Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass--The Western New England University baseball team didn't help itself in a 10-2 loss to nationally-ranked Wheaton College on Tuesday at Trelease Park, giving up 13 hits and committing three errors in the non-conference contest. This was the second time the teams have met this season, with the Lyons winning 7-2 on April 11 in Norton. With the loss, the Golden Bears' record drops to 19-8, while Wheaton (No. 11 by both D3baseball.com and ABCA coaches/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper) improves to 22-7.

Western New England managed a run in the fourth inning on a RBI-groundout by left fielder Taylor Perun, and another in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by third baseman T.J. Wyrebek. Shortstop Kyle McKelvey led the Golden Bear with two hits. WNE's starter Jeff Richardson (2-2) was saddled with the loss, pitching 6-1/3 innings before three relievers were used.

"Jeff deserved better today. He competed well (but) we just didn't score any runs for him," Western New England coach Matt LaBranche said after the game. "Otherwise, there were a couple of bright spots. Kyle is swinging the bat much better and giving us some much-needed punch in the middle of the lineup. I also liked how our freshmen competed when they got in--Doug (Milne), Chris (Casey), and T.J. Wyrebek all had quality ABs."

The Lyons had no trouble creating offense, scoring in all but three innings. The visiting team had four players with multi-hit games and three players with multi-RBI games. Heading into the seventh inning, however, WNE only trailed 4-1.

That changed when the Wheaton offense exploded for a four-run inning, started off by first baseman Apolinar De la Cruz's home run to right center, his first of the season.

Catcher Dan Gusovsky, who had an excellent offensive day, paced the Lyons with three hits. Sophomore reliever Mike Gibbons (2-1) earned the win on the mound by going 4-2/3 innings while only allowing one run and striking out two. Wheaton was led offensively by De la Cruz (2-5, 2 RBI), Gusovsky (3-4, 2 RBI) and second baseman Matt Lavanchy (3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI).

Jeff Schult, Matt Anthonis, Steve Buckley, Doug Milne and Chris Casey also had hits for the Golden Bears.

Western New England's last pitcher of the day, junior Ryan Skelly, had a 1-2-3 ninth inning that included two strikeouts looking.

The Golden Bears, who had won six of seven coming into today's action, will have an opportunity to get back on track tomorrow when Westfield State visits Springfield for a 3:30 p.m. non-conference game. Wheaton will return home to host Southern Maine on Thursday.