Worcester, Mass. – Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass.) snuffed the potential game-winning rally with a strikeout to record his tenth save of the season as Wheaton College held off host Clark University, 3-2, in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Thursday afternoon at the Granger Diamond.

The win for the surging Lyons is their seventh straight as they improve to 18-6 overall and 8-2 in conference contests. For the Cougars, meanwhile, they have dropped seven in a row, three of which - like today's contest – has come by a single run.

Both starting pitchers were terrific on the mound and the pace of the game picked up dramatically after the first two innings.

Wheaton struck first in the top of the first when leadoff hitter Jimmy Smith (Worcester, Mass.) singled and then stole second to get into scoring position. After getting to third, he came around to score on a Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass.) single to right.

Ahead 1-0, the Lyons added another in the second. Zach Goodwin-Boyd (Florence, Mass.) leadoff the frame with a hit by pitch and moved to second on a Justin Sellar (Middletown, R.I.) walk. After getting to third on a fielder's choice, Goodwin-Boyd scampered home on a slow rolling infield hit by Smith.

Clark cut that lead in half in the bottom of the second when James Conway (Newburyport, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and then moved to second on an error. He eventually raced home when Adam Chochrek (Foxboro, Mass.) singled to center.

That Chochrek single would be one of only two hits that Wheaton starter Mike Bruemmel (Bridgewater, Mass.) would allow in his 7.1 innings of work.

The Lyons tacked on what would be the winning run in the sixth when Joe Santigate (Staten Island, N.Y.) doubled and came home on a Sellar single to center.

Clark started a rally in the bottom of the eighth when Chris Dibble (Manchester, Conn.) crushed a ball to deep center field for a one-out double that chased Bruemmel. Reliever Mike Baryski (Walpole, Mass.), however, was able to quell the uprising when he got Teddy Downing (Cambridge, Mass.) to line out to left and Kyle Bonicki (Waterbury, Conn.) to foul out to left.

After Scarlet and White reliever Joe Gouveia (Nashua, N.H.) made quick work of Wheaton in the top of the ninth, The Cougars put together their rally. Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice and then went to second on a Zach Richall (Tyngsboro, Mass.) base hit with two outs.

Chochrek hit a roller to short that forced a quick decision and Silvestro's throw was wide allowing Eglow to race home, bringing the Cougars to within one. Dumas, however, was able to strikeout pinch hitter Mikey Thomson (Northampton, Mass.) to end the game and give the Lyons their second one-run win over the Scarlet and White this season.

Clark starter Conor Walsh (Barnstable, Mass.) was effective for the Cougars, tossing eight innings, scattering eight hits and allowing three earned runs but takes the loss.

Sellar, Silverstro and Smith all had two hits each for the Lyons, while the Clark offense mustered only four hits.

Both teams are back in action on Friday with NEWMAC contests. Wheaton hosts Emerson while the Cougars visit Springfield.