NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Regina baseball completed its second Commonwealth Coast Conferencesweep in as many tries as the Seahawks grounded the Hawks in a doubleheader at historic Cardines Field. Salve Regina won the first game 8-4 before completed the sweep with a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.
With the pair of victories, Salve Regina improves to 20-7 on the year and 8-2 in the CCC while Roger Williams slips to 19-13 on the season and 8-4 in the conference.
The Hawks took advantage of two Seahawk errors in the second inning to jump out to a 1-0 lead, which turned out to be their only lead of the afternoon. With two outs in the frame, junior Mike Thomas (Plainville, Conn.) reached on an infield single to second to load the bases for freshman Tyler Campo (Wrentham, Mass.) who reached first safely on an error by the Seahawk second baseman and sophomore Matt Jefferis (Chesire, Conn.) came around to score the game's first run. With the bases still loaded, junior left hander Vincent Roth (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) got junior Mike Pascarella (Milford, Conn.) to strike out and end the inning without anymore damage.
The Seahawks answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead and never trailed again. The Hawks starter, junior Sean Boyle (Arlington, Mass.) got junior Anthony Conte(Georgetown, Mass.) to ground out on a come-backer before hitting the next three batters he faced to load the bases. Sophomore Joe Haley (North Kingston, R.I.) ripped a long single to centerfield to score sophomore Sean Becker (Richmond, Va.) and freshman Ryan Kelly(Waldwick, N.J.) to give SRU the 2-1 advantage after three innings.
With one swing of the bat, Kelly pushed the Salve Regina lead to 5-1 with a monster home run over the right field fence, his first of the season and his collegiate career, to score Conte and sophomore Matt Conroy (Philadelphia, Pa.).
Roger Williams manufactured a run in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 5-2, but Salve Regina responded with two in the bottom of the frame to push the game out of reach at 7-2. Once again, the Seahawks loaded the bases but this time Conte came up with a two-run down the left field line to bring home Conroy and junior Nicholas Dell'Anno (Reading, Mass.).
The two teams exchanged runs in the sixth inning before Roger Williams tacked on its final run in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 8-4, but Roth finished what he started by getting sophomore Reid Nelson (Wallingford, Conn.) to ground out with runners on the corners and end the game.
Roth pitched seven strong innings for the Seahawks, allowing just four runs, three earned, on nine hits and one walk while striking out six. Boyle took the loss for the Hawks, going 5.0 innings, allowing seven runs, four earned, on six hits and one walk while striking out six as well.
After a spotless first inning for sophomore Kyle Pheland (No. Scituate, R.I.), the Seahawk bats gave the starter a little breathing room in the bottom of the first. After watching a first pitch strike, Kelly took the next one he saw deep over the high right field fence for his second in as many games to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead. Freshman Ryan Sweenor (South Kingston, R.I.)pushed the early lead to 2-0 with an RBI single to score Colby in the first.
The Hawks scored their first run of the game in the top of the third to cut the lead to 2-1. Freshman Shawn Cariglio (Milford, Conn.) reached on an error by the Seahawk shortstop for the first Hawk base runner of the game. Cariglio eventually came around to score on a groundout to second from Pascarella.
With runners on second and third and one out, the Hawks were threatening to take the lead, but Pheland was able to pitch himself out of trouble, getting sophomore Joe Hock (Braintree, Mass.) to ground out to third and Cariglio to go down on strikes and end the threat.
The Hawks did manage to break through, however, in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2. Thomas led off the inning with a double to center field before advancing to third on a wild pitch and coming home on a single from Jamie Timothy (Cohasset, Mass.) to right. After two long fly outs to left, junior Dominic Di Sano (Central Falls, R.I.) threw a strike to second to catch Timothy trying to steal and end the inning.
With runners on the corners and one out, pinch hitter sophomore Tim Harris (Southbury, Conn.) grounded into what appeared to be a tailor made double play ball, but an errant throw by the shortstop allowed Di Sano to cross the plate for what proved to be the game-winning run, giving Salve Regina a 3-2 lead.
Pheland threw his fourth 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh to seal the win for the Seahawks.
Both starters went the distance, Pheland allowing just two runs, one earned, on four hits and one walk while striking out five Hawks. Sophomore A.J. Bashaw suffered the loss for Roger Williams after going 6.0 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits and one walk while also striking out five.
Kelly paced the Seahawks at the plate in the doubleheader with three hits, all for extra bases while driving in four runs on the day. Thomas led the Hawks with four hits, including a 3-for-3 day in the first game. Pascarella drove in a team-high three runs for Roger Williams.
Salve Regina returns to the diamond for a non-conference nine-inning contest with Johnson & Wales on Monday, April 15 for a 3:30 p.m. start. Roger Williams hosts Brandeis on April 18 for a non-conference game. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.