WAKEFIELD, R.I. – A 90-minute rain delay had the Gulls and Waves anxiously waiting around before the rain passed through. Once the game finally began shortly after 8:00, Ocean State raced out to an early lead but Newport fought back and ultimately prevailed 10-7 in the third edition of the Pell Bridge Series this season.
Aidan Coleman (Pittsburgh) made his third start on the mound for Newport. The San Antonio native settled in later on but faced some adversity early on. In the first inning, Tristan Head reached base on a fielder’s choice and Eric Genther followed that up with a double. With two outs, Aaron Walton delivered a double to score both base runners and give the Waves an early 2-0 lead.
The second inning proved to be just as effective for Ocean State’s offense. Harrison Wilson led off with a single and following back-to-back strikeouts, Zac Zyons recorded a two-out single to score Wilson. After Zyons stole second, Triston Head also tallied a single to drive him in and put the Waves up 4-0.
After that, Newport’s offense came alive with a loud response. Owen Kramkowski was Ocean State’s starting pitcher and after a smooth sailing first two innings, ran into trouble in the third. Andrew Duncan (Florida State) led off with a triple off the fence in right field and shortly after, came home to score on a wild pitch. Following a walk to Tyler Hare (Wofford), Brody Szako (Austin Peay) blasted one over the right field fence for a two-run blast to pull the Gulls within one. Newport didn’t stop there as Randy Seymour (Michigan State) had a double and later scored to tie the game. Brooks Ey replaced Kramkowski with one out in the third in what turned into a bullpen game for the Waves.
The Gulls didn’t slow down in the fourth. Ey walked Tyler Hare and Matt Ossenfort (Vanderbilt) before Luke Orbon (St. John’s) hit Newport’s second home run of the night with two outs to make it 7-4. Aidan Coleman pitched through the fifth for Newport, recording two walks and 10 strikeouts. Cal Randall (UCLA) entered out of the bullpen in the sixth for his second appearance of the summer. That’s when trouble arose for the Gulls. Aaron Walton led off the inning with a double and Harrison Wilson was walked to get on base. An Aaron Posey sacrifice fly scored Walton. Greg Pettay became the third batter to be walked in the inning. Then, on a double steal attempt from Wilson and Pettay, a Newport error allowed both runners to come around and score, tying the game at 7-7. Adam Walker (Austin Peay) came in for Randall to end the inning and pitched for some of the seventh before Colby Holcombe (Mississippi State) became Newport’s fourth pitcher and went the rest of the way.
Nick Conte pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth for Ocean State before Logan Bevis entered in the seventh. With the score tied, Jake Burley (Wake Forest) got on base with a walk. After advancing to second on a passed ball, Niko Brini delivered a single to bring Burley home and restore the lead for Newport. In the eighth, the Gulls managed to add more insurance. Tyler Hare was walked to begin the inning and that was followed by Brody Szako’s second home run of the game to make it 10-7.
Tommy Turner pitched the ninth for the Waves and had no issues, giving them one last chance in the bottom of the frame, needing three to tie and four to win. While singles from Eric Genther and Aaron Walton made things a bit interesting, Colby Holcombe ended the game with his seventh strikeout, securing a 10-7 win for Newport.
The Gulls have won three straight and improved to 9-5 while the Waves dropped to 6-7. Newport has an off day on Sunday before hosting Sanford on Monday night at Cardines Field with first pitch at 6:35.
