SALISBURY, Md. – Senior pinch runner Nick Walls scored on a wild pitch, capping a three-run seventh inning as the No. 3 Salisbury University baseball team completed a 4-3 comeback in walk-off fashion to claim a series and doubleheader sweep of Stevenson University at the SU Baseball Field on Saturday.
The Sea Gulls won the first game of the day, 9-7, and will face St. Mary's (Md.) College in the first round of the CAC tournament. SU (26-6, 15-3 CAC) topped the Mustangs, 5-3, on Friday.
Stevenson reliever Pat Quinn (1-2) bounced a pitch in the dirt to Tyler Bennett that got far enough away from catcher Zac Stavish, allowing Walls to score the winning run in the second game of the doubleheader.
SU trailed, 3-1, heading to the seventh. Kyle Hayman started the rally with a leadoff bunt single to third and advanced to second when Matt Bratter's throw went up the line. After a Joe Walinski pitch hit Johnny Schiotis, pinch hitter Matt Beck sacrificed the runners to second and third, respectively. Quinn came on to face pinch hitter Hank Adams but Adams lined his 0-1 offering down the left-field line to score pinch runner Tyler Illian and Hayman to tie the game, 3-3.
Root singled up the middle and Joey Jones was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting the stage for the final play.
Junior right-hander Danny Druzgala (4-1) earned the win with 1 2/3 of perfect relief of starter Brett Collacchi. Quinn was tagged with the loss for Stevenson, surrendering one run on two hits and a walk without recording an out.
Stevenson jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on Tony Prescott's ninth home run of the season, a three-run blast to right field. Salisbury cut into the lead, making it 3-1, when Bennett rocketed an RBI single up the middle with no one out in the Sea Gulls' half of the inning to plate Bill Root. Root was hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error.
Six players recorded hits and four had runs for Salisbury in the nightcap. Prescott was 1-for-3 with the homer, a walk and run scored to pace Stevenson (18-17-2, 8-10), which also received two hits apiece from Josh Morris and Justin Anderson.
The Sea Gulls scored four runs in the fifth inning and two in the sixth break open a 3-2 game in the opener. Three players collected at least two hits to lead SU, including Chris Connor, who was 2-for-3 with two doubles, three runs driven in and one scored. Quinn Griffith also posted a game-high three hits in four at-bats with one RBI and one run scored.
SU spotted the Mustangs a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning but put up two of its own in the bottom of the frame to pull even when Bennett singled in Jones and Connor doubled home Bennett consecutively.
Hayman led off the bottom of the fourth, depositing the first pitch he saw from D.J. Milliken (3-3) over the right-field wall for his first collegiate home run and a 3-2 SU lead. The advantage, though, was short-lived as Stavish belted a two-run homer to right in the top of the fifth to make it 4-3.
The Sea Gulls used a pair of two-run doubles by Connor and Walls in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good. Salisbury added a pair of insurance runs it would need in the sixth on a Bennett sacrifice fly and Griffith two-out RBI single to make it 9-4.
Stevenson pushed across three runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run double by Heath Johnson and a run-scoring single from Brad Blum to account for the final score. Druzgala, who gave up the hit to Blum, relieved Stephen Miller and earned his second save of the season.
Dan Fein (1-0) picked up the win, getting SU out of a jam with runners on first and second and two outs in the fifth. Milliken took the loss for the Mustangs, pitching five innings. He allowed 10 hits and seven runs (all earned) while walking two and striking out three.
Stavish was 2-for-3 with the homer, three runs scored and two driven in for Stevenson in game two.
The top-seeded Sea Gulls play the sixth-seeded Seahawks on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.