Seahawks Take Two from WNE Baseball

NEWPORT, R.I. (April 30, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team saw themselves up by five runs heading into the bottom of the 8^th inning of the first game of the doubleheader with the hosting Salve Regina Seahawks before the home team was able to rally and collect a seven-run bottom of the inning to steal a heartbreaker from the Golden Bears. The Seahawks would use that momentum and take down the Golden Bears 15-0 in game two. 

Records:

• Western New England: 16-15-1, 6-8 CCC
• Salve Regina: 22-9-2, 12-0-2 CCC

Game 1: Salve Regina 7, Western New England 5

The Golden Bears looked to become the first team in the CCC to take down the Seahawks as Western New England would get off to a good start, scoring the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. The first two batters, Cody Waterbury and CJ Willis would reach, sending up Ben Harrison to the dish with a runner in scoring position and nobody out. Harrison would deliver, singling up the middle to score Waterbury and giving the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. WNE would load the bases in the inning, though SP Patrick Maybach would settle in and get three straight outs to hold the Golden Bears from doing any more damage in the inning.  

Golden Bears starting pitcher Kevin Hummer allowed just one hit through the first five inning to the Seahawks, keeping Salve Regina at bey. Western New England would score their next run in the game in the top of the fourth inning when Cody Waterbrury came through with an RBI single to left field to score Vincent Caccavale to give WNE a 2-0 lead. Runs continued in both the sixth and seventh innings for the Golden Bears to continue to build on their lead while Hummer set down the Seahawks. CJ Willis would come through with an RBI single to center field in the top of the sixth, while two runs were plated in the seventh on a RBI triple from Paul Villecco and a single to center field by Jake Balderston to give Western New England a 5-0 lead. 

Salve Regina would leave two on base in the bottom of the seventh inning after collecting just one hit in the inning. The bats for the Seahawks would come alive in the bottom of the eighth inning as two straight singles would open the inning for Salve. The Seahawks would collect their first four runs of the inning on three errors by the Golden Bears. Brandon Grover would come through for the Seahawks ripping a single to left center to score two more Salve runs, breaking the lead foe WNE and giving Salve Regina their first lead of the contest. A sacrifice groundout would end the scoring for the Seahawks in the inning as Salve came away with seven runs on four hits in the inning. The Golden Bears would fail to score in the top of the 9^th, falling to the Seahawks by a final score of 7-5. 

Around the Diamond: 

• Western New England would be led by both Kevin Hummer, who went the first 7.0 innings giving up just two hits and no runs before the Seahawks were able to get to the righty in the eighth. 
• CJ Willis collected three hits and an RBI in the losing effort for WNE. Willis was the only Golden Bear to have more than one hit in the contest. 
• The Golden Bears struck out 13 times in the game and left 13 runners on base. 

Game 2: Salve Regina 15, Western New England 0 

• Western New England could manage just four hits in the seven-inning contest. 
• Salve Regina collected 15 runs on nine hits, walking 12 times in the contest while striking out just four. 
• SP Brayden Clark went six innings giving up four hits and no runs to WNE while walking two and striking out seven Golden Bears. 
• WNE hasn't defeated Salve Regina since the 2018 CCC Championship game when the Golden Bears punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III Championships in a 7-6 win over the Seahawks. 
• The Golden Bears are 2-3 in their last five conference contests. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns to the diamond tomorrow, May 1 at 1:00 pm as they travel to Wheaton College (Mass.). The Golden Bears will play three straight non-conference contests before wrapping up the regular season on the road next weekend.
• Salve Regina hosts Clark University on Tuesday, May 3 at 1:30 pm for a doubleheader.