April 23, 2006
BEVELRY, MA - Salve Regina got the jump on Endicott College early, taking the first game of the doubleheader, 12-0, before staging a seventh inning rally to complete the sweep with a 10-5 triumph Sunday afternoon.
The Seahawks (29-11, 17-3 CCC) earned the top seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, which begins Tuesday, while Endicott (19-16, 15-5 CCC) enters the double elimination tourney as the No. 2 seed.
The Gulls will open the tournament at home versus No. 7 Colby-Sawyer College (15-18) Tuesday at 3:00 PM, while No. 8 Gordon College (8-20) will travel to Salve Tuesday (3).
Salve starter William Riggieri (Worcester, MA/St. John) went six scoreless innings to earn the victory in game one. He allowed two hits while striking out three and walking two. And the Seahawk offense did the rest, scoring in each of the first five frames.
Salve added to a 2-0 advantage in the third when Robert Peruzzotti (Mystic, CT/Fitch) tripled home two runs, Bobby Kemple (Ithaca, NY/Lansing)delivered an RBI sac fly and Leafe doubled home Nicholas Zambrotta (Newport, RI/Rogers), who also doubled.
The visitors relied on the heart of their order again in the fourth to increase the lead to 9-0. Peruzotti and Kemple delivered RBI singles and Davin Sirpenski (Voluntown, CT/Griswold) collected his only RBI on a sac fly.
Kemple (3 RBI), Matt Finlayson (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth), Joseph Leafe (Manchester, NH/Manchester Central), and Justin Collett (South Portland, ME/South Portland) all finished the first game 2-for-3.
Joe Paciello (Worcester, MA/St. Peter Marian) and Joe Orlando (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) had the only hits for Endicott.
In the second game, Endicott took a 5-3 lead into the seventh, but the Seahawks sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs to take a 10-5 cushion.
Salve played station-to-station baseball with Collett and Peruzzotti walking to open the seventh before Kemple moved the runners along 90-ft with a single. With the bases loaded and no outs, Sirpenski came through with an RBI single and the Gulls allowed the tying run to score on a throwing error.
After Alex Bush (Jamestown, RI/North Kingstown) pinch-hit an RBI single, Finlayson drew a bases loaded walk, Collett ripped an RBI single and Peruzzotti put the finishing touches on the rally and the sweep with a two-run double.
Endicott jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second inning, capitalizing on timely hitting to get the job done. Adam Labbe (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill) drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single and Erik Fields (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) and Orlando also had RBI singles in the frame.
The Gulls struck again with two outs in the fourth, taking a 5-2 cushion on an RBI single by Fields (2-for-4). But Peruzzotti responded with an RBI single of his own in the top of the fifth. Salve looked poised to get even closer in the inning, but Labbe initiated a 5-3 twin killing to end the threat.
Endicott starter Mike Daggett (Sabattus, ME/Oak Hill) worked into the seventh, allowing five runs, just two earned, on seven hits.
Seahawks' reliever Mike Lewis (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) pitched two innings of hitless baseball to earn the victory and Sirpenski worked a perfect seventh to dash any hopes of an Endicott comeback.