The Newport Gulls advanced to the second round of the NECBL playoffs after a winner-take-all victory, 7-1 against the Ocean State Waves on Wednesday night at Cardines Field.
The Gulls were the first on the board after an RBI single by Matthew Schark (University of Southern Illinois) which scored Luke Beckstein (Northeastern University) who reached on a hit by pitch to leadoff the inning.
In the second, the Gulls added to their lead. With one out in the inning, Billy Butler (University of Southern Mississippi) drew a walk and Jacob Burley (Wake Forest) followed with a single. A couple batters later, Michael Anderson (University of Rhode Island) lined an RBI single to score Butler. The single for Anderson made it 2-0, Gulls after two innings.
The Waves got a run right back after Christian Ficca led off the third inning with a single. He later came around to score on a groundout by David Mershon to cut the Newport lead in half, 2-1.
In the bottom of the inning, the Gulls received their first major hit of the night. Slate Alford (University of Georgia) got things started with a single. Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth College) then walked with two outs to put two runners on for Newport. Butler then launched his third homerun of the season, a three-run shot to give the Gulls a 5-1 lead after three innings.
Newport made it four straight innings with at least one run as Kolby Branch (University of Georgia) got in on the action with an RBI single, scoring Tyler Hare (Wofford University) who reached on a double to begin the home half of the fourth inning. After four innings, Newport led 6-1.
The Gulls tacked on another run to make it 7-1 and that would be the final score as the Gulls held on for the victory. With the win, Newport advanced to the second round of the NECBL playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Jake Hunter (East Carolina University) started the game and earned his sixth victory of the season. He went seven dominate innings and struck out 11, allowing just one run. Ryan Andrade (University of Pittsburgh) finished the game and earned the save, striking out three batters and allowing no runs.
Newport will be back at home at historic Cardines Field on Thursday, August 3rd when they take on the Danbury Westerners in game one of the second round of the NECBL playoffs. Gametime is scheduled for 6:35 and will be broadcasted live on the NECBL Broadcast Network.