Seahawks sweep Lions at Reynolds Field, 2-1 and 9-2

NEWPORT, R.I. - Freshman righthander Tommy Seaver (Rocky Hill, Conn.) earned his first collegiate pitching victory in his first start, limiting visiting Eastern Nazarene College to five hits an an unearned run, as Salve Regina University baseball defeated the Lions, 2-1, in the opener of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader. The Seahawks won the nightcap, 9-2, to improve to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in league play.

Eastern Nazarene (5-14, 0-6 CCC) lost for the seventh straight time.

Seaver (1-1) struck out six Lions in 6.1 innings while allowing just five hits. The Seahawks got on the board in the third inning of game one when junior centerfielder Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.) led off with a hit by pitch, advanced to third on Joe Haley's (No. Kingstown, R.I.) single to right, and came home on Alex Perry's (No. Attleboro, Mass.) bloop single to right field.

In the bottom of the fifth, John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) led off with an infield single, moved to second when Perry was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on Daniel Donohue's (Westbury, N.Y.) grounder to first base, and Militano scored the game's second run on a wild pitch.

Junior shortstop Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) opened the sixth with a slow infield single and moved to second on a slow grounder to Haley at third. A passed ball put Wagner on third and he scored on a slow grounder by Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) that Seaver took care of off the mound.

Seaver got the first out in the top of the seventh, a pop out from Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) to second base, before a single from Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama) led to his exit. Freshman lefty Jimmy Fitzgerald (Canton, Mass.) got the final two outs on a strikeout and fielder's choice grounder for his second save of the season.

Eastern Nazarene starter Brent Houle (Westfield, Mass.) went the distance to raise his innings pitched total to 27.0 on the season, third-most in the league.

The next Lions' starter, Doug English (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), lasted only two innings before he departed with Salve Regina leading 3-0. Kelly connected for a single on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on a sac fly from Haley.

Donohue led off the bottom of the second with an opposite-field double, and scored on David Neil's (Randolph, Mass.) single up the middle. Neil came around to score on the play when the Lions' centerfielder over ran the ball.

Rob Dukes (Spencer, Mass.) came in to pitch in the bottom of the third. Militano greeted him with a single to left. One out later, Perry blasted his third homerun of the season, another opposite field smash.

Salve Regina had its lead off batter on base in every inning of game two via a base hit, and scored in every at bat except the fifth frame. Freshman catcher Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.) drilled his third homerun of the season, and third in last five days, to plate two more runs in the fourth inning.

Haley delivered two more runs in the sixth with his bases-loaded single up the middle. Starting pitcher Frank Lemieux (Marshfield, Mass.) benefitted from his productive offense while throwing 34 of his 56 pitches for strikes. He allowed two hits and two earned runs in four innings of work to pick up his first win of 2015. Sean Healy (Wakefield, R.I.), Matt Wood (Walpole, N.H.), and Kyle Lefelar (Potomac, Md.) pitched scoreless relief the final three innings.

Salve Regina hosts UMass Darmouth on Wednesday (3 p.m.) and Eastern Nazarene hosts Lesley (3:30 p.m.) that same afternoon.