Final Score (Game 1): Emerson 5, Wheaton 8
Pitchers (Game 1): WP - Ryan McCarroll (4-1) | LP -
Aidan Rice (0-3)
Final Score (Game 2): Emerson 1, Wheaton 7
Pitchers (Game 2): WP - Ben Oliveira (3-1) | LP -
Chris Lowe (1-3) | Save - Liam Goldthwaite (1)
Team Records: Emerson (3-16, 0-6 NEWMAC) | Wheaton (11-6, 5-1 NEWMAC)
Venue & Location: Memorial Park | East Boston, Mass.
Date & Times: April 7, 2024 | 12:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Emerson baseball hosted Wheaton for a Sunday afternoon doubleheader, but lost both games by scores of 8-5 and 7-1. Emerson moves to 3-16 (0-6 NEWMAC) on the season while Wheaton improves to 11-6 (5-1 NEWMAC)
Wheaton scored six runs through the first two innings of play. Two came in the first inning thanks to bases-loaded walks, and then the next four in the second inning came off a series of balls in play. Tommy Ambrosone drove in two with a single down the left-field line and was brought around on the next at-bat thanks to a double by Mike Maher. The sixth run would later score on a fielder's choice
Emerson starting pitcher
Aidan Rice was pulled after the second inning. He allowed five earned runs out of six total on four hits, along with a strikeout and five walks.
Jake Morvillo was tasked with pitching the third inning. He faced a first-and-second situation after an infield throwing error and a single but coaxed an infield fly and a double play from the next two batters. The Lions got on the board in the bottom half of the frame after
Chris Ferara drove in
Nicholas Favazzo on a single to center field.
Morvillo would shut down the side over the next two innings before being relieved by
Russell Silverman after walking the bases loaded with two down in the top of the fifth. Silverman would get out of the inning immediately thanks to a popout. Silverman was not as successful in the next frame, as Wheaton scored two on him thanks to a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice to extend their lead to 8-1 in the top of the sixth.
Emerson would get back on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring one on an RBI single by Favazzo and another on a sac fly by
Briggs Loveland to make the score 8-3. The Lions later put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth that culminated in Loveland driving two in on a single. Wheaton got out of the inning with a ground out by the next batter, sealing the 8-5 win for the visitors.
Game two of the doubleheader started as a pitcher's duel. Through five innings, Emerson's
Chris Lowe shutout the Lyons on three hits while Wheaton's Ben Oliveira no-hit the hosts. Wheaton jumped on Lowe in the top of the sixth, starting with a two-run home run by Maher. Then, Shawn Cali drove one in on a single to center field and was followed by an RBI ground-rule double by Tyler Bellan, making the score 4-0.
Emerson broke up the no-hit bid in the bottom half of the sixth on a bunt single by
Justin Fields, but nothing would come of it. The Lions would score their first run of the ballgame during their next at-bats. O'Connell led off the inning with a single, which caused Wheaton to replace Oliveira with Liam Goldthwaite. Emerson would take advantage of the pitching change as O'Connell advanced to scoring position on a passed ball and
Blake Benway drove him in with an RBI single to right field, shortening Wheaton's lead to 4-1.
Wheaton tacked two more on the top of the eighth thanks to an RBI triple by Casey Wensley and another RBI ground-rule double, this time by Cali. Emerson was shut down in the bottom half, but the visitors scored one more on a bunt single in the top of the ninth to go up 7-1. The Lions shut down again in their final at-bats, sealing the second win of the day for Wheaton.
Loveland had three RBIs and a stolen base in the first game while Favazzo and Ferara collected two hits each.
Tyler Metcalf also finished game one for Emerson by shutting out the side on two hits and three strikeouts over the last three innings. Ambrosone was the top performer for Wheaton in game one, going 2-5 with three RBIs and a stolen base. Starting pitcher Ryan McCarroll struck out eleven and walked four in his five innings of work.
As for the second game, Calie went 3-5 for Wheaton while Maher and Wensley both went 2-4. All three had two RBIs in the contest. Fields went 2-4 while Benway, Favazzo, and O'Connell each recorded hits. Lowe finished the game with five strikeouts and two walks through six innings, while his counterpart Oliveira and three strikeouts and three walks. Goldthwaite struck out six in his three innings of relief.
NEXT UP: Baseball hosts WPI for another NEWMAC matchup on Tuesday, April 9th, at 3:30 p.m. WPI is 14-7 (2-1 NEWMAC), with their most recent result being a 6-4 victory over MIT in one half of a postponed doubleheader.
