Salve Regina University

NEWPORT, R.I. (May 3, 2026) -- Sophomore center fielder Danny Rogers (New Canaan, Conn.) went 5-for-6 with four runs driven in as No. 4-ranked Salve Regina University baseball defeated visiting Keene State College, 14-7, on Sunday afternoon at breezy Brother Michael Reynolds Field in Newport, Rhode Island. It was the final regular season contest for both the Owls (23-15) and Seahawks (34-4) as Keene State begins its quest to defend its Little East Conference crown on Wednesday while Salve Regina does likewise in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) with the multi-day tournament coming to Newport for at least Friday and Saturday competition. The Seahawks earned the top seed in the NEWMAC for the third straight season.

Salve Regina has won seven consecutive games overall and six straight victories against Keene State to even the all-time series after a dozen meetings. Today's matchup comes less than a year after the Seahawks blanked the Owls, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Championships Harrisburg Regional after starter Brayden Clark (Beverly, Mass.) struck out five in eight innings while scattering four hits and Nolan Romanowski (Wynantskill, N.Y.) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two Ks. With his seventh-inning single through the left side, senior left fielder Evan O'Rourke (Arlington, Mass.) became the ninth player in program history to amass 200 base hits.

The Seahawks trailed 2-0 after the visitors struck for single runs in the first two frames off starter Carrick Ryan (Durham, N.C.). Trevor Snow (Barrington, R.I.) tripled off the Seahawk lefty to start the offense. Derek Finlay (Nashua, N.H.) followed with an RBI single. In the second, Dominic Tagliaferro (Bedford, N.H.) and Lucas Rogers (Deep River, Conn.) sandwiched doubles around a strikeout for the second Owl to cross the plate.

Matt Stokes (Summit, N.J.) and Rogers drove in runs in the bottom of the second to tie the score. In the third, Brady Smolinski (North Grafton, Mass.) led off with a walk and trotted home on a Dylan Cimini (Stonington, Conn.) blast over the fence in right field. Grady Schopps (Fairfield, Conn.) added a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 Seahawk lead.

The Owls responded with an Evan Cali (Taunton, Mass.) homer to right field.

Rogers led off a six-run fourth for the Seahawks with a single to right center and scored on Shane Williams' (Georgetown, Mass.) double down the right-field line. Cimini slashed an RBI single through a drawn in infield. Jake Harring (Portsmouth, N.H.) squeezed an RBI double inside the bag at third down the line and Schopps produced an RBI ground out. Stokes hit a two-run double to elevate the lead to 11-3.

A bases-loaded walk and an RBI ground out gave the Owls two runs back in the fifth.

Elliot Hamilton (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Stokes singled in the sixth to set the table for Rogers who doubled for his fifth hit in five at bats. Rogers' RBI ground out in the eighth benefited from the third Owls' miscue on a Stokes fly ball that put the Seahawk third baseman on third base.

Senior James Keating (Norwood, N.J.) worked three innings in relief and struck out five Owls to improve to 3-0 on the season.

Salve Regina's last two home opponents (UMass Boston, Keene State) will meet at Southern Maine on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch in the Little East Championships. Salve Regina's next home opponent will be the winner of fourth-seeded MIT and fifth-seeded Springfield (also 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, in Springfield) in NEWMAC Championships on Friday at Reynolds Field. All games on FloCollege.