NEWPORT, R.I. (Saturday, May 11, 2024) -- No. 1 seed Salve Regina secured a 4-2 walk-off win over the No. 2 seed United States Coast Guard Academy in game five of the NEWMAC championships. Following No.2 seed Babson College's 5-2 loss to No. 4 seed Wheaton College in game six it was the Beavers and Seahawks dueling in game seven. Babson posted a four-run sixth inning, and the Beavers topped the Seahawks 8-1. 

GAME FIVE | Seahawks 4, Bears 3

The three-game day got underway at Reynolds field in Newport, Rhode Island when Matt D'Amato (Midland Park, N.J.) singled to center field and stole second on Evan O'Rourke's (Arlington, Mass.) fly out to right field in the first inning. Hunter Yaworski (Brooklyn, Conn.) singled through the left side and D'Amato scored to put the Seahawks ahead 1-0. 

The Bears tied it up 1-1 after Richard Barkley (Bellevue, Wash.) walked, John Tacchini (Klamath Falls, Ore.) singled and Kael Godshalk's (Bangor, Pa.) single brought Barkley home. 

To elevate Salve Regina ahead of Coast Guard ever so slightly, Yaworski singled to center field in the third inning to bring home baserunner D'Amato. Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) added in after his single to center field ushered Yaworski home for a 3-1 Seahawk lead. 

The game got exciting once again when Parker Madden (Ruston, La.) hit a two-run homer, brining Nathan Stafford (Jupiter, Fla.) across the plate with him in the top of the sixth inning. 

The tuning point of the game came when Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) entered the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the nineth, hitting a sacrifice fly to center field which allowed Grover to advance home for a 4-3 walk-off. With this result the Bears ended their season with a 24-11 overall record. 

GAME SIX | Lyons 5, Beavers 2

Wheaton and Babson battled, going back and forth through the fourth inning. Lyons' Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) doubled down the right field line in the sixth inning to bring in Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.), making it 3-2. 

It was still anyone's game, but Wheaton delivered the final Babson blows in the eighth inning when Timmy Wagner's (Hingham, Mass.) two RBI left field bomb brought himself and Maher across home plate. 

GAME SEVEN | Beavers 8, Seahawks 1

Babson's Tristen Spalter (Sergeantsville, N.J.) and Salve Regina's Joe DeRienzo (Trumbull, Conn.) started on the mound in game seven. It was scoreless until the bottom of the second inning when shortstop Michael Breen (Auburn, Mass.) doubled up the middle to advance Wil McCarthy (Pembroke, Mass.) home, to put Salve Regina up 1-0. 

When the Seahawks looked to knock back their second win of the day the Beavers had other ideas, tying it up in the fourth inning after taking advantage of two Seahawk errors. Luca Rubin (Los Angeles, Calif.) reached first on an error and advanced to second on a muffed throw. Walter Sadowsky (Morristown, N.J.) advanced to third and Justin Guest (West Windsor, N.J.) scored which tied the game at 1-1.

Two innings later, in the top of the sixth inning, Babson sent four runs home. Rubin reached first on a throwing error and Sadowsky advanced to third which allowed Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) to score. Jack Julian's (Manchester, Mass.) single to third base moved Rubin to second and Sadowsky to home. In that very same inning Luke Tanner (Los Angeles, Calif.) reached first base on a fielder's choice; Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) was caught at second by Nate Ruehs (Plymouth, Mass.) but Julian advanced to third and Rubin scored. Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field and then Julian scored, making it 5-1 going into the bottom of the sixth. 

The Beavers secured their win and advancement to the conference final when Guest scored in the seventh inning and Tanner made it home in the eighth. The Seahawks bats were silent apart from McCarthy's run scored in the second inning. 

After their success in game six, the Beavers move to 28-11 in wins and losses for the year. 

Babson and Wheaton advance to game eight of the conference championship with the chance to take home the NEWMAC 2024 title. The Beavers will host Sunday, May 12, with the game beginning at 11 a.m.

The winner of the Babson and Wheaton matchup tomorrow will automatically qualify for the 2024 DIII NCAA Tournament. Salve Regina will look to the NCAA selection show on Monday, May 13, at 12:30 p.m., hoping to secure an at-large bid to the NCAAs.