SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – The Newport Gulls remained hot and enacted revenge in the second game of this season’s Pell Bridge Series with a 9-4 victory over the Ocean State Waves. The Gulls took an early lead and never surrendered it to win their fifth straight game.
Mike Caldon started on the mound for the Waves and after striking out the first two batters of the game, put Brody Szako (Austin Peay) on base with a walk. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Szako came home on a double from Randy Seymour (Michigan State) to give Newport an early lead.
The Gulls made even more noise in the second to quiet the crowd in Ocean State’s first home game of the season. Dixon Williams (East Carolina) started the inning off with a single and eventually got home on an error to double the lead. After Mac McCommons (Navy) and Andrew Duncan (Florida State) reached on walks, Nolan Stevens (Mississippi State) delivered a three-run blast to give the Gulls a 5-0 advantage.
Aidan Coleman (Pittsburgh) made his second start on the rubber for the Gulls and breezed through the first before facing a little bit of adversity in the second inning. A single from Rob Butler drove in Aaron Walton to put the Waves on the board but that was all the scoring in the second. Ocean State went to its bullpen after the second when Logan Bevis came in.
The Gulls continued to get it done offensively in the third as Tyler Hare (Wofford) recorded a single and came home on a Mac McCommons hit to give Newport a 6-1 lead. The Waves did manage to chip away in the following innings. That began in the fourth when an Aaron Walton single scored Eric Genther to make it a four-run game again. Then in the fifth inning, a solo blast from Zac Zyons cut Newport’s lead to three. That’s when Coleman’s night came to an end as he finished with one walk and eight strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings. Mitchell Dean (Louisville) replaced Coleman and closed out the fifth with a couple of strikeouts.
Brad Pruett (Oklahoma) became Newport’s third pitcher of the night in the sixth. The Waves scored another run in that inning on a sacrifice groundout that allowed Aaron Walton to score, cutting the deficit down to two.
Jackson Vanesko pitched a scoreless seventh for the Waves before Kyler Carmack entered in the eighth. The Gulls added insurance as Tyler Hare scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Nolan Stevens hit an infield single to drive in Dixon Williams for his fourth RBI of the night. An effective frame was capped off by another run on another wild pitch with Jackson McKenzie coming home to give the Gulls a 9-4 lead.
Colby Holcombe (Mississippi State) pitched the final two innings and dominated to secure the win for Newport. The righty retired six of the seven batters he faced and struck out all six he put down.
Dixon Williams recorded two hits in his Newport debut while Mac McCommons also tallied a couple of hits. Nolan Stevens led the way offensively for the Gulls with a 3-for-5 night including a home run and four RBI.
The Gulls tied up this season’s Pell Bridge Series with the win and have won five games in a row to improve to 6-3 and claim first place in the Coastal Division. Newport has Sunday off before returning to Cardines Field on Monday to host the North Shore Navigators with first pitch at 6:35.
