The Newport Gulls rode a six-game win streak heading into Thursday night’s matchup with the Keene SwampBats but fell short 9-3 in a game that got away in the final innings.
Cole Cheatham (UAB) made his fifth start and seventh appearance of the season on the mound for the Gulls and had an impressive five-inning outing, walking just one batter and striking out five. His only blemish occurred in the second inning when Ripken Reese hit a solo home run to give the SwampBats an early lead.
On the other side, Jared Lessman also looked good on the mound in a game that started out as a pitchers dual. After not allowing a hit in the first two innings, Nolan Stevens (Mississippi State) changed that with a two-out single in the third. After that, Dixon Williams belted the second pitch he saw over the fence in right field for his second home run in as many days and gave Newport a 2-1 lead.
The score remained that way until both teams went to their bullpens in the sixth. Keene went to Joe Carrea in the sixth and Nolan Stevens, the first batter he faced, launched a home run over the center field fence to give the Gulls a 3-1 lead. Cal Randall (UCLA) entered in the bottom of the inning for Newport and after walking the first two batters he countered, Alex Calarco scored on an error when Sam Biller put the ball in play.
The seventh inning is when the SwampBats did most of the damage. Joe Jaconski led off the frame with a single and eventually came around to tie the game on an Alex Calarco double. Moments later, a Bryce Molinaro single scored Jake Koonin to give Keene a 4-3 lead. Then back-to-back walks with the bases loaded scored two more runs for the SwampBats and marked the end of Randall’s night. He was replaced Nick DiRito (UMass Lowell), who walked Joe Jaconski with the bases loaded to make it a 7-3 SwampBats lead before a lengthy inning finally came to an end.
The deficit grew larger for Newport in the eighth as Keene tacked on a couple more runs. After the inning started with Jake Koonin getting to first on a dropped third strike, he stole multiple bases to get to third and then came home on a passed ball when Sam Biller was at the plate. After the next batter was hit by a pitch, Casey O’Dell replaced DiRito on the rubber. With the bases loaded, Andrew Wiggins was walked to drive in Alex Calarco and make it 9-3.
Josh Gunther pitched the final two innings and didn’t allow a hit in the final few frames to secure the win for Keene and a season sweep over Newport after prevailing at Cardines Field two weeks ago. The Gulls had a six-game win streak come to an end and are now 22-8, 2.5 games clear of second place in the Coastal Division. That team closest behind them in the Divisional standings is Newport’s next opponent, Mystic. The Gulls battle the Schooners on Friday at Cardines Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:35.
