Norton, Mass. - The top-seeded Wheaton College baseball team stretched its winning streak to six games while eliminating number-four Clark University from the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament Friday afternoon, as the Lyons posted a 3-0 victory during the second round of the double-elimination tournament at Sidell Stadium.

As host of the weekend portion of the tournament, the Lyons advance to Saturday's winner's bracket and will face third seed Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at 9:30 a.m. The winner of that contest moves on to Sunday's championship round.

Wheaton, which is ranked 24th nationally and tied for second in the New England poll, improved to 23-7, while Clark fell to 14-15.

In a game that took just 1:45 to complete, senior Nick Kostaras extended his shutout streak to 13 innings, firing eight frames of four-hit ball for the Lyons while striking out eight and not walking a batter.

Classmate Jon Shepard tossed a no-hit ninth for his sixth save, pitching around a hit batsman and an infield error.

Senior Jeff Lieneck paced Wheaton with a 3-for-4 showing, driving in one run, while junior Sean Munley had two doubles and plated a pair.

Four different Cougars collected one hit apiece, with sophomore Mitch DeLorenzo (Berlin, Conn.) picking up a double. Senior Jonathan Merritt (Milton, Mass.) pitched well in defeat, yielding three runs on seven hits during eight innings. He struck out three and walked two.

The only hit Kostaras yielded through the first four innings was to Clark's leadoff hitter Stephen DeMartino (East Haven, Conn.) in the opening frame, but he was quickly erased on a line-drive double play.

The righty fanned five during the first three innings alone, at one point striking out four straight.

Wheaton broke through with a pair of runs in the fourth, as Munley's groundout made it 1-0 before Lieneck followed with a one-out RBI single to center field.

Kostaras' streak of setting down 12 straight ended when he plunked a Cougar with one down in the fifth, and the visitors eventually loaded the bases with two down before Munley fielded a grounder at first and beat the runner to the bag. Munley took another grounder to end the sixth with a runner on second before roping a one-out RBI double in the home half to make it 3-0.

Wheaton's defense provided a pair of important plays in the eighth, including Malaguti making a sliding catch in left field for the second out. During the ninth, Clark had the potential tying run at the plate with two down, but Shepard got a strikeout to clinch the win.

Clark's season doesn't end however, as they will play a pair of contests next week, beginning with Tuesday's home contest against UMass-Boston.