Smith's 13th-inning single sends Salve Regina to its third straight finals appearance

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VIDEO REPLAY FROM FINAL INNING

NEWPORT, R.I. - In the bottom of the 13th inning, Salve Regina University junior Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) blooped a single to shallow right center that brought home freshman Anthony Cieszko (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) from second base with the winning run as the Seahawks outlasted the Gulls of Endicott College, 6-5, in the Pod A Final of the 2018 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships. Top-seeded Salve Regina (25-13) will now host third-seeded Western New England University (29-13) in a best-of-three series this weekend (May 11-12) at Reynolds Field for the conference championship. It's the third-straight season the Seahawks have reached the championship series and they are going for a three-peat for the title as well.

Cieszko singled to right field with two outs in the final frame. He stole second and, after teammate Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.) received his second intentional walk in extra innings, Cieszko was on the move to third on the 1-2 pitch to Smith who lifted it into the outfield and landed it between Endicott second baseman Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) and center fielder Michael Casciano (Somers, Conn.). Cieszko crossed the plate to make reliever Andrew Roman (Monson, Mass.) the winning pitcher (2-1) and Cooper Sanibal (Bedford, N.H.) took the loss (1-3).

Salve Regina senior catcher Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.) had two hits and three runs batted in, included the game-tying and go-ahead runs on a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth. DeDonato had an infield pop single in the top of the ninth and was sacrificed to second. With two outs, freshman Nicholas Perkins (Nashua, N.H.) singled to right field to tie the game at 5-5.

Sophomore right fielder Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.) had three hits to extend his career-best hit streak to 22 consecutive games. He was also hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the third Seahawk run, making it 3-1 at the time. Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.) followed Ketch with a sinking line drive to Endicott shortstop Matthew McKinley (Hudson, N.H.) who turned the catch into a triple play by stepping on the bag at second and throwing to the vacated first base.

Salve Regina starter Michael Mathews (West Hartford, Conn.) went 6.1 innings allowing two earned runs on five hits, three walks, and striking out one. Jonathan Lynch (Cumberland, R.I.), Zach Dionne (Tolland, Conn.), and Roman succeeded Mathews, with Dionne nearly matching innings pitched (5.1) along with pitch count (Mathews - 89, Dionne - 81).

Endicott third baseman Jacob Thibeault (Methuen, Mass.) led off the seventh with his second home run of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2. Senior catcher Hunter Boyce (Bangor, Maine), who entered the game defensively in the bottom of the third after starter Brendan McDonald (Quincy, Mass.) suffered an injury in his second plate appearance, singled through the left side to tie the score at 3-3. After a wild pitch moved Gulls on the base paths to second and third, back-to-back walks gave Endicott its first lead over Salve Regina.

The Gulls (26-16) had won twice over Wentworth Institute of Technology over the weekend, but were eliminated by two losses to the Seahawks (17-5 on Saturday; 6-5 today). Western New England swept a season-opening conference pair from Salve Regina in March at Reynolds Field.