senior Dan Demeo of Glastonbury, Conn. and junior Eric Jensen of Gorham, N.H. each had two hits and drove in a pair of runs to lead the No. 10 Wheaton College baseball team to their 13th consecutive victory, an 8-3 triumph over Westfield State in non-conference action Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Junior Sean Ryan of Norton and senior Dan Haugh of Andover also drove in two runs for the Lyons, who improved to 13-1 with the win. Freshman Apolinar De la Cruz of Providence, R.I. extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a first-inning single.
The Owls (6-7) took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI double by senior Josh Blair of Westfield in the first. Wheaton answered with a pair of runs in the third to take a 2-1 lead. Jensen singled to right field to plate Demeo with the Lyons first run, and Ryan grounded into a force out to bring in freshman Kevin Foley of Southbury, Conn.
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In the fifth, senior Hal Landers of Salem, N.H. reached on an error to open the inning and scored on Jensen's second run-scoring single of the game to give Wheaton a 3-1 lead. After Jensen stole both second and third base, Haugh's grounder to second brought home Jensen.
Westfield struck for a pair of runs in the sixth to cut its deficit to 4-3. Junior Andrew Medeiros of Acushnet delivered an RBI single, followed by a run-scoring double by freshman Jeremy Tanguay of Huntington. Wheaton got those runs back in the eighth on a bases-loaded single by Ryan and a sac fly by Haugh. Demeo laced a two-run double in the ninth to cap the scoring.
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Wheaton senior Nolan Corr of Somersworth, N.H.improved to 2-0 with the victory. He worked 6.1 innings and allowed eight hits and three runs while striking out three. Junior Jordan Wylie of Plymouth worked two scoreless innings in relief of Corr before sophomore Ryan Grant of Easton recorded the final two outs of the game.
Freshman Mike Molta of Nantucket was the hard-luck loser as he allowed four hits and one earned run in five innings of work. He walked two and struck out six. Tanguay finished the afternoon 2-for-3.
The Lyons return to action on Tuesday when they head to Bridgewater State for a 3 p.m. contest. The Owls host Western Connecticut State Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
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