SALISBURY, Md. – In a top-15 clash between the best of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C), the fourth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team put up three massive innings and left no doubt in an 18-3 bombardment of the 15th-ranked Christopher Newport Captains on Saturday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Sea Gulls erupted early for a big first inning. Andrew Kell led off with a walk, then two batters later Dylan Winebrenner blasted a line drive two-run home run against the wind in left. Danny Sheeler and Alex Seidleck followed with singles, and Zach Geesaman went to the opposite field for his own three-run dinger, giving SU an instant 5-0 cushion.
• The Captains got one back in the top of the second. Doc Daniels walked and Ayden Stuffel singled, then after a sac bunt Aaron Maxie brought Daniels in on an RBI groundout that made it 5-1.
• In the home second, Kell tagged a one-out base hit and Winebrenner got on with a two-out knock. Sheeler came up next and lined an RBI single into center to reinforce the Sea Gull lead, 6-1.
• Salisbury put up another five-spot in the third. With a man on second and one out, Dom Frigiola tagged an RBI single into left center. After another single and a wild pitch, Kell lifted a flyball to left that was dropped and Frigiola came to score. Petrucelli was plunked to load the bases and Geesaman walked to force in a run, then Sheeler roped a two-run base knock to right center to make it 11-1.
• In the top of the fourth, the Captains loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batsman, then with two out Scott Crosson singled home a pair to get CNU within 11-3.
• SU scratched another run across in the sixth on a sac fly by Kell to make it 12-3.
• Salisbury broke out again for a six-run seventh, scoring on a two-run Geesaman sac bunt-turned-error, a single-and-error by Trent Waire that produced two, a Kell RBI knock, and a Sheeler run-scoring single that made it 18-3.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Dylan Winebrenner went yard for the second straight game, finishing 2-for-5 with his sixth home run of the year and three RBIs.
• Zach Geesaman batted 2-for-5 with his first round-tripper of the year, three RBIs, and three runs scored.
• Andrew Kell finished 3-for-3 with a double, triple, three runs, three RBIs, and a pair of sac flies.
• Danny Sheeler went 4-for-5 with two runs and four rib-eyes.
• Trent Waire had three hits, including a double, to go along with two runs and an RBI.
• Cole Williams (8-1) earned his eighth win of the year in relief to stay near the top of the national leaderboard. Williams tossed 4.1 scoreless innings, scattering five hits with no walks and three strikeouts on 54 pitches.
• Benji Thalheimer started the game and gave up three runs over 3.2 innings, while Aiden Hankins finished off the Captains with a 1-2-3 ninth.

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT GAME NOTES

• Scott Crosson finished 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
• Doc Daniels went 2-for-2 with a run scored.
• Brandon Cassedy (6-2) was knocked out after just 2.1 innings, surrendering nine runs on 10 hits with one walk and three punchouts on 59 pitches.

UP NEXT

• Following the cancelation of Sunday's home game against Stevens, the Sea Gulls will return to the diamond on Monday with a home bout against Wilson.
• First pitch from Williams Stadium is set for 3 p.m.