NEWPORT, R.I.—Gordon Baseball suffered a pair of tough defeats at the hands of Salve Regina on Saturday afternoon, 5-4 and 9-8. After being on the winning end of two one-run games on Friday, Gordon fell on the wrong end of two rallies to drop to 7-7 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.
 
The Fighting Scots will look to regroup on Wednesday when they host a non-conference game with Lesley. Gordon currently sits one win shy of tying the program record in wins at 18-14 overall. Salve Regina improved to 18-10-1 and 8-2 in the CCC.
 
Game One: Gordon 4 – 5 Salve Regina
 
The Scots put two runs on the board in a hurry as three of the first four batters got on base. Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) singled in the first run of the day with one out in the inning before Chris Leavitt (Bridgewater, Mass.) ushered in another on a sacrifice fly.
 
Salve got one back in the bottom of the first with John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) causing a raucous on the base paths. The sophomore singled, stole second and scored on a double by Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.).
 
Gordon would tack two more onto its lead in the top of the third as Ryan Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.), Leavitt and Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) all singles. Leavitt added two more RBI to his name with a single up the middle to plate Paulsen and Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.).
 
A strong start for the Scots turned into a mixed finish. Gordon almost got out of a threat in the sixth inning after Smith's second double of the game, but a two-out bunt went for a single to score a run and kept the inning alive. A steal and another single to the outfield plated one more to make it a 4-3 game entering the final frame.
 
Salve completed the comeback in the seventh inning. A leadoff hit batter came back to haunt the Scots and Smith delivered a knockout punch with a single through the hole on the right side of the infield to score two runs in walk-off fashion.
 
Smith had three hits and drove in three of Salve's five runs, but none bigger than the last.
 
Connor Rogotzke (Altamont, N.Y.) took the loss for the Scots, striking out five in 6.1 innings. Only four of his five runs allowed were earned.
 
Game Two: Gordon 8 – 9 Salve Regina
 
The Fighting Scots raced out to another lead in game two, taking a 4-0 advantage after just two innings thanks to a bases clearing double by Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.).
Gordon held another solid lead for most of the game at 5-1 when things fell apart for the Scots. Tristan Dacey (Wyckoff, N.J.) hit his second home run of the game to add three runs to the scoreboard for the Seahawks. Gordon was unable to regroup following the homer and the hosts put together another rally to tie the game at five through four innings.
 
The Fighting Scots trailed for only the second time on the day in the sixth inning when the Seahawks pushed four runs across the plate. All seven batters to come to the plate reached base safely with Gordon being forced to create outs on fielder's choices and catching the Seahawks stealing.
 
In its largest hole of the afternoon, Gordon refused to quit on the game. The Fighting Scots bat through the order and scoring three runs in the process thanks to RBI by Tarr, Demers and Smith. The bases remained loaded with two outs before Salve finally ended the rally on a strikeout on a 3-2 count.
 
Quick Hits

• Gordon out hit Salve Regina 20-16 on the day.
• The Fighting Scots trailed for only an inning and a half between the two losses.
• Demers posted an impressive 6-for-9 day with four RBI and two doubles.
• The Scots have dropped seven of nine games after a fast 16-7 start to the year.