Ramapo in Driver’s Seat, Curry, Wesleyan and Southern Maine Eliminated

HARWICH – Ramapo College (31-14) rode the combined pitching of Brian Cottrell and Tyler Curto Friday night at Whitehouse Field, en route to a 6-3 win over Salem State (27-14) and a chance to take it all tomorrow in the 2015 NCAA DIII New England Regional Baseball Championship being hosted by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).

Ramapo College can win it all today and head to the NCAA DIII World Series.
Photo Courtesy of Ramapo Athletics

The winner of this week’s New England Regional will advance to the NCAA DIII World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin May 22-26.

The winner of today’s 12:00 pm game between Salem State and MIT will face Ramapo at 4:00 pm. The tournament is double-elimination. Should Ramapo lose at 4:00 pm, a final and deciding game will be played Sunday, May 17 at noon.

Cottrell (4-1) went 5 2/3 innings and picked up the win with Curto throwing 3 1/3 in relief for the save. Cotrell, a freshman right-hander from Brick, New Jersey, struck out three and walked only one but somehow managed to escape with allowing only two earned runs on 13 hits and three runs in all. Curto, a sophomore southpaw who hails from Stamford, CT, struck out two, walked one and allowed no hits in his 3.1 innings of work.

Salem State’s Cato Lacroix (3-3) took the loss. A junior righty who hails from Holliston, Mass., Lacroix went five innings, allowed four earned runs on six hits and struck out three while issuing one walk.

Salem State junior leftfielder Mike Davis (Peabody,MA / Bishop Fenwick) went 3-5 to pace the Vikings’ lineup, while teammates Dan Connors (Danvers, MA / Danvers), Javier Morales (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence), Ryan Beliveau (Lynn, MA/St. Mary’s) and Teghan Malionek (Salem, MA/Salem) each banged out two hits in the loss.

Ramapo catcher Ryan Rinsky (North Caldwell, NJ / West Essex) was the hero of the day for the Roadrunner nine, hammering out three hits and driving in four runs (3-3, 4 RBI) to pave the way to victory. Teammate Connor Walsh (Waldwick, NJ / Waldwick) continued his torrid hitting pace for the Roadrunners as he went 2-3 with two runs scored. Rob DeAngelis (Staten Island, NY / Msgr. Farrell) went 1-3 with one RBI and second baseman Joe Venturino (Barnegat Light, NJ / Monsignor Farrell) went 1-4 with one RBI to round out the Ramapo hitting attack.

Earlier Friday morning, number two-seeded Wesleyan ousted top-seeded Southern Maine, 4-1, then waited until the nightcap to face the MIT Engineers. MIT then eliminated Wesleyan, 4-1.

MIT eliminated Curry College in the afternoon, 3-0, followed by Ramapo’s 6-3 win over Salem State.

Here’s a look at the remaining scheduled games on the Road to Appleton:

Click here for Complete Tournament Statistics

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm