Baseball Falls to #6 Salve Regina, 15-5

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The nationally ranked Salve Regina University baseball team posted a 15-5 win over visiting Bridgewater State University on Sunday afternoon at Attanasio Field on the campus of Brown University.

The Seahawks, who were ranked sixth in the latest ABCA Division III Poll and eighth in the D3baseball.com Poll, improve to 13-1 with their 12th straight win, while the Bears fall to 5-6. The two teams were meeting for the first time since 2015.

Christian Homa (Fairfield, Conn.) homered and drove in four runs to lead the way for Salve Regina.

Homa belted a solo shot over the right field fence to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

The Bears answered with three runs in the top of the second. Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) walked, and Riley Thornell (Wareham, Mass.) singled to put runners at first and second with one out. Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) ripped a two-run triple down the right field line to put the visitors on top and Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to make it a 3-1 game.

Salve loaded the bases with nobody out in the home half of the second but scored just one run in the frame on a Shea Donovan (Milton, Mass.) sacrifice fly.

The Seahawks tied it in the third as Evan O'Rourke (Arlington, Mass.) opened the frame with a base hit, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Homa.

Salve loaded the bases with one out in the fourth on a base hit by Michael Breen (Auburn, Mass.) and back-to-back walks to Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) and O'Rourke. Breen scored on an RBI ground out and a balk brought home Grover with the second run of the inning to put the Seahawks on top, 5-3.

The hosts then sent 15 batters to the plate in a ten-run fifth inning to take a decisive 15-3 lead. The Seahawks capitalized on six walks and a hit by pitch in the frame. Three of the walks came with the bases loaded as did the hit by pitch. Breen, O'Rourke, and Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) connected for RBI singles in the frame while Grover knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.

The Bears plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) and a wild pitch.

Sean Mulligan (Verona, N.J.) got the start on the mound for the Seahawks and picked up the win. Mulligan (4-0) allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Homa (2-5, BB), O'Rourke (2-4, 2BB), Petrosino (2-4, BB), Breen 2-5) and Will McCarthy (Pembroke, Mass.) notched two hits apiece to pace the Seahawks' 12-hit attack. McCarthy singled twice and walked in five trips to the plate. Homa's dinger was the only extra base hit of the game for the hosts.

Thornell (2-4, 2R), Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) each finished with multiple hits for Bridgewater State. Lindsay went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles while Simon singled twice in four at bats. Emerson (1-3, BB, HBP,  SB, RBI) reached safely three times for the Bears.

Three BSU pitchers combined to give up 15 runs (13 earned) on 12 hits and 11 walks over the first five innings.

Nick Reiser (Nahant, Mass.) tossed two innings of scoreless relief for the Bears as he retired six of the seven batters he faced including a strikeout. Cameron Breault (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) fanned one as he worked a perfect 1-2-3 eighth inning.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30. The Bears host the Colonels of Curry College while the Seahawks travel to Springfield College to open New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play against the Pride.