In a highly anticipated playoff series, the Ocean State Waves defeated their in-state rival, the Newport Gulls 5-4in the first game of a best-of-three series at legendary Cardines Field. The atmosphere was electric with a sold-out crowd of passionate fans cheering on their respective teams from the first pitch until the very end.
Prior to the game, Billy Butler (University of Southern Mississippi) expressed his excitement about facing his younger brother, Rob Butler, in this playoff series. “It’s really cool honestly especially that last game we played here. We thought that it was the last time we played each other, we didn’t know if they going to make the playoffs or not. It’s really cool that we found out we going to play against them in the first round obviously this series means a lot to Newport,”
The Gulls struck first with a solo home run by Matthew Schark (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), sending the crowd into a frenzy giving them an early 1-0 lead in the second. However, the Waves answered back three innings later. After Lewis Barnum hit a ground-rule double, a few batters later, Jacob Burley (Wake Forest University) committed a throwing error that allowed the Waves to tie the game.
In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Hare (Georgia Tech) came through for the Gulls with a clutch two-run double with the bases loaded, followed by a sac fly from Slate Alford (Georgia University) that added another run to the board. An error by Kolby Branch (University of Georgia) allowed two Waves runs to score in the sixth, bringing them closer to the lead.
The score remained 4-3 in favor of the Gulls until the top of the ninth inning when the Waves had runners in the corner and David Marshon tied the game with a slow dribbler. A few batters later, the Waves took the lead on a sac fly, securing their victory.
Santhosh Gottam (Brown University) pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four hits, three runs, and one earned run, while Grant Umberger (Virginia Tech University) came in to get the final two outs. In the seventh inning, the Gulls were in trouble as the first two runners got on base, prompting Manager Frank Holbrook to make a pitching change. Braden Ostrander (Florida Atlantic University) came in to pitch and gave up a run in 1.2 innings, while Ryan Andrade (University of Pittsburgh) pitched a solid inning, striking out two batters.
The Gulls will be looking to extend their season tomorrow night as they will travel to Wakefield for game two of best of three quarterfinal series.
