March 30, 2008
NORTON, Mass. - Wheaton College sophomore Jeff Lieneck's (Foxboro, Mass.) first career grand slam in the bottom half of the sixth inning opened up a three-run game, as the Lyons defeated Endicott College, 13-7, on Sunday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
Riding the program's second-longest winning streak at 12 games, the 18th-ranked Lyons improved to 14-4 after beginning the season with 17 road games. The Gulls fell to 6-5 with the loss.
Wheaton was on pace to put the game out of reach early thanks to a six-run second that gave the hosts a 7-0 advantage. After putting together a frame that included six hits and a couple of Endicott defensive miscues, the Lyons chased the Endicott starter after just two innings. With two outs in the second, freshman Eric Laliberte (Nashua, N.H.) drove in the first two runs with a single to short left that landed just inside the foul line. Seniors Scott Guillerault (South Portland, Maine) and Jake Yagjian (Brewster, Mass.), sophomore Paul Malaguti (Andover, Mass.) and freshman Sean Munley (Trenton, N.J.) each plated a run.
The Gulls responded in strong fashion with a five-run third, highlighted by senior Dan Gomez's (East Longmeadow, Mass.) grand slam over the left field fence to bring Endicott within two. Gomez cut the Gull deficit to one with a single to center in the fifth, but the Lyons answered in the home half with a pair of runs on the strength of junior Nick Pecora's (Highland Park, N.J.) two-RBI single up the middle. In the sixth, Lieneck's long ball plated Guillerault, Munley and Yagjian, moving the score to 13-6 entering the seventh.
Freshman southpaw Kevin Calabro (Andover, Mass.) entered the game in the fifth with one on and nobody out, inducing a ground ball to first followed by consecutive swinging strikeouts. Calabro, who earned his second win, went 1-2-3 in the sixth before giving way to senior Keith Pescosolido (Newton, Mass.) with two down in the seventh. Pescosolido fanned his second batter to limit the damage to one run and retired the side in the eighth on a pair of strikeouts and infield fly ball. Junior Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, Mass.) pitched a scoreless ninth in closing out Wheaton's 12th straight win.
The hosts finished with an 18-hit attack, as seven different Lyons recorded multiple-hit performances. Yagjian went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Junior Robert Foote (Walpole, Mass.) turned in three hits and two runs, while Guillerault, Laliberte, Lieneck, Malaguti and Pecora had two hits each.
Lieneck accounted for four RBI and two runs, Guillerault and Laliberte plated and scored two runs apiece, with Guillerault belting two doubles, while Pecora drove in a pair and Yagjian scored twice.
Gomez batted 2-for-4 with five RBI and a run to lead Endicott. Sophomore Aaron Santos (Cambridge, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with three runs and a pair of walks, while senior Tom Warner (Contoocook, N.H.) notched two hits and a run.
Sophomore Colin McGinn (Tolland, Conn.) suffered his first loss of the season, allowing seven runs and eight hits in two innings.
Endicott opens The Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Monday afternoon as the Gulls travel to Dudley, Mass. to square-off with the Bison of Nichols College.
