GROTON, CT – The Newport Gulls cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Mystic Schooners to win their third straight on Thursday. The seven-run win was the biggest margin of victory for Newport early on in the season.
Trystan Levesque started on the mound for Mystic and after a smooth first inning, ran into some trouble in the second. The inning started with Tyler Hare (Wofford) getting hit by a pitch and after advancing to second, Hare came home on an error to give Newport the lead.
Jackson Teer (Trinity) made his second start of the summer for the Gulls and the second inning turned out to be the only time the Schooners could capitalize against him. That opportunity came on the first pitch in the bottom of the second when Juju Stevens blasted a homer to right field to tie the game. Mystic wasn’t done there as Marc Willi followed that up with a double and a Cian Sahler single scored Willi to give the Schooners the lead.
Neither team scored for the next three innings but the sixth is when the Gulls poured it on. Levesque’s night came to an end after the fourth inning and the Schooners bullpen struggled after that. The sixth started off with back-to-back singles from Tyler Hare (Wofford) and Luke Orbon (St. John’s). That was followed by a walk to Tyler Minnick (Georgia Tech) with no outs to load the bases. Jackson McKenzie (Mississippi State) struck out for the first out but two more walks after that drove in a couple runs to give Newport a 3-2 lead. That was just the start to a rough sixth inning for the Schooners as Garrett Staton (Alabama) doubled to drive in two more. A fielder’s choice then scored Niko Brini (UConn) to make it 6-2.
Mystic’s bullpen struggles continued in the next inning as four of the first five batters were walked to bring in another run and give the Gulls a 7-2 lead.
Jackson Teer had no issues getting through the seventh to complete an impressive outing against the Schooners. In a game where the righty seemingly improved as the game went on, Teer allowed six hits while walking two batters and recording six strikeouts. His seven inning start included a spell in which he retired eight consecutive batters between the fourth and seventh inning.
Colby Holcombe (Mississippi State) entered in the eighth inning for his Gulls debut and had a 1-2-3 frame against the top of Mystic’s order.
Newport’s offense continued to deliver in the ninth and added more insurance. A double from Tyler Minnick (Georgia Tech) and single from Jack Doyle (Northeastern) drove in two more runs to give the Gulls a seven run lead.
Cade Connolly (Michigan) came in to pitch the ninth and, like Holcombe, retired he side in order in his debut for Newport to secure the 9-2 win.
The Gulls are now 2-0 against the Schooners and are back above .500, improving to 4-3 with their third win in a row. Newport continues a three-game road trip tomorrow at Upper Valley with first pitch slated for 6.
