Late Rally Sends Wheaton Past Golden Bears

NORTON, Mass. (May 1, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team saw their three run lead disappear after the seventh inning after the hosting Wheaton College Lyons were able to rally in both the seventh and ninth innings before putting the Golden Bears away in the 11^th to take a 8-7 conference win on Sunday afternoon. 

Records:

• Western New England: 16-16-1
• Wheaton College: 26-10

How it Happened:
After suffering a pair of conference losses just 24 hours ago, the Golden Bears looked to bounce back against the hosting Wheaton College Lyons on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Bears would fall behind early in the game, giving up two runs in the opening inning on a two RBI single from the Lyons shortstop Caven Brady to give Wheaton the opening 2-0 lead. WNE would get one run back in the top of the second inning when Joe Webber sent his fifth home run of the season out of the ballpark, this time a solo shot to cut the Lyons lead in half. 

Western New England would grab another run in the top of the fourth to even the score at two. Paul Villecco out be thrown out a first pass after a comebacker to the pitcher, though Kohtaro Shimada would score on the play to give the Golden Bears their second run. The Golden Bears would come all the way back and score three runs in the fifth inning. EJ Dudley would start the scoring party with a two-run home run to right field that would also score Ben Harrison to give Western New England their first lead of the contest, at 4-2. Later in the inning, Vincent Caccavale would single up the middle and steal two bases to move to third. On the steal to third, the Golden Bears shortstop would advance on a throwing error by the Lyons catcher to give WNE a 5-2 lead. 

Starting pitcher Jacob Hobart went the first four innings giving up four hits and two runs while striking out one. Ryan Searles, Demitri Boulas, Kyle Roberts, and Aaron Cole would toss the middle innings, giving up just three hits and one run while striking out four Lyons. A Lyons run would come around to score in the seventh on a single to right field to shrink Western New England's lead to a two run advantage. The Lyons bats would start to pick up after their run in the seventh inning, as two runs came around in the bottom of the ninth to even the score at five to send the game into extra innings. 

The Golden Bears and Lyons would both fail to score in the tenth inning. Western New England would get their bats rolling and score their first two runs since the fifth inning in the 11^th, when CJ Willis doubled to left field, scoring both Paul Villecco and John Bova to give WNE a 7-5 lead. Western New England would see Wheaton bounce back quickly, tying the game in the home half of the inning on a two RBI double. Wheaton would come around and win the game on an RBI single to right field to take an 8-7 win over the Golden Bears. 

Around the Horn:

• WNE collected 12 hits on the afternoon, with Paul Villecco, Joe Webber, Vincent Caccavale, and John Bova recording multi-hit efforts. 
• WNE left eight on base in the loss. 
• Wheaton saw five multi-hit players on the afternoon, with Cavan Brady leading the way with four RBIs. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE hosts Framingham State University on Tuesday, May 3 at 3:30 pm. The game was originally scheduled as a road contest, though has been moved to Trelease Park.
• Wheaton College, who has won 13 straight contests, matches with Westfield State on the same date at 4:00 pm.