Newport, R.I. – The Newport Gulls picked up a fog shortened, 8-6 victory against the Keene Swamp Bats on Friday night at Cardines Field.
The Swamp Bats were the first team to score as they scored one in the second inning on a Greg Bozzo RBI single that scored Jordan Smith.
The lead for Keene did not last long as Newport crossed the plate twice in the bottom of the inning. Billy Butler (University of Southern Mississippi) led the inning off with a double and later came around to score on a wild pitch. A few batters later, Noah Smith (University of Louisville) drove home Freeman on a fielder’s choice. The Gulls grabbed their first lead of the night, 2-1 over the Swamp Bats.
In the next inning, the Gulls added to their lead with four more runs. After Michael Anderson (University of Rhode Island) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Tyler Hare (Georgia Tech) launched his eighth home run of the season. The Gulls scored two more runs on two RBI ground outs by Freeman and Jacob Burley (Wake Forest University). The Gulls led 6-1 after three innings.
Keene would respond in major way in the sixth as 10 batters came to the plate and five runs crossed the plate. Jackson Owen had a two-run single. Jordan Smith, Evan Goforth and Christian Mercedes each chipped in with RBI singles to bring the game even at six.
The Gulls would get another clutch hit from their all-star, Hare hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot. His ninth home run of the season made it 8-6 after six full innings.
Newport would hold on to win as the game was called due to fog and a lack of visibility. With the fog shortened victory, Newport improved to 28-8-1 on the season and Keene fell to 12-25.
Kevin Seitter (Quinnipiac University) started the game and pitched 5.2 innings, striking out five batters. Garret Simpson (Wright State University) then came in to finish off the sixth inning. He picked up the victory, his second win of the season.
Newport will on the road on Saturday July 21st when they take on the Ocean State Waves at Old Mountain Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 and will be broadcasted live on the NECBL broadcast network.
