, Suffolk baseball came out on the wrong side of a 16-13 decision to Wheaton Wednesday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 13 | Wheaton 16
RECORDS: Suffolk (14-11) | Wheaton (13-9) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk chased three early as Wheaton put up a trio in the bottom of the first. The Rams bats finally got going in the fourth. With one out, Harry Painter placed a single through the right side and advanced to second on an error by the Lyons left fielder Kevin Matos. Marc Birbiglia moved the freshman designated hitter to third with a base hit of his own nearly in the same spot before Luke Harder's ground out to first brought Painter in. 

The little ground the blue-and-gold made up in the top of the inning was erased in the bottom as the host tacked on three more runs to put Suffolk in a 6-1 hole. 

Two innings later the Rams offense got going again. A Wheaton error factored into the visitors first base runner once again as Joe Ward capitalized on a mishap from the Lyons first baseman Drew Spirito. Ward stole second and advanced to third thanks to Painter's single through the left side. Birbiglia drew a base on balls to chuck the bags. A wild pitch pushed all the runners over with Ward scoring on the erratic toss. Ground outs by Harder and Blase Cormier were responsible for a runner apiece that pulled Suffolk within two, 6-4. 

Once again Wheaton responded to Suffolk's with some of its own. This time the Lyons doubled Suffolk's offensive output from the top of the inning in the bottom to stretch the distance to eight.   

The back-and-forth affair continued in the seventh as the Rams scored six to restore the two-run margin, 12-10. Wheaton made a change on the mound to start the inning. Two walks later a new arm came out of the pen. Tim Wagner walked the first batter he faced, Christian Seariac, to juice the bags in time for Ward's two-run single through the right side. After one out, another base on balls forced the Lyons to make another change on the hill. Harder hit a single through the left side off the fresh wing to bring in two more Rams. Cormier contributed a sac fly in the rally that was wrapped up by a one-run single from Shane Lake.  

The Lyons continued the run parade with four more in the bottom of the inning to force Suffolk back into a 16-10 deficit.  

Suffolk tagged in to continue the slugfest with three runs in its half of the eighth to set the eventual final tally at 16-13. Painter delivered a two-run single to complete his contribution to the offensive show, while Birbiglia brought home the fun run with a sac fly.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

• The Rams pitched by committee, using seven different arms. 
• Michael Muscarella fell after allow three runs, two earned, on two hits in the first frame. 
• Nick Reiser saw the most time on the mound with 3.0 innings to his credit. He compiled a three-run, seven-hit, two-walk, three-strikeout stat line. 
• Michael James Jr. (1 H, 1 K), Casey Sullivan (3 R, 4 H, 1 K), Pierce Salbego (4 R, 3 H, 3 BB) and Jake Washock (1 H) all saw 1.0 inning of relief action. 
• Liam Goldthwaite earned the decision. He let up just one earned run on five hits and one walk with one punchout in 6.0 innings. 
• Jackson Walsh secured the save after tossing 1.0 inning of scoreless relief with one hit and one walk allowed.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Painter contributed a 3-for-5 effort with two RBI and two runs scored. 
• Harder brought in four runs on two hits to go along with one run scored. 
• Garret Roberts recorded two hits, two runs scored and one stolen base. 
• Ward tallied three runs, two RBI, one hit and one stolen base.
• Birbiglia notched two runs, one RBI, one hit and two walks. 
• Seariac scored twice and walked twice. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk met Wheaton for the first time since April 10, 2019. 
• Harder pushed his hit streak to eight games. He has had five straight games with two hits to his credit. 
• In the last eight games, Harder has produced 14 hits. 
• Harder registered a career-high four RBI.
• Ward tied a personal-best three runs scored.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up its three-game mid-week tomorrow with a rematch against Lasell. First pitch at Stein Diamond on the campus of Brandeis is scheduled for 7 p.m.