SALISBURY, Md. (Saturday, May 25, 2024) — No 8 Salve Regina University baseball advances to the NCAA DIII College World Series for the first time in program history after defeating the Salisbury University Sea Gulls 14-12 in game two of the best-of-three Super Regional.
On Friday, May 24, the Seahawks beat the Sea Gulls 9-8 after gaining an early 6-0 lead, giving up a grand slam to Salisbury’s Zach Geesaman’s (Laurel, Md.).
Similar to yesterday, Salve Regina got out to an early 5-0 lead after just one inning. At the top of the batting order, Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) walked and was the first Seahawk to cross the plate when Christian Homa (Fairfield, Conn.) singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With the additional help of Evan O’Rourke (Arlington, Mass.), Wil McCarthy (Pembroke, Mass.) and Hunter Yaworski (Brooklyn, Conn.) Salve Regina tallied five runs by the end of the first inning.
Sea Gulls’ Kyle Brex’s (Howell, N.J.) single and Danny Sheeler’s double (Towson, Md.) led the way for two Sea Gull runs to come home in the bottom of the first inning, proving to make it another exciting day.
Yaworski hit a three-run homer in the second inning, bringing Homa and Matt D’Amato (Midland Park, N.J.) to the plate with him. Andrew Kell (Columbia, Md.) double to left center and Adam Tommer (Wilmington, Del.) rounded the bases for home to make it an 8-3 game at the end of the second. In the third inning Homa finessed a triple to center field and, with runners on the corners, both O’Rourke and Brady Smolinski (North Grafton, Mass.) scored. By the top of the fourth inning Salve Regina led 12-4.
Sea Gulls’ were dominant in the fifth to tie the game, making up eight runs in one inning. Firstly, Dom Frigiola (Medford, N.J.) hit a three-run bomb followed by Tim Petrucelli’s two-run homer and Geesaman’s two-run moon shot to tie it at 12 across the board. The game remained tied for the next three innings.
In the bottom of the ninth inning Matt D’Amato (Midland Park, N.J.) came up as the cleanup hitter, singled up the middle, and Gover added a run for the Seahawks. The next at-bat brought Cannoe to the plate, who reached first on a fielding error. D’Amato advanced to third and Homa made it to the dish to once again put Salve Regina ahead 14-12. However, with Salisbury as the home team, the Sea Gulls had the opportunity to walk it off in the bottom of the inning. Kyle Carozza (Fairfield, Conn.) took the mound to close it out for the second day in a row. Two force outs and a pop out to Michael Breen (Auburn, Mass.) punched the Seahawks’ ticket to the NCAA College World Series.
“Mike [Breen] didn’t get on to lead off the inning, so I had to pick him up there and I was happy I was able to,” said Grover, who scored the game-winning run. “I got ahead of the count so I was just looking for a pitch that I could can we get a good swing on and got it– got to pass the first baseman and went on from there.”
In addition to Carozza, four Salve Regina pitchers contributed to the win. The 6’4 right-handed sophomore starter Sean Mulligan (Verona, N.J.) held Salisbury to five runs. Tommy DelVecchio (Westfield, N.J.), Andrew Wertz (Dover, N.H.), Luis Ortiz (East Boston, Mass.) entered in relief, with Ortiz (W, 3-0) being the pitcher of record after tossing three and a third scoreless frames. Carozza recorded his 10th save of the season becoming the first Seahawk to reach double-digits in successful closes in a single year.
“I think we all kept our composure,” DelVecchio said. “We set a tone earlier in the year– pick each other up like if we get punched in the mouth. We’re going to punch back. we’re a very tight group and I think that definitely benefited us. We never we never give up.”
The NCAA Division III College World Series will take place in Eastlake, Ohio from May 31- June 7. This is the first Seahawk team in program history to win an NCAA Regional, advance to and win a Super Regional and compete with the top eight teams in the country.
“I don’t know anybody here that wanted to play a third game,” stated skipper Eric Cirella ’05. “I think that we showed a lot of resilience bouncing back from the eighth spot in the fifth inning and, you know, had a freshman go out there and put up a few zeros and kind of settle the game down. And fortunately, we got some guys on the nineth, and you know, Grover scored the go ahead run on a D’Amato single and I think we pushed the next one across on and error. But just a great team, great atmosphere. They’re very talented so it’s, I would say, fun to watch, but you know, I wanted to throw up seven or eight times today. So besides that, it was a lot of fun to watch.”
The Seahawks credit the team culture, work ethic and years of strong alumni that have led the way for this year’s standout success.
The job’s not finished—gotta keep going,” remarked McCarthy. “It feels good right now.”