Seahawks sweep Owls for first wins over Keene St. in program history

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Salve Regina University baseball team swept Keene State College in non-conference doubleheader action Sunday at Reynolds Field.

The Seahawks won game one 10-3 and game two 11-8 for their first wins over the Owls in program history.

The Seahawks jumped on top early in game one and never looked back.

The game was scoreless in the bottom of the first and John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) got things started with a leadoff single. Next Joe Haley (North Kingstown, R.I.) was hit by a pitch from Owls starting pitcher Jake Ciolfi (Narragansett, R.I.).

Ciolfi struck out the next batter then gave up an RBI single to David Neil (Randolph, Mass.).

With two on and one out Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.) stepped to the plate and crush a ball to deep left for a three run homer that gave the Seahawks a 4-0 lead.

The Owls got a run back in the top of the second when Dustin Howe (Keene, N.H.) scored from second after a muffed throw to first to get the batter kept the play alive. The Owls had runners at second and third but Tanner Chase (York, Maine.) struck out to end the inning.

Ciolfi began the bottom of the second by walking three straight batters which forced a pitching change.

With bases load Joe Haley singled brining home Hunter Sleeper (Arlington, Mass.) then Alex Perry (North Attleboro, Mass.) hit a long sac-fly that brought home Sam Brito (Lincoln, R.I.).

Brito drove in a run of his own in the bottom of third, knocking Alek Kucich (Old Brookville, N.Y.) in for a 7-1 Salve Regina lead.

Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the sixth where the Seahawks tacked on three more runs. With bases loaded once again Perry flew out to deep center field scoring Brito. Then after Neil struck out Vargas hit a two run single to give the Seahawks a 10-1 lead.

The Owls were able to get back two runs because of some errors on the field by the Seahawks, but in the end Thomas Betros (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) was able to close the door on the Owls in game one and give the Seahawks their first ever win versus Keene State College.

Reserves saw much more action in game two and it began with Salve Regina freshman pitcher Josh Monson (Bridgewater, Mass.). Monson had a tough start to the game giving up three straight base hits to load the bases.

The Owls would capitalize and shelled Monson for six runs, five of which came before there was an out in the inning. Monson walked Joe Libby (Hooksett, N.H.), who was making his second plate appearance of the inning, to bring in another run, before fanning the final two batters to end the frame.

The Seahawks offense remained hot from game one and came up with two runs in the bottom of the first. They could have scored more, with bases loaded and two outs but Sean Becker (Richmond, Va.) struck out looking to retire the side.

Salve Regina trailed by four runs entering the third, but left it leading by two after an eight run inning.

Owls' pitcher Tim Coppinger (Schenectedy, N.Y.) gave up two runs then walked a man in with bases loaded. The Owls brought in Steven Zadravec (Fairfield, Conn.) to replace Coppinger but it didn't make a difference. The Seahawks continued to hit rattling off four straight singles which scored five runs. The Seahawks had gone from down 6-0 to leading 10-6 at the end of the third.

Zach Rollins (Stafford Springs, Conn.), who had collected his first career hit in the first inning, drove in two more runs in the top of the fourth to narrow the score.

It would be 11-8 in the top of the seventh and the Seahawks brought Jimmy Fitzgerald (Canton, Mass.) to the mound to try and close out the sweep.

Despite it being a three-run game things got a little too close for comfort for the Seahawks. Fitzgerald was able to quickly dispatch the first two batters but then walked the third to extend the inning.

Billy Hartmann (Greenland, N.H.) then hit a double which scooted under the fence in centerfield for a ground rule double. Initially the base runner, Libby, had seemed to score on the play but the officials conferred with one another and decided to put Libby back at third.

Christian Borgea (Litchfield, N.H.) was able to draw a walk as well and the Owls had the bases loaded with two outs and the leading run at the plate.

In a game that had seen so many large scoring runs it almost seemed like fate to have the Owls somehow tie or take the lead but Fitzgerald would not allow it.

The freshman left-hander saved his best stuff for last and got Trevor Chapin (Northfield, N.H.) with a 1-2 pitch to get him to strike out swinging and preserve the sweep for the Seahawks.

With the win the Seahawks improve to 15-14 overall on the season and will play Johnson and Wales on Monday April 20 at 3:30 p.m. in a single nine-inning game.

The Owls fall to 8-18 overall and will be hosting another Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) school, Western New England on April 20 at 3:30 p.m.