Game #1: WPI 7, Wheaton 3
Game #2: WPI 5, Wheaton 4

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Norton, MA --- WPI Baseball swept Wheaton 7-3 and 5-4 on Saturday to earn a share of the NEWMAC Regular Season crown with the Lyons. The Engineers improved to 21-9 and 9-3 in the conference on the season and will be the #1 seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament.  The conference title is WPI's first in the 106-year history of the Engineers' baseball program.
 
Wheaton, which has at least shared a NEWMAC regular season crown in 10 of the 11 seasons since 1999, dropped its third straight conference game to fall to 25-7 overall and 9-3 in the league.  It marked the first time in the 11-year history of the NEWMAC that Wheaton has been swept in a doubleheader by a league opponent. The Lyons are ranked third in the nation and first in New England. 
 
In game one, the hosts committed seven errors and trailed 5-0 by the fifth inning.  Just two of WPI's seven runs were earned, as its four-run fifth came on three defensive miscues.  Junior Joe Walsh (Weymouth, MA) had a two-out, two run single in the frame. The hosts strung together three runs on six hits in the fifth and sixth combined to pull within two before the Engineers tacked on two seventh-inning runs coupled with two more Lyon errors for the final margin.
 
Junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA) went 2-for-3 for Wheaton, while senior Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME) suffered his first loss of the season, yielding just one earned run but walking five and fanning one in four-plus innings.  Walsh plated three runs to lead the Engineers, and freshman Sean Minor (Los Angeles, CA) allowed three earned runs while scattering six hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 5.2 innings of work.

Alex Hansen (Burlington, CT) came on in relief of Minor and got out of a pivotal jam in the sixth. With two out and runners on first and second, Hansen needed only one pitch to end the Lyon threat and get WPI out of the inning unscathed by inducing a ground ball out. Thomas Whiting (Farmington Hills, MI) was impressive in relief as well, coming on in the seventh to close out the win by striking out the side in order.
 
Seven errors were charged in game two, with WPI committing five, but Wheaton trailed 3-0 and 5-1 before rallying late.  The visitors scored a pair of unearned runs in the second and were up three by the middle of the third before the Lyons got on the board.  Wheaton made it 3-1 with an unearned run of its own in the third, but the Engineers responded in the sixth with a two-run single off the bat of junior Jameson Kokolis (Manchester, NH).
 
The Blue and White narrowed the gap to 5-2 with a run in the sixth before rallying in the ninth.  After placing two runners on to start the frame, sophomore Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ) singled in a run two batters later, leaving two on with one out.  The Wheaton runners both moved into scoring position following a wild pitch, and the Lyons used a groundout to short to make it a 5-4 game.  However, the Lyons left the tying run at third, as WPI senior Conor Fahey (Cumberland, RI) fanned his final batter during a solid complete-game effort.
 
Senior Brian Hughes (Dudley, MA) gave up five runs, three earned, on 10 hits with one strikeout and a walk in 5.1 innings.  Munley went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
 
Fahey struck out nine Lyons and issued two walks with no earned runs on eight hits in collecting his fifth win of the spring.  WPI racked up 12 hits, led by senior Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA), who went 4-for-5.
 
WPI will host the NEWMAC Tournament in its next game on Wednesday as the #1 seed. Wheaton finishes out the week tomorrow at Keene State College at 3:30 p.m before hosting a first-round NEWMAC Tournament game. The Owls are tied for eighth in the region. 

Major Portions of Release Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information