Baseball team earns first-ever preseason national ranking

Before they even played a game in 2018, Salve Regina’s baseball team – the two-time defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champions – earned a preseason national ranking of No. 22, according to the prognosticators at Perfect Game.

“I am very proud of this ranking and a lot of work has been put in to get the program to this point, but now we have to answer the bell day in and day out,” said fifth-year head coach Eric Cirella. “It is a daunting task, but it is also the part of my job that I find most enjoyable, the journey that is a college baseball season.”

The Seahawks opened their season March 4 with a 6-0 win over Framingham State University in non-conference action. Starting pitcher Patrick Maybach ’20 improved to 10-0 in his collegiate career, going seven shutout innings and allowing just three hits with 15 strikeouts and three walks.

After a 2017 season that saw the Seahawks capture their second consecutive conference championship, post the most single-season wins in school history and earn a national ranking for the first time, the team is challenging itself with another top-rated strength of schedule in 2018.

“Overall, we play 10 games against teams that were in an NCAA regional or the College World Series last year,” Cirella said. “Then we play another 10 against teams who are knocking on the door to play in a regional; and that doesn’t include teams like Nichols, Endicott, Western New England and the rest of the CCC, who will always play you tough no matter what the record books say.”

The Seahawks will fly to Florida for a nine-game slate in the RussMatt Invitational March 10-16.