Senior Alex Perry belted his third homerun of the season in win against Anchormen on Thursday. (Photo by Tyler Benjamin '19)
Senior Alex Perry belted his third homerun of the season in win against Anchormen on Thursday. (Photo by Tyler Benjamin '19)

Seahawks drop Anchormen in eight innings, 12-4

SEAHAWK BASEBALL RESULTS
Salve Regina 12, Rhode Island Col. 4 (eight innings, called due to darkness)
Reynolds Field - Newport, Rhode Island
Thursday, April 5, 2018

Summary
NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University baseball played into darkness again against Rhode Island College in Newport, but this time the Seahawks were ahead by eight runs (12-4) when the game was called a final. In 2016, the teams ended in darkness as well with the score tied 7-7 after 11 innings. Today, senior Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.) and junior Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) both had three hits and three runs batted in apiece.

Series and Streaks
The Seahawks have reached double-digit victories against the Anchormen, but Rhode Island College leads the all-time series, 17-10-1. Salve Regina has won three of the last four meetings with the other result a 7-7 tie. Salve Regina has opened its 2018 home schedule with three consecutive wins on Reynolds Field.

Three Seahawk Stars of the Game

  1. Salve Regina senior Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.) went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. He belted his third homerun of the season to lift his career total to 19 dingers, tying him with Scott Kopecky '98 on the school's all-time list - only two Seahawks have 20 or more homeruns (Daryl Murtha '04 - 26; Ryan Holleran '03 - 24). Kopecky amassed his total in three seasons while Holleran was a two-year transfer for the Seahawks.
  2. Salve Regina junior Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored.
  3. Salve Regina freshman Michael Mathews (West Hartford, Conn.) pitched five innings in relief and struck out five while allowing just three hits and one run to pick up his first collegiate victory (1-1).

Key Stat of the Game
With a mix and patience and aggressiveness, Salve Regina batters drew 11 bases on balls and banged out 12 hits.

Turning Point
After the Anchormen scored three unearned runs of Seahawk starter Tom Beliveau (West Newbury, Mass.) in the top of the first, Salve Regina tied the game quickly with a three-run bottom of the first - Smith doubled in a pair and came home with the third run on an RBI basehit from senior catcher Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.).

Quick Hits

  • Seahawk senior Sam Brito (Lincoln, R.I.) got the start in left field and reached base in all three trips to the plate - two walks and a single.
  • Salve Regina had stolen bases from five different players - Alex Perry, Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.), Christian Vargas, Sam Brito, Zack Barlok (Cheshire, Conn.).
  • The Seahawks saw a Maybach on the mound, but it was somebody in an Anchorman uniform - Stephen Maybach, brother of Salve Regina standout lefty Patrick Maybach (Saunderstown, R.I.), got touched for four runs including a homerun by Perry.
  • Junior righty Brett Wilkes (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) pitched two scoreless innings and struck out one batter.

Next Up
Salve Regina (7-7, 0-0 CCC) opens its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) schedule on Saturday with Western New England University visiting Newport; the Seahawks are promoting a memorial fundraiser for the deceased cousin of head coach Eric Cirella - #GiStrong Foundation honors the memory of Gianna Cirella who passed away last November. (info@gistrong.org)
Rhode Island College (9-8, 1-1 LEC) hosts Plymouth State University in a conference twinbill.