KINGSTON, R.I. (May 10, 2026) -- Senior catcher
Shea Donovan (Milton, Mass.) launched a game-tying pinch-hit two-run double with one out in the bottom of the ninth and came home with the winning run on
Danny Rogers' (New Canaan, Conn.) subsequent two-out double to right center field as nationally fourth-ranked Salve Regina University baseball rallied from an 8-1 deficit and stave off elimination with a 9-8 victory over Massachusetts Institute of Technology in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament action on Sunday morning at Bill Beck Field. The comeback win created a finals matchup for top-seeded Salve Regina against third-seeded Babson College. The Beavers, needing only one win, took care of business with a dominating 21-2 final against the Seahawks to claim their second title in the last three seasons.
Last year's champion, Salve Regina (36-6), who earned the tournament's top-seed status for the third straight season, will learn its fate in tomorrow's NCAA Championships Selection Show (12 p.m. on NCAA.com) and hopes for its fourth at-large bid in the last five seasons. Babson (26-15) won all four of its games in this year's NEWMAC Championship to earn the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAAs. The Beavers have won six straight overall.
After falling 7-5 to the Beavers at Reynolds Field in Newport yesterday morning, the Seahawks traveled 35 minutes west to Kingston, Rhode Island, to face the fourth-seeded Engineers after MIT eliminated second-seeded Wheaton College, 8-7, in their 9:30 a.m. contest at Bill Beck Field. The Seahawks and Engineers reached the top of the sixth before a lightning delay halted action for over an hour. Play resumed for the two teams, who had also endured a 41-minute delay in their Friday meeting (won by the Seahawks, 13-6, at Reynolds Field), but lasted only one batter before heavy rainfall necessitated a suspension to Sunday.
Dominic Carollo (West Warwick, R.I.), who was on the mound yesterday with one out and a runner on first base in the sixth, returned to the bump with another first pitch at 9:24 a.m. today. He struck out the Engineers' top two in the order to bring the Seahawk bats to the plate. MIT reliever
Chase Rubin (Arlington, Va.) retired the first two Seahawks he faced on ground outs before
James Anastasopoulos (Sherborn, Mass.) singled to right field. Rubin stranded that runner with a fly out.
The Engineers added to their advantage, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh to move ahead 8-1.
Owen Malone (Portsmouth, R.I.) drove in a run with a fielder's choice RBI and
Joey Severson (Western Springs, Ill.) added another with an RBI single down the left field line. Salve Regina started work on its epic rally in the bottom of the seventh with five runs to close the deficit to two, 8-6.
Jake Harring (Portsmouth, N.H.) delivered a two-run single and
Elliot Hamilton (Glastonbury, Conn.) added a two more on a triple to left center before the final run of the inning scored on a third strike that bounced away.
After taking over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning, Malone held Salve Regina scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, but the Seahawks rallied in the ninth to win the game. Malone got the first out of the ninth, but the next three Seahawk batters reached base, as
Evan O'Rourke (Arlington, Mass.) walked, Hamilton singled to center, and Donovan's double tied the game. With Donovan on second and one out, Malone got Anastasopoulos to fly out to right field for the second out. With two away, Rogers doubled to right center to score Donovan and end the game. Freshman
Isaac Cabral (Lincoln, R.I.) earned his first collegiate pitching victory with a scoreless top of the ninth.
In the tournament final, senior
Sean Mulligan (Verona, N.J.) shouldered the loss after giving up four runs, just one of them earned, while striking out three over 4.0 innings for the Seahawks. Junior
Connor Frickey (Colorado, Springs, Colo.) was one of four Beavers with three hits in the championship game and he smacked the finals' only home run, a grand slam in the nine-run seventh inning. In two NEWMAC Tournament starts this week, sophomore
Graydon Vyse (Glastonbury, Conn.) went 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, 15 strikeouts and just two walks to earn Most Valuable Player honors.
