Seahawks-Hawks split to settle second-third seeds

BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Baseball team clinched the second seed for the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament with a split against Salve Regina University Sunday afternoon, falling 1-3 before winning 5-2.

One game separated the two teams for second place in the CCC entering the day. Salve Regina needed a sweep to claim the second seed, and now settles for the third seed to host first-round action on Thursday.

In the opener, Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.) led the game off with a double down the right field line for the Seahawks. Back-to-back ground-outs to first base helped move Kelly over third, then down to home for the first run of the game.

In the bottom of the first, Caulin Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) hit a slow roller to second base and beat out the throw. He would be forced out at second, followed by a fly-out to right to end the inning.

Anthony Conte (Georgetown, Mass.) and Kelly notched back-to-back singles to begin the third. After a sac bunt to move both runners up a base, a pitch to the back stop helped bring in Conte from third. Dominic Di Sano (Central Falls, R.I.) came through later with an RBI double to give Salve Regina a 3-0 lead.

The Hawks utilized a pair of Seahawk errors in the bottom of the third to put runners at first and second with no outs. Mike Pascarella (Milford, Conn.) then drew a walk to load the bases for Rogers. He would hit a long fly ball to center field that looked like extra bases, but a good over the shoulder catch by Kelly limited the play to just a sacrifice fly for the Hawks' first run. After a pick-off at second by Seahawk starter Vincent Roth (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.), Salve was able to get out of the inning thanks to a great diving stop by Conte at first to prevent a sure-fire RBI single.

In the fourth, the Hawks got a lead-off single by Reid Nelson (Wallingford, Conn.) and later a walk by Mike Thomas (Plainville, Conn.) for runners at first and second. Three close calls went in favor of Salve Regina to help get the Seahawks out of the inning; a bang-bang play by Roth covering first, a wide throw at third that almost pulled Conte off the bag, and a called-low third strike for the final out.

The Seahawks looked poised to add another run in the seventh, with Sean Becker (Richmond, Va.) earning a lead-off walk and being sacrifice over to second. Conte singled to left but was unable to bring home the run, putting runners at the corners. Chris Travers (East Freetown, Mass.) helped the Hawk cause, throwing out Conte at second, while a ground-out to third ended the inning.

Kevin Baker (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Thomas drew walks to start off the bottom of the seventh. Mike Schuermann (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) came in and got his two batters out on a fouled two-strike bunt and a high swinging strikeout. John McDermott (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) pitched the final at-bat, getting a fly-out to center field for the save.

Roth allowed one unearned run in the win. Kelly finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs, while Conte was also 2-for-3 with a run.

Sean Boyle (Arlington, Mass.) suffered his first loss of the year. Pascarella, Travers, Nelson, and Rogers notched the hits in the game for RWU.

The Seahawks picked up a pair of two-out walks in the top of the first of the nightcap from Di Sano and Tyler Colby (Easton, Conn.) but remained stranded as Hawk starter George Lund (West Newbury, Mass.) got a strikeout on low corner to get out of the inning.

An errant throw to first for Pascarella's first at-bat allowed him to get on base in RWU's opening at-bat. He managed to swipe second base but ended up staying there; Seahawk starter Kyle Pheland (North Scituate, R.I.) set down the next three batters to get out of the jam.

In the second, Baker notched a two-out single to center, and then stole second base. His efforts would be rewarded by Thomas, who drove him in on a single up the middle past the diving second baseman to score the first run of the game.

The Hawks maintained its one-run lead until the top of the fifth. Salve Regina's Ryan Sweenor (South Kingstown, R.I.) got on via a fielding error, bringing up Alec Kucich (Old Brookville, N.Y.). Kucich roped a long fly ball to right field for a double and reached third on a misplay. Baker helped keep Kucich from scoring on Conte's following at-bat, making a diving stop up the middle with the infield playing in. However, Kelly stepped up next and hit a line drive to center for a sac fly and the go-ahead run.

Pascarella picked up a base hit with one out in in the fifth, and stealing second with two outs. Jamie Timothy (Cohasset, Mass.) had a base hit up the middle that looked like it would score Pascarella; yet with the ball hitting the field umpire, the umpire at the plate ruling that Pascarella had to remain at second. A ground-out to short on Travers' at-bat ended the Hawks' rally.

The Hawks managed to get the crucial hit in the bottom of the sixth. Nelson led off with a single and made it to second on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Mike Barry dropped a bunt down towards third and beat out the throw to put runners at the corners. Baker picked up the game-tying single through the right side, scoring Nelson. After a sac bunt, Larson reached on a dropped throw at first on a safety squeeze attempt, allowing Barry to score the go ahead run. Pascarella helped the Hawks secure two more insurance runs with an RBI single and later scoring on a throw to the outfield as he was stealing third base to make it 5-2 Hawks.

Tyler Pogmore (Lebanon, Conn.) came on in the ninth for a 1-2-3 inning, tying a career high with his eighth save of the season.

Lund improved to 7-0 with the win, allowing two unearned runs in six innings. Baker was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Pascarella and Timothy each went 2-for-4.

Schuermann was charged with giving up the game-winning run for Salve Regina. Haley and Kucich each finished 1-for-3.

In the opening round of the CCC Tournament on Thursday, Roger Williams (22-14) will host Gordon, while Salve Regina (24-12) welcomes Western New England.