BRISTOL, CT – The Newport Gulls led for a majority of Sunday evening’s matchup with the Bristol Blues, but a rough eighth inning for Newport turned out to be the difference as Bristol came out on top 3-2 in a rematch of last year’s championship series.
The Blues rolled out Michael Lorenzetti (Iona) on the mound for his second start of the season while the Gulls countered with Aidan Coleman (Pittsburgh). Both starters impressed in a game that quickly shaped into a pitchers’ duel. The only inning that caused Lorenzetti trouble was in the second when he walked Jackson McKenzie (Mississippi State) and Tyler Minnick (Georgia Tech) at the bottom of the order with two outs. That’s when the top of Newport’s order capitalized. Garrett Staton (Samford / Alabama) and Brock Murtha (Navy) delivered back-to-back singles to drive in a couple of runs before Lorenzetti finally ended the top of the second with a strikeout.
Newport’s 2-0 lead would stay intact for a while and all the way into a rain delay. In the top of the fifth inning with Brock Murtha at the plate, rain started to pour down at Muzzy Field as the umpires called for the tarp and the teams headed to their respective dugouts. After a delay of just over 40 minutes, the skies cleared up again and play resumed. While the pause to action was brief, it was enough for both managers to pull their starters and make a call to the bullpen. Lorenzetti finished with two walks and five strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings while Coleman only allowed one hit with one walk and five strikeouts in four shutout innings. When play resumed, JT Landwehr (Mt. St. Mary’s) replaced Lorenzetti on the bump and finished out the inning with ease. Cole Cheatham (Mississippi State) entered in the fifth inning for his debut with the Gulls and picked up from where Coleman left off before the delay. The Alabama native cruised through the next three frames, allowing just one hit and preserving a shutout.
The score remained 2-0 as Ryan Oshinskie (Brown) came in for Landwehr in the eighth to keep the deficit manageable for the Blues. Then, Casey O’Dell (Florida Southern) replaced Cheatham for Newport in the bottom of the eighth for his second appearance of the young season. That’s when momentum began to shift Bristol’s way as a hit by pitch and consecutive walks loaded up the bases for the Blues with no outs. A quick call to the bullpen brought Adam Walker (Austin Peay) into a difficult situation. The top of Bristol’s order did its job as back-to-back sacrifice flies from Jordan Peyton (Towson) and Brady Short (Central Connecticut State) tied the game at 2-2. With two outs and Gavin Greger (Bryant) at third, what appeared to be a sure out on a ground ball to first skipped past the glove of Matt Ossenfort (Vanderbilt) and allowed Greger to score and Dean Ferrara (Fairfield) to reach first base. That gave the Blues their first lead and the inning finally ended on the next batter.
Carson Renner (East Stroudsburg) came out of the bullpen in the ninth in an attempt to secure the win for Bristol and did just that. Down to their final three outs, the Gulls had no answer for Renner as the 8-9-1 hitters went down in order to give the Blues a 3-2 win.
Bristol remains undefeated at 5-0 after Sunday’s comeback victory against Newport. Meanwhile, the Gulls have dropped three straight and currently sit at 1-3. Newport attempts to return to the win column when it faces Mystic in a Coastal Division showdown on Monday night. First pitch from Cardines Field is scheduled for 6:35.
