Seahawk split sets up first or third

BRISTOL, R.I. — The Roger Williams University baseball team split a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader with Salve Regina University this Tuesday, falling 3-2 and taking the second 6-5 in walk-off fashion.

Shane Nowak (Litchfield, N.H.) was the first Hawk to get on first base with a single up middle field in the first inning of the first game. Salve Regina remained scoreless in the first two innings with a foul out to Chris Bosco (North Andover, Mass.) and a foul out and ground out to Nowak.

In the third inning, John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) walked to first and stole second. Anthony Cieszko (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) and Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) both walked filling the bases for the Seahawks. Yet, the team remained scoreless with a pop up to Dean DePreta (Stamford, Conn.)

Bosco singled through the right side, stole second and advanced to third on an error for the Hawks in the third inning. Nowak singled to second base with an RBI advancing Bosco to give the Hawks the first run of the game.

Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.) doubled to left center field for Salve Regina in the fourth inning. He advanced to home with an RBI by Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.) to tie the game 1-1. DePreta then went into the fourth inning scoring a homerun for the Hawks, putting them up 2-1.

Dustin Siqueira (Trumbull, Conn.) came out strong in the fifth inning for the Seahawks with a single up the middle and advancing to second. The Hawks stopped Salve Regina with a double play to Anthony Dominguez (Chester, N.J.), DePreta, and Danny Roth (West Hartford, Conn.).

With a double by Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.) and a sacrifice bunt by Brett Wilkes (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), Salve Regina filled both second and third bases in the sixth inning. Chris Ryan (East Hampton, Conn.) walked loading the bases with two outs. Dustin Siqueria (Trumbull, Conn.) and Militano then walked, bringing Ketch and Eremian home to give Salve Regina took their first lead 3-2.

The Hawks were able to get the tying run to second in the bottom of the seventh, but a swinging strikeout ended the game in Salve Regina's favor.

Michael Mathews (West Hartford, Conn.) pitched three innings in relief for the win. Eremien had one hit and two runs scored. Ryan Havunen took the loss with two runs in 0.2 innings. Nowak was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Anthony Cieszko (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) got the first hit for Salve Regina with a leadoff single., followed by a Zach Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) walk. On the next at-bat, there was some confusion as to what happened when Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.) went up to bat. Ketch appeared to be a hit by a pitch, but the umpire did not rule it that way, leading to Cieszko getting picked off at second. Salve Regina did not score in the inning.

It was a good start for the Hawks at the bottom of the second inning. Danny Roth (West Hartford, Conn.) hit a home run to left to give RWU the 1-0 lead. Justin Stone (Blackstone, Mass.) later followed with a single. He eventually scored on a base hit by Anthony Dominguez (Chester, N.H.) to give RWU the 2-0 lead.

Salve Regina took the lead in the fourth. A sac fly by Eremian put the Seahawks on the board, while an overthrow at third allowed Ketch to score. A squeeze bunt by Sam Brito scored Michael DeFusco to put Salve Regina up 3-2. 

In the fifth, Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) knocked an RBI single down the right field line to tie the game at three. Then a sac fly by DePreta put RWU back up 4-3. RWU's lead lasted until the sixth, when Brito had a two-RBI single to regain the lead for Salve Regina.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Hawks put the first two runners on to begin the rally. A walk and a single put runners at the corners with no outs. Roth had a sac fly with one out to tie the game at five apiece, followed by George Somers (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) getting the game-winning hit for the Hawks.

Jimmy Smith (Walpole, Mass.) pitched two scoreless innings for the relief win. Jenkins went 2-for-4 for RWU. Jonathan Lynch (Cumberland, R.I.) allowed two runs in 2.2 innings in the loss. Smith and Ketch each had a hit and a run.

Roger Williams (19-18, 11-5 CCC) heads to Babson tomorrow. Salve Regina (21-13, 10-4 CCC) will close out the conference season against Gordon tomorrow and can capture first place with a sweep; otherwise it's a third-place finish.