Salve Regina University

NEWPORT, R.I. (May 23, 2026 -- NCAA Super Regional) -- For the second year in a row Salve Regina University baseball forced a decisive winner-take-all contest in Super Regional action, but ultimately came up short as visiting Endicott College rebounded from a 6-5 loss to capture their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Division III Championships with a 12-4 victory in the final game of the best-of-three series at Reynolds Field in Newport, Rhode Island.

Sophomore pitcher Nolan Romanowski (Wynantskill, N.Y.) won his Seahawk program record 12th victory in a season (W, 12-1) with a six and one-third inning effort allowing just three earned runs against the Gulls (40-11). Freshman reliever Ethan Santerre (Bristol, R.I.) posted a save for a second-consecutive Saturday with two clean frames and three strikeouts.

Catcher Brady Smolinski (North Grafton, Mass.) and shortstop Grady Schopps (Fairfield, Conn) continued swinging hot bats, both with two hits in Game Two after two and three hits, respectively, yesterday in Game One. Schopps had the game's only extra base hit with a leadoff double in the top of the second.

For the second consecutive game, the Seahawks (40-8) scored multiple runs on just one single in the opening inning. Salve Regina, the "road" team in Game Two on its home diamond, loaded the bases on a pair of walks -- Danny Rogers (New Canaan, Conn.) and Shane Williams (Georgetown, Mass.) -- sandwiched around a single by Evan O'Rourke (Arlington, Conn.). Dylan Cimini (Stonington, Conn.) was hit by a pitch and Smolinski followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

The Gulls got on the board in the bottom of the first with an unearned run.

After Williams reached on a fielding error leading off the third, Cimini got plunked again. Smolinski drove in Williams and Elliot Hamilton (Glastonbury, Conn.) added a two-run single to left field.

The Endicott fifth inning resembled yesterday's same stanza. In Game One fifth, the Gulls trailed 5-1 before a bases-loaded hit batsman and a grand slam gave them the lead. Today, a hit batsman and two walks loaded the bases with one out and Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.) singled in a pair before he scored on a Brenden Walsh (Reading, Mass.) base hit up the middle. Romanowski stranded Gulls at second and third on a fly out to Rogers in center field to maintain the 5-4 edge.

In the eighth, the Seahawks increased their slim margin by one after third baseman Shea Donovan (Milton, Mass.) led off with a walk and scored with two outs when Williams reached on an error for the second time. The Gulls got it back to a one-run game in the bottom half when Brady Rickenbach (Manchester, N.H.) hit a pinch-hit single up the middle and Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) followed with a single through the left side to score John Fusco (Naples, Fla.). Santerre secured the save with a pair of Ks in the ninth around a bouncer back to the mound to force the decisive Game Three with a 2:35 p.m. first pitch.

After no extra bases in Game Two, Endicott had homers off three different Seahawk pitchers in Game Three. A.J. Hamm (Shrewsbury, Mass.) slammed a Sean Mulligan (Verona, N.J.) pitch for a 2-0 lead in the second, the first time the Gulls scored first in the series. Fusco had an RBI double in the third before Walsh doubled the advantage with a three-run homer in the fourth off Carrick Ryan (Durham, N.C.). Senior captain TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) homered to left field off Dominic Carollo (West Warick, R.I.) in the sixth and Hamm later knocked in Fusco and Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) for a 9-0 lead.

The Seahawks spoiled the shutout bid with a pair of runs in their sixth inning. Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.), who had blanked Salve Regina for five frames, gave up consecutive singles to O'Rourke and Williams. Reliever Colby Correia (Fairhaven, Mass.) struck out his first batter faced before walking Smolinski and Jake Harring (Portsmouth, N.H.) served up a sacrifice fly. Hamilton added an RBI single.

Liponis and Cimini drove in runs for their respective teams in the seventh.

Walsh and Bernardo both scored on a deep sacrifice fly by Fusco to Williams in right in the eighth. Hamilton's sacrifice fly to right brought Harring home with the game's final run.

The Seahawks hold a 37-36 edge in the all-time series against the Gulls. With a sweep of a pair of conference championship games in 2016, Salve Regina started its 10-game win streak against Endicott over three seasons. Endicott is 9-3 in the last dozen meetings. The Gulls advance to next week's NCAA Division III Championships (May 29 - June 4) in Eastlake, Ohio. For more information, visit NCAA.com.