NEWMAC Baseball Championships - Preview Game 3

Baseball 5/7/2025 10:15:00 PM Ed Habershaw '03M

Preview | #1 Salve Regina v. #5 Wheaton

NEWMAC Baseball Championships

Brayden Clark leads the Seahawks into the 2025 postseason

NEWMAC Championships Double-Elimination Phase
Salve Regina vs. Wheaton
Thursday, May 8 | 3:00 p.m.
Reynolds Field | Newport, R.I.

TICKETS
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
TOURNAMENT PAGE

SERIES HISTORY

Salve Regina holds a 9-8 edge in the all-time series which included three meetings last year during the Seahawks' first season in the NEWMAC.
The regular-season doubleheader last year featured a pair of shutouts on the Sidell Stadium grass with Wheaton winning the opener, 3-0, and Salve Regina taking the nightcap, 7-0.
Salve Regina earned the No. 1 Seed in the 2024 NEWMAC postseason and the Lyons dealt the Seahawks a 5-2 defeat in an early round.
On April 19, Salve Regina ran its current 14-game win streak to six straight wins with a sweep of a NEWMAC doubleheader over Wheaton, 10-5 and 6-4, on Brother Michael Reynolds Field.

POSTSEASON HISTORY

Thursday's game will be the second time the Seahawks and Lyons meet in the NEWMAC baseball playoffs.
The teams met twice in the 2021 NCAA Division III Hartford Regional with Wheaton winning 5-4 and 7-4 on its way to advancing to the College World Series.

LAST MEETINGS

In the opener on April 19, the Seahawks built a 10-0 advantage and were on the verge of a Mercy Rule triumph (lead of 10 runs or greater after seven) before Kevin Matos connected on a two-run, two-out homer in the top of the seventh.
Brayden Clark (W, 7-2) pitched into the ninth inning for the first time in his nine starts and struck out six batters for his seventh victory.
Wil McCarthy returned to the lineup for the first time in nearly a month (last played at Springfield on March 25) and contributed a double, home run, two runs scored, and two driven in while providing a steady presence at the hot corner.
Brandon Grover's single to left center in the bottom of the second in Game Two gave the Seahawks the early lead until three home runs in the fifth for the Lyons (Ray Toth, Robbie Lamond, Shawn Cali) put Wheaton on top for the first time all day.
The Seahawks tied the score in the sixth without the benefit of the long ball. Hunter Yaworski led off with a double and came home on Shane Williams' single. Shea Donovan was hit by a pitch before he and Williams advanced on a wild pitch. Tyler Petrosino singled through the right side and Grady Schopps lifted a sacrifice fly to center for a 4-4 score.
Solo home runs in the seventh (Christian Homa) and eighth (Tyler Petrosino) gave the Seahawks the margin of victory.
Joe DeRienzo (W, 2-1) struck out three in two and two-thirds hitless relief innings for his second victory of the week while Andrew Wertz (S, 7) picked up his third save.

SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS

Salve Regina (29-7, 13-3 NEWMAC) earned the top seed and is led offensively by Grady Schopps and Wil McCarthy, who are batting .455 and .442, respectively.
On the mound, Brayden Clark tops the NEWMAC with nine wins and is second with a 2.00 ERA.
The Seahawks have the NEWMAC's lowest ERA at 2.69, most strikeouts at 355 (in 308.1 innings) and share the second-most saves with Wheaton (10).
Evan O'Rourke leads the Seahawks in runs (41), hits (50), and RBI (39).
O'Rourke (17) and Christian Homa (16) are the top two Seahawks in extra-base hits; Homa has a dozen doubles, two triples, and two home runs.
Shane Williams leads the Seahawks with 12 stolen bases.
Less than a year removed from shattering the program's single-season saves mark (11), Kyle Carozza has made 11 starts in 2025 with a 6-0 record and 2.88 ERA.
Andrew Wertz leads the team in appearances (17) and has posted seven saves with an ERA under 1.00 (0.45) and 27 strikeouts in 20 innings.

SCOUTING THE LYONS

Fifth-seeded Lyons scored six runs in the second inning, all after two outs, en route to a 12-1 final in a single-elimination game at fourth-seeded Cougars.
Lamond, Wagner, Bellan, and Toth each had homers in Wednesday's win.
Ben Oliveira improved to 6-1 on the season after pitching 6.0 innings against Clark on Wednesday.
Wheaton has the second-most home runs in the NEWMAC (45) behind only MIT (46), led by Kevin Matos' 13 dingers.
Robbie Lamond leads the Lyons with a dozen base thefts.

STREAKING INTO THE POSTSEASON

The Seahawks have won 14 consecutive games since falling, 9-7, to Clark University at home on Tuesday, April 8.
The Lyons have won all four of their games in the month of May since ending April with a 17-10 defeat at Babson College.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

2-for-2. Salve Regina has two complete seasons in the NEWMAC and has finished first in the regular season both times.
2-to-15. Salve Regina has spent the entire season ranked in the Top 15 on D3baseball.com; currently ranked at No. 10 during Week 10.
The Seahawks were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation (Pre-season through Week 2).

ON DECK

And then there were four. Babson and Clark were eliminated on Wednesday after falling in the single-elimination phase to leave just four teams in the double-elimination rounds -- No. 1 Salve Regina, No. 2 Coast Guard, No. 3 MIT, No. 5 Wheaton.
The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of the other NEWMAC matchup (MIT at Coast Guard, 3:30 p.m.) on Saturday, May 10, at 12:30 p.m. on Reynolds Field.
The losers of Thursday's games will meet in an elimination game on Reynolds Field at 9:30 a.m. and the winner survives to face another elimination game on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) on Reynolds Field for a chance to advance to Sunday's championship round.

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Players Mentioned

#43 Kyle Carozza: P; 6' 3"; Junior

#45 Brayden Clark: P; 5' 11"; Graduate Student

#39 Joe DeRienzo: P; 6' 2"; Junior

#5 Shea Donovan: C; 5' 11"; Junior

#8 Brandon Grover: OF; 6' 2"; Graduate Student

#13 Christian Homa: INF; 5' 11"; Senior

#3 Evan O'Rourke: OF; 5' 11"; Junior

#15 Tyler Petrosino: OF; 6' 0"; Graduate Student

#18 Andrew Wertz: P; 6' 3"; Senior

#2 Shane Williams: OF; 6' 0"; Junior

#17 Hunter Yaworski: OF; 6' 0"; Graduate Student

#40 Wil McCarthy: 3B; 6' 1"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#43 Kyle Carozza
: 6' 3"; Junior
: P

#45 Brayden Clark
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student
: P

#39 Joe DeRienzo
: 6' 2"; Junior
: P

#5 Shea Donovan
: 5' 11"; Junior
: C

#8 Brandon Grover
: 6' 2"; Graduate Student
: OF

#13 Christian Homa
: 5' 11"; Senior
: INF

#3 Evan O'Rourke
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OF

#15 Tyler Petrosino
: 6' 0"; Graduate Student
: OF

#18 Andrew Wertz
: 6' 3"; Senior
: P

#2 Shane Williams
: 6' 0"; Junior
: OF

#17 Hunter Yaworski
: 6' 0"; Graduate Student
: OF

#40 Wil McCarthy
: 6' 1"; Graduate Student
: 3B