NEWPORT, R.I. (March 25, 2026) -- Senior outfielders Evan O'Rourke (Arlington, Mass.) and Shane Williams (Georgetown, Mass.) led off the second and third innings, respectively, blasting a home run on a 3-1 pitch to lead the offense early while four Seahawk pitchers combined to shutout visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 6-0, as defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) champions and current third-ranked team in the nation, Salve Regina University, got its conference slate off to a win. Salve Regina (11-1, 1-0 NEWMAC) wins its 11th straight game and first game at home on Reynolds Field. The previous 10 games were all on neutral sites.

Two-time and reigning NEWMAC Pitcher of the Week, Nolan Romanowski (Wynantskill, N.Y.), picked up the decision on the "staff day" ahead of relievers Joe DeRienzo (Trumbull, Conn.), Dominic Carollo (West Warwick, R.I.), and Kyle Carozza (Fairfield, Conn.).

The Seahawk offense plated five runs in the first three frames as second baseman Jake Harring (Portsmouth, N.H.) led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single, stole second, and scored when a two-out single by Elliot Hamilton (Glastonbury, Conn.) had a throw get away. O'Rourke led off the next inning with his second home run of the season for a 2-0 lead. Grady Schopps (Fairfield, Conn.) had a two-out single and came home on Harrig's triple to deep left center. Williams pulled his team-leading third homer of the season to right center as the first batter of the bottom of the third and O'Rourke later doubled (his first two-bagger of the year) before coming home on a two-out fly ball to right lost in the sun.

Salve Regina catcher Brady Smolinski (North Grafton, Mass.) worked an 0-2 count into a bases-loaded walk to drive in the final run of the game with Williams crossing the plate from third. Seahawks had multi-hit games from Harrig, O'Rourke, Williams, and sophomore center fielder Danny Rogers (New Canaan, Conn.).

The Engineers (9-5, 0-1 NEWMAC) had half of their hit total (six) from their No. 9 hitter in the lineup, second baseman Liam Keblin (Newton, Mass.). Keblin had a single off three different Seahawks -- Romanowski (his only hit allowed in three innings), Carollo, and Carozza. His fellow middle infielder, shortstop Chuck Cappello (Southboro, Mass.), collected two base hits.

WPI senior Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.) went five innings as the starter and allowed all six runs in the game, but only four earned. He struck out seven Seahawks. Freshman Robert Runge (Manasquan, N.J.) pitched a perfect sixth inning while Ethan Smith (Hanson, Mass.) and Sean Murphy (East Taunton, Mass.) stranded five Seahawks in their combined two frames.

Salve Regina travels to Willimantic, Connecticut, on Thursday to play the 2022 NCAA Division III National Champion Eastern Connecticut State University with a 3:30 p.m. first pitch on FloCollege. WPI is on the road against the Bison of Nichols College at the same time.