NEWPORT, R.I. (Tuesday, April 23, 2024) - Salve Regina University graduate student Matt D'Amato (Midland Park, N.J.) swatted a 2-2 pitch to deep right center field for a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning as the #7 Seahawk baseball team defeated Johnson & Wales University, 8-6, in non-league action at Reynolds Field on Tuesday.
Walk-Off HR -- Matt D'Amato lifts #7 Salve Regina to victory with three-run blast in bottom of 11th inning | Great call by Bobby Ohlson and camera work by Gabby Miller pic.twitter.com/1oFPRDPgw3
— Salve Regina Sports (@SalveAthletics) April 24, 2024
Senior infielder Riley Hasson (South Portland, Maine) had given the visiting Wildcats (20-9) a one-run lead, 6-5, with a two-out solo shot to center field in the top of the 11th. It was Hasson's second homer of the game, and fourth of the season, after smacking an opposite-field four-bagger and tying the score at 4-4 with his three-run dinger in the seventh inning.
Tommy DelVecchio (Scotch Plains, N.J.), who allowed his first earned run of the season on Hasson's homer in the 11th, pitched the final three innings to earn the victory in relief (W, 2-0). Starter Brayden Clark (Beverly, Mass.) worked the first six innings and allowed just one run (unearned) while striking out a season-high nine batters.
The Seahawks (25-5) took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning after infielder Christian Homa (Fairfield, Conn.) hit his fourth home run of the season with leadoff batter Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) aboard. Tyler Cannoe (Schenectady, N.Y.) singled in another run during the frame. On two different occasions, Salve Regina third baseman Wil McCarthy (Pembroke, Mass.) gave the Seahawks a one-run lead with RBI singles in the second (1-0) and seventh innings (5-4); both hits brought D'Amato across the plate - D'Amato finished with three runs scored.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Salve Regina 8, Johnson & Wales 6 [11 innings]
Records: Salve Regina (25-5, 10-2 NEWMAC), Johnson & Wales (20-9, 10-3 GNAC)
All-Time Series: The Seahawks have won five straight since a 7-7 tie in 2020 just before the pandemic shutdown. Since 2010, Salve Regina has gone 20-0-1, and overall the Seahawks lead the series, 28-10-2, with the earlier deadlock coming in the 2004 ECAC Championship Game in Quincy, Massachusetts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- B2 - . | Seahawks 1, Wildcats 0
- T3 - . | Seahawks 1, Wildcats 1
- B5 - . | Seahawks 4, Wildcats 1
- T7 - . | Seahawks 4, Wildcats 4
- B7 - . | Seahawks 5, Wildcats 4
- T9 - . | Seahawks 5, Wildcats 5
- T11 - . | Wildcats 6, Seahawks 5
- B11 - . | Seahawks 6, Wildcats 6
NOTEWORTHY
- Matt D'Amato now has 198 career hits.
NEXT UP
Salve Regina hosts another non-league foe when Worcester State University visits on Wednesday, April 24, for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Reynolds Field.