BRISTOL, R.I.- In their return to Paolino Field for the first time since the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Series in May of 2019, the Roger Williams University Baseball team swept Rhode Island College, 6-4 and 11-3 on Saturday afternoon. Tyler Cedeno (Maynard, Mass.) drove in seven runs across the two games while Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) added another five to fuel the Hawks offense. Meanwhile, the pitching staff dominated to the tune of 23 strikeouts, including 13 from game two starter, Justin Garcia (Foxborough, Mass.) and seven from Connor Hewlette (Deer Park, N.Y.) who got the nod in game one.
 
Hawk Highlights
Game 1
Tyler Cedeno (Maynard, Mass.): 3-for-5, 2B, SB, 4 RBI
Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.): 3-for-4, SB, BB, 2 RBI
Joey Gulino (Meriden, Conn.): 2 BB, 2 RS
Connor Hewlette (Deer Park, N.Y.): (W, 1-0), 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Chris Flynn (Naugatuck, Conn.): (SV, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
 
For the Opponents
Ray Zincone (West Warwick, R.I.): 1-for-4, RS, RBI
Connor Davey (Cheshire, Conn.): (L, 0-1), 2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 1 K
 
How it Happened
Rhode Island College jumped on the board in the top of the first as Nate Vigeant (Coventry, R.I.) hit a one-out single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a single by Ray Zincone (West Warwick, R.I.).
 
The Hawks answered in the home half on a Joey Gulino (Meriden, Conn.) walk, Tyler Cedeno (Maynard, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice, and then Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) knocked a single into left to tie the score at one.
 
Roger Williams grabbed a lead that they would never relinquish in the bottom of the second. Ben Bonavita (East Longmeadow, Mass.) got plunked to lead off the inning before CJ Casalino (Bristol, R.I.) dropped down a sac bunt but reached anyways on an error. Eddy Jackson (Seekonk, Mass.) then got down a successful sacrifice bunt to put to in scoring position and Gulino drew his second walk in as many innings to load the bases. This set up Cedeno, who lined a single into left center to drive in his first two runs of the day before Jenkins plated Gulino to make it 4-2 Hawks.
 
The Anchormen got a man on in the third but George Somers (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) caught the runner stealing, one of two potential base stealers that Somers threw out in the game.
 
The Hawks offense got back to work in the home half of the third, Bonavita drew a leadoff walk, before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and a single by Jackson, who promptly took second on defensive indifference. Then with two down, Cedeno checked in again rocking a two-run double into left-center to score two more.
 
RIC manufactured a trio of unearned runs in the fourth, but Somers extinguished the threat by gunning down Rommy Morel (Providence, R.I.) to end the threat and the scoring in the first contest.
 
The combination of Connor Hewlette (Deer Park, N.Y.), Kyle Schaefer (Madison, Conn.), and Chris Flynn (Naugatuck, Conn.) shut down the Anchormen the rest of the way by combining strike out four, induce a 5-4-3 double play and allow only four baserunners over the final five innings.
 
Hewlette's six innings allowing just one earned run and striking out seven earned him his first win of 2021 while Flynn locked down his first save of the year by pitching the ninth and recording one strikeout.
 
Coach's Corner
Connor Hewlette pitched great for us today. He attacked hitters with fastballs getting a ton of first pitch strikes and he was able to throw his off-speed in any count. Rhode Island College is known for being able to hit the fastball, so we knew we had to mix it up on them. Offensively, Jenkins and Cedeno carried us today. They both had a great week in practice focusing on the little things and we saw the results of that today. Defensively we still need to clean it up a bit but the more reps we get the better we will be.
 
 
Game 2
Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.): 3-for-3, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2RS, 3 RBI
Tyler Cedeno (Maynard, Mass.): 2-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RS, 3 RBI
George Somers (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.): 2-for-3, 2B, BB, RS, 2 RBI
Joey Gulino (Meriden, Conn.): 1-for-3, SB, 3 BB, 2 RS
Justin Garcia (Foxborough, Mass.): (W, 1-0), 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 13 K
 
For the Opponents
Ray Zincone (West Warwick, R.I.): 1-for-1, 2B, BB, HBP, RS, 2 RBI
Terry Murray (Norfolk, Mass.): (L, 0-1), 2.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
 
How it Happened
Justin Garcia (Foxborough, Mass.) picked up right where he left off in his previous start by striking out a pair in the top of the first before the Hawks offense wasted little time supporting their lefty graduate student.
 
Joey Gulino (Meriden, Conn.) lined the first pitch he saw into center for a single, then swiped second, and scored on a two-bagger by Tyler Cedeno (Maynard, Mass.) down the left field line. Cedeno advanced on a wild pitch and came home as Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) chopped a single into center.
 
The first two men reached for the Anchormen in the top of the second as Ray Zincone (West Warwick, R.I.) got hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single by Jarrad Grossguth (Coventry, R.I.). Garcia limited the damage to just one run however as Zincone came home on a double play and then the lefty notched a strikeout to end the inning. He followed that up by striking out the side on only 12 pitches in the third.  
 
In the home half, the Hawks got back to work as Jenkins blasted a leadoff double and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Danny Roth (West Hartford, Conn.). Roth advanced on a sacrifice bunt and came home as Matt Massaro (Fairfield, Conn.) sliced a double to the opposite field to make it 4-1 RWU.
 
RIC threatened by loading the bases in the fourth on a hit batsman and a pair of walks, but Garcia picked up his eighth strikeout to escape the jam and added three more Ks in the fifth.
 
A Jenkins walk, Roth infield single, and Massaro fielder's choice put Hawks on the corners with two down in the fifth. This set up George Somers (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) who split the left-center field gap for a two-run double.
 
The Anchormen once again loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth on a trio of walks. However, after a conference on the mound, Garcia struck out pinch hitter Joey Coro (North Providence, R.I.) to escape the jam once again, concluding his second consecutive strong performance.
 
Roger Williams loaded the bases on a single, walk, and hit batsman in the home half. Jenkins then drew a walk forcing home a run and then Tommy Hobin (Madison, Conn.) brought home one more with an RBI groundout to extend the Hawk lead to 8-1.
 
RIC got two back in the seventh. With runners on the corners and two outs, Zincone ripped a two-bagger bringing home a pair of runs.
 
In the Hawks half of the seventh, they wrapped up the scoring as Somers singled and CJ Casalino (Bristol, R.I.) walked to start the frame. Both came around to score on a two-out single by Cedeno, who advanced to second on the throw. Jenkins then scorched his second double of the game, scoring Cedeno and making it 11-3 Roger Williams.
 
Conor Gaughan (Walpole, Mass.) tossed a 1-2-3 eighth and Connor Padovich (Bristol, R.I.) allowed a leadoff walk but then a fielder's choice and a 5-4-3 double play ended the Hawks blowout victory.
 
Garcia earned the win going the first six innings allowing just one run and two hits while striking out 13.
 
Coach's Corner
Justin Garcia threw another absolute gem. He dominated the entire time he was on the mound by attacking hitters with his fastball and putting them away with his slider. He was fun to watch today. Offensively was exactly like the first game with Jenkins and Cedeno having productive games. However, it was a culmination of the entire line-up putting constant pressure on RIC's defense. Today as a whole was all about the entire team playing great in all phases of the game.  I am extremely proud of the guys today.
 
What's Next
The Hawks are right back at it on Sunday as they host Trinity (Conn.) for a double-header at Paolino Field. First pitch for game one is set for 12:00 PM.