SALISBURY, Md. – The 11th-ranked Salisbury University baseball team easily swept a doubleheader against Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) rival Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium. The Sea Gulls steamrolled the Eagles 14-0 in the opener and came one out shy of another shutout in the nightcap, winning 6-1 to extend their winning streak to eight games.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
- The Sea Gulls broke the ice by batting around in the third inning. Cameron Hyder singled with one out, then Dom Frigiola was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Kavi Caster loaded the bases with his own single, and Stephen Rice was grazed by a pitch to force home the first run of the game.
- Sky Rahill came up next and pounded a single up the middle, scoring Frigiola and Caster. Two batters later Jacob Ference chipped an RBI base knock into right to extend the SU lead to 4-0.
- Salisbury hung three more on the board in the fourth. Hyder got on with another one-out single and promptly stole second. After a groundout, Caster poked a single through the left side to bring in Hyder. After a walk to Rice and a wild pitch, Rahill pulled a double down the right field line to score both runners and make it 7-0.
- In the fifth, Ference led off with a single, then Scott Cameron clubbed a two-run home run that just cleared the wall in right center. Cameron's dinger pushed the Sea Gull advantage to 9-0.
- Caster led off the sixth with a no-doubt triple into the right field corner, then Rice brought him home with a sac fly to left to make it 10-0.
- Hyder made it 11-0 with a two-out RBI single in the seventh, then Salisbury tacked on three more in the eighth on a Josh Barke RBI double, Joey Bowers RBI groundout and Zach Geesaman sac fly, giving the game its final 14-0 margin.
SALISBURY GAME NOTES
- Cameron Hyder set the tempo at the top of the Sea Gull lineup, going 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
- Kavi Caster finished 3-for-4 with a triple, RBI and three runs scored.
- Sky Rahill extended his hitting streak to 16 games, going 2-for-3 with a double, run and four RBIs.
- Jacob Ference went 4-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
- Scott Cameron returned from a two-week absence in a big way, bashing his third home run of the season and driving in two.
- Jimmy Adkins (2-1) twirled a masterpiece to win his second game of the year, scattering four hits across seven scoreless innings, half of which were infield singles. Adkins walked none and struck out four on 70 pitches and faced just two batters over the minimum.
- Brock Hilligoss and Mitchell Wittkamp pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, to finish off SU's third shutout win of the season.
MARY WASHINGTON GAME NOTES
- Noah Roots finished with two of the Eagles' five hits for the game, while Owen Reilly doubled for their only extra-base knock.
- UMW sent 29 men to the plate, just two over the minimum, and hit into three double plays.
- Alex Kobersteen (3-2) took the loss after giving up nine runs on 11 hits in five innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2
- Just like in the opener, the Sea Gulls began their nightcap scoring in the third inning. Luke Weddell led off with a walk, then Cameron Hyder put down a bunt that catcher Owen Reilly threw into right field. Hyder advanced to second and the throw from right fielder Bobby Ayscue sailed wide of the mark, allowing Weddell to score and put SU up 1-0.
- After a sac bunt and a strikeout, Stephen Rice tagged an RBI double over the center fielder's head to make it 2-0.
- Scott Cameron brought out the big lumber for the second time in the doubleheader, blasting a solo homer to right to boost the Sea Gull lead to 3-0 in the fourth.
- Salisbury took advantage of a wild UMW arm in the seventh. Weddell singled to lead off, then after a sac bunt and a flyout, Justin Ritz plunked three batters in a row, with Sky Rahill picking up an RBI with the bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Another run scored on a balk by Ritz, making it 5-0.
- Mary Washington finally got a rally going in the top of the eighth. Jacob Christenbury and Jonathan Sedmak strung together back-to-back two-out singles, then Noah Roots walked to load the bases. Xavier Marmol buckled down from there, though, forcing Reilly to ground out to third to end the inning.
- Zach Geesaman gave SU an extra cushion in the bottom of the eighth, blasting a line drive solo homer to left to make it 6-0.
- The Eagles broke up the shutout in the ninth as Ty Lowe doubled and eventually scored on a Xavier Herring RBI groundout that gave the game its final 6-1 line.
SALISBURY GAME NOTES
- Scott Cameron hit his second home run of the doubleheader and fourth of the season, while Zach Geesaman's solo bomb was his first collegiate round-tripper.
- Sky Rahill and Cameron Hyder each extended double-digit hitting streaks. Rahill went 1-for-3 with an RBI to boost his hitting streak to 17 games, while Hyder finished 1-for-3 with a run scored to get his up to 11 games.
- Stephen Rice went 1-for-3 with an RBI double.
- Jackson Balzan (6-1) won his sixth straight start and second of the week with seven scoreless innings, giving up just four hits and two walks while punching out eight. Balzan has given up just two runs over 41.2 innings (0.43 ERA) during his six-start winning streak.
- Brandon Epstein, Xavier Marmol and Corey Burton each handled two of the final six outs.
- The Sea Gulls turned two more double plays in the game, giving them five for the twin bill. Shortstop Rice was involved in four of the five twin killings.
- The two wins give Salisbury 20 for the season. SU has won 20 or more games in 27 straight full seasons dating back to 1995.
MARY WASHINGTON GAME NOTES
- Jonathan Sedmak and Luke Guerzon each went 2-for-4 for the Eagles.
- Ty Lowe finished 1-for-4 with a double and UMW's only run of the twin bill, while Xavier Herring picked up the only Eagle RBI on a ninth-inning groundout.
- Brendan McComber (3-3) was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits in four frames.
UP NEXT
- The Sea Gulls open back-to-back weekday contests against Marymount (Va.) on Monday.
- First pitch from Sea Gull Stadium is set for 3 p.m. with coverage on the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN) beginning at 2:45 p.m.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.
To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.