Perry's walk-off grand slam ends 12-inning marathon

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (March 12, 2015) - It took over four hours with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning before a walk-off grand slam homerun by freshman Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.) made Salve Regina University baseball an 18-14 winner over Muskingum University during action at the Snowbird Classic at North Charlotte Regional Park. [Watch the dramatic home run at http://bit.ly/1GxzYYd]

Perry swung at the first pitch from the fourth Fighting Muskie pitcher of the afternoon, Kyle Schmitgen, after singles by Hunter Sleeper (Arlington, Mass.) and Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.), and an intentional walk to Joe Haley (No. Kingstown, R.I.), loaded the bases. Schmitgen had pitched five innings of shutout ball before his 12th-inning delivery to Perry.

Salve Regina (4-5) had runners in scoring position in each of the previous three innings in preparation for a walk-off victory, but Schmitgen worked out of each jam including an inning-ending double-play in the bottom of the 11th.

Perry's walk-off HR made a winner out of reliever Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y.) (1-0), who arrived on the mound in the 10th inning with no outs and a runner on first. Poplawski's second pitch was bunted on a line drive down towards third base where a charging Haley snared it just above the grass, 10 feet from the hitter, and fired to first baseman David Neil (Randolph, Mass.) for a double play. With his fourth pitch, Poplawski had recorded three outs and escaped from the potential go-ahead score for Muskingum (3-3).

The Fighting Muskies built an early 3-0 lead. Brett Robberts had a two-run single in the first off Salve Regina starter Billy Humes (East Rockaway, N.Y.). The freshman lefty went four and a third innings and struck out three while allowing three earned runs.

Salve Regina's first run came on a solo homer from Ryan Kelly with one out in the bottom of the third. The Seahawks tied the score at 4-4 with a three-run fourth, but the Fighting Muskies went back on top with two in the top of the fifth.

A five-run fifth inning gave Salve Regina its first lead. After Muskingum tied it again with three in the sixth, the Seahawks extended their lead to 14-9 with two in their half of the sixth and three more in the seventh.

Muskingum had its own five-run inning with RBI from five different players. After loading the bases in the eighth, A.J. Kazmierczak continued the rally with a single to third base. Christian Leitenberger was hit by a pitch to drive in a run, Austin DeVore singled to left for the third run of the inning, before Joe Shumar reached on a fielder's choice RBI grounder that shortstop Daniel Donohue (Westbury, N.Y.) threw to Haley at third to force Leitenberger for the second out.

Robberts' single tied the game at 14-14 and both teams went scoreless over the next hour until Perry's first collegiate homerun. Poplawski pitch three innings of relief and did not allow a baserunner while striking out one.

Eight Salve Regina starters had multiple-hit games led by four from Kelly; freshman catcher Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.) collected three doubles while classmate John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) had a go-ahead RBI in the sixth.

"A see-saw game, there are so many coaching points I want to go over eventually," said Seahawk head coach Eric Cirella in a post game interview on the live broadcast. "When you get in a game like this, I just want to say to the guys, 'Bear down, make plays.'"

Cirella instructed Perry before the game went extra innings. "I told Alex, 'You're going to get up in a big spot with guys on base, and I'm going to need you to do something. Just gotta stay focused.'"

It was the first time these schools had competed since March 10, 2003, when the Seahawks won 5-4 at Terry Park in the Gene Cusic Classic. Most significant in that contest was Salve Regina outfielder Damian Costantino (Warwick, R.I.) extending his NCAA record consecutive-game hitting streak to 60 games with a first-inning single. Cirella was a teammate of Costantino's on that 2003 squad.

Salve Regina returns to the Gene Cusic Classic on Friday with its final game of the 2015 spring break (9 a.m.) against Defiance College.