Courtesy of Hamilton College

CLINTON, NY – Thomas Wheeler '12 (Minnetonka, MN) drove in five runs and Max McKenna '11 (Lexington, MA) tossed a five-hit shutout to lead the Amherst College baseball team to an 11-0 win over Hamilton College in a NESCAC West game at Hamilton's Royce Field Friday afternoon. 

Wheeler went 3-for-3 with two homers and a double and scored three runs to lead the Amherst offense. He led off the second inning with a home run to left field and brought the score to 4-0 with a two-run shot to left center in the third. His two-RBI double was part of a five-run fourth inning as the Lord Jeffs took a 9-0 lead. Wheeler leads the team with six long balls on the year.

McKenna (3-0) struck out five and walked two in nine innings, dropping his earned run average to 2.19 while lowering his opponents' batting average to .210. The Lord Jeffs (13-5, 3-1) have allowed only four runs during their current three-game win streak.

Hamilton (8-14, 1-3) had its win streak snapped at three games. The Continentals had allowed just one run in their previous two contests.

Brian Merrigan '11 (Holbrook, MA) went 4-for-4 with an RBI out of the eighth spot in the Amherst lineup, bumping his average to a team-best .410. Jose Espinosa '11 (Ridgefield, CT) drove in a run and had two hits, including a double. Mike Samela '12 (Westport, CT) scored three times and added two hits, including his second triple of the season. Taiki Kasuga '14 (New York, NY) doubled and scored a run.

Gabe Klein '13 had three of Hamilton's five hits, while Kevin Prindle '13 added a double and Justin Atwood '11 singled. Starting pitcher John Wulf '12 suffered his first loss this year in four decisions, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks in three innings.

The Lord Jeffs and Continentals will begin a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m.

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