BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Baseball team stepped out of conference play Thursday afternoon, falling to Wheaton College by a 10-7 margin.
The Hawks scored their first two runs of the game in the opening at-bat when Grant Bolin (Simsbury, Conn.) beat out a throw home from third base on a chopper by Zach Porter (Middleboro, Mass.) with the bases loaded. Bill Lambert (Hanover, Mass.) came in behind him when the throw got past the catcher for the second run of a four-run inning.
Trailing 0-4, the Lyons got on the board in the fourth on Dan Haugh's (Andover, Mass.) solo homer to right center. Paul Malaguti (Andover, Mass.) followed with a single and later scored on Hadi Raad's (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) RBI single. Eric Laliberte (Nashua, N.H.) stepped up next and delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to tie the game at four apiece.
In the fifth, Wheaton took a 6-4 lead when Sean Munley (Trenton, N.J.) knocked a two-run home run to left field, and later on in the inning made it a 7-4 advantage on an RBI single by Hal Landers (Salem, N.H.). The Lyons kept the scoring going in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Nick Pecora (Highland Park, N.J.) and a sacrifice fly by Munley to go up 9-4.
The Hawks rallied in the sixth, beginning with a pinch-hit walk by Tim Georgen (Bristol, Conn.) to lead off the inning. After Matt Berte (Marlborough, Mass.) followed with a walk of his own, two batters later, Eric Cabral (Dorchester, Mass.) came through with a pinch-hit double to score Georgen from second. With two outs and runners on second and third, Alex Perry (Glastonbury, Conn.) delivered a two-run single to bring the Hawks within two.
The Hawks appeared to be riding the momentum in the seventh, with Porter and Kevin Simpson (Londonderry, N.H.) leading off the inning with back-to-back singles. Yet the Lyons stalled the potential rally, after Jeff Lieneck picked off Porter at second, followed by inducing a pop-up to first and a fly out to center to hold the Hawks without a run in the inning. Wheaton would add one more insurance run in the top of the ninth on Landers' RBI single to hold on for the win.
Kevin Calabro (Andover, Mass.) picked up the win, despite allowing seven runs in 5.1 innings. Josh Simmons came on for 1.2 innings of one-hit ball to earn the save. Laliberte finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run, while Malaguti went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
Sean Scanlon (Lebanon, Conn.) suffered the loss, tagged for three runs in an inning of work after coming in relief of PJ Gouthro (Walpole, Mass.), who went four innings and gave up four runs. Simpson finished 2-for-5 at the plate, while Georgen was 2-for-2 with a run scored off the bench.
Roger Williams (13-13-1) will host New England College Saturday at 11:00 a.m., while Wheaton (25-4) will be at Babson College Friday at 3:30 p.m.
