Keene, N.H. – The Newport Gulls improved to an NECBL-best 14-3 overall record and cruised to a 9-1 victory against the Keene Swamp Bats on Tuesday night at Alumni Field.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings of play but in the top of the fourth, the Gulls were able to break through and score their first three runs of the game. Sam Kulasingam (United States Air Force) led off the inning with a single and Billy Butler (University of Rhode Island) followed with a single of his own. The next batter, Trent Farquhar (Michigan State University) then put the Gulls on top with an RBI double, scoring Kulasingam. Butler then came around to score on a wild pitch and a couple of batters later, Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth College) drove home Farquhar with a sacrifice fly. The scoring outburst for the Gulls plated three in the inning and gave Newport an early 3-0 lead over Keene.
In the seventh inning, the Gulls tacked on another run thanks to an RBI single by Farquhar which scored Aaron Downs (Mississippi State University) who singled and stole a base to lead off the inning. The RBI for Farquhar gives him nine on the season which is second on the team. Through seven innings of play, the Gulls led the Swamp Bats, 4-0.
The Gulls put the finishing touches on their scoring output for the evening In the ninth. Kolby Branch (University of Georgia) led off the inning with a walk and Niko Brini (University of Connecticut) reached on an error. A couple of batters later, Branch came around to score on a wild pitch to push the Gulls lead to 5-0. The highlight of the inning came on a three-run double by Matthew Schark (Southern Illinois University) which scored Brini, Butler, and Farquhar. Noah Smith (University of Louisville) capped off the scoring with an RBI single which scored Schark. The Swamp Bats did not go quietly in the bottom of the inning as Brayden Horton cracked a solo home run to break up the shutout. Newport held on for the 9-1 win against Keene.
The win for the Gulls pushed their winning streak to five games and an overall record of 14-3 on the season. For the Swamp Bats, they dropped to 5-10 on the season and have lost five games in a row.
Santhosh Gottam (Brown University) started the game and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two. Garret Simpson (Wright State University) then entered the game to relieve Gottam and pitched a scoreless seventh. Nick Boyle (Xavier University) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Grant Umberger (Virginia Tech University) finished off the game after giving a run and striking out three.
Newport will return home on Wednesday, June 28th to take on the Danbury Westerners at historic Cardines Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 and will be broadcasted live on the NECBL Broadcast Network.