NEWPORT, R.I. - Junior Daniel Kehew (Portsmouth, R.I.) fired a no-hitter to pace the Salve Regina baseball team to a 4-0 win over Wentworth in the opener, while freshman Kyle Pheland (No. Scituate, R.I.) came within two outs of a perfect game in the nightcap to help the Seahawks complete the sweep with a 3-0 win.
Kehew (3-0), who allowed just two baserunners and struck out seven, issued a 1st-inning base-on-balls to Wentworth sophomore Jon Spitz (Hanover, Mass.). After that, the only other Leopard baserunner to reach came in the 7th when senior Conner Flisnik (Marcy, N.Y.) drew a walk.
Salve Regina reached Leopard Alex Wong (Lewiston, Maine) for a run in the 4th. Capone had a one-out single to right center, advanced to third on a groundout by Dominic Di Sano (Central Falls, R.I.), before scoring on a single to right from second baseman Joe Haley (No. Kingstown, R.I.).
Senior infielder Nicholas Politelli (Warwick, R.I.) led off the Seahawk 6th with a single and scored on Matt Capone's (East Providence, R.I.) double. Di Sano sacrificed Capone to third. After senior Byron Reding (Darien, Conn.) reached on a hit-by-pitch and then stole second, designated hitter Stephen Crawford (Barrington, R.I.) reached on a two-run error.
Capone finished with two hits, two runs, and an RBI in the opener.
Wong fell to 2-2 on the year as he allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits, walked two, and struck out four.
In the nightcap, Pheland and his mound counterpart, Wentworth sophomore Dakota Baird (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.), worked quickly. Pheland threw nine pitches in the 1st inning, seven for strikes. In the 2nd, he had two three-pitch strikeouts and ended the frame on a first-pitch grounder. Baird needed just four pitches to retire the Seahawks in the third.
Salve Regina received all the runs it would need in the fifth when designated hitter Stephen Crawford (Barrington, R.I.) led off with a single. Crawford got erased on Anthony Conte's (Georgetown, Mass.) fielder's choice bunt before Salvatore Cumella (Ridgefield, N.J.) doubled down the right field line, scoring Conte, and Donohue delivered a second run with a triple to right center. Despite scoring twice, Salve Regina left the bases loaded.
With one out in the sixth, Wentworth nearly broke up the perfect game, but a deep fly ball and a lineout ended the possibility. The Seahawks tacked a run on to their lead in the seventh on a Di Sano sacrifice fly, making it 3-0.
In the home half of the seventh, Pheland set down his 19th straight batter with a strikeout before both the perfect game and no-hitter were broken up by Spitz, who hit a single into shallow left. The Leopards' comeback attempt came to an end a batter later when a double play ended the game.
Pheland struck out five to earn his first collegiate victory (1-0). Capone and Haley each had two hits for Salve Regina.
Baird fell to 1-3 on the year as he allowed two runs on eight hits and struck out three in six innings. Freshman Justin Voytek (New Milford, Conn.) allowed an unearned run in the seventh and struck out a batter.
Salve Regina improves to 8-14 overall and 3-3 in the league while Wentworth drops to 13-11, 5-3 in conference play. Both teams are in action tomorrow as the Seahawks are at nationally ranked Eastern Connecticut State while Wentworth travels to Waltham, Mass., to play Lasell College in a 7 p.m. matchup.
