Kelly triggers offense for Salve Regina, 14-3

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University sophomore outfielder Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.Y.) went three for six with a home run and five runs batted in the lead the Seahawks (26-14) to a 14-3 win over visiting Fitchburg State University (22-18) during first-round ECAC New England Baseball Championships at Reynolds Field.

Starting pitcher Vincent Roth (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) went eight innings to improve his record to 8-1 and lower his earned run average to 1.71. He struck out seven and allowed no earned runs.

Kelly reached on an error in the first and stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on Tyler Colby's (Easton, Conn.) sacrifice fly.

In the Seahawk second, Ryan Sweenor (South Kingstown, R.I.) led off with a solo home run. With one out, Nicholas Dell'Anno (Reading, Mass.) singled and Anthony Conte (Georgetown, Mass.) walked before Kelly struck his team-leading third home run of the season.

The Falcons scored two unearned runs in the fourth inning as Derrick Frazier (Beverly, Mass.) and Clayton Beaulieu (Chicopee, Mass.) delivered RBI singles.

Back-to-back-to-back singles by Sean Becker (Richmond, Va.), Dominic Di Sano (Central Falls, R.I.), and Colby got one of those runs back in the Seahawk fourth. Joe Haley's (North Kingstown, R.I.) sacrifice fly to right made it a 7-2 score for Salve Regina.

Kelly led off the Seahawk sixth with a single and stole second before coming home on Becker's RBI single.

Salve Regina plated six runs in the eighth inning with Daniel Donohue's (Westbury, N.Y.) bases-loaded walk getting the scoring started. A walk to Mark Boland (Orange, Conn.) produced another run before Tim Harris (Soutbury, Conn.) delivered his specialty - a pinch-hit single - that scored two runs. Kelly added a two-run single to plate Boland and Harris.

The top four seeds all won today and advance to semifinal round action at Bristol, R.I., on Saturday. No. 2 Salve Regina will play No. 3 Suffolk (a 14-3 winner against Lasell today) while No. 1 Roger Williams (a 1-0 winner against Becker) will host No. 4 Springfield (a 5-2 winner against Framingham State).