SALISBURY, Md. – In a seesaw battle between two regionally-ranked squads, the fifth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team was the last squad standing, knocking down the Marymount (Va.) Saints, 9-7, on a Senior Day Friday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints landed the first blow with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the second inning. Daniel Fernandez was hit by a pitch and Jay Beavers singled to put two men on. Jordan Dickson then hit a grounder back to the mound that Ethan Hirschfeld threw away going for the force at third, allowing Fernandez to score. Beavers later scored on an RBI groundout by Bobby Leitzel to put MU up 2-0.
• The Sea Gulls countered with one in the bottom of the second. Trent Waire led off with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt. Two batters later Max Ehrhardt dropped a bloop single into right to plate Waire and get SU within 2-1.
• Danny Sheeler laced an opposite-field solo home run in the third to bring the Sea Gulls even at 2-2.
• Marymount went back in front in the top of the fourth as Qunicy Via doubled and Leitzel singled him in. Leitzel later stole second, and Jonathan McMath struck out on a ball in the dirt but the throw to get him at first base sailed into the outfield, allowing Leitzel to come around to score and make it 4-2.
• Salisbury punched back and landed a couple haymakers in the home fourth. Ehrhardt capped a run of three straight singles with an RBI base knock. Two batters later Tim Petrucelli uncorked a three-run dinger to right to tilt the lead back to SU, 6-4.
• A pair of walks restarted the rally and Waire tagged an RBI single into center to make it a five-spot for the Sea Gulls and a 7-4 advantage.
• Undaunted, the Saints drew even in the top of the fifth. A double and two walks loaded the bases, then Via drew his own run-scoring free pass. Two batters later Ryan Cuadros plated two with a single to right to knot it at 7-7.
• SU again answered back in the bottom of the fifth as Andrew Kell belted a two-out triple and scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-7.
• The Sea Gulls tacked on an insurance run in the seventh as Ehrhardt was plunked and scored all the way from first on a Kell double to left, doubling the lead to 9-7.
• MU threatened in the sixth and seventh but Shawn Rosemond and then Mitchell Wittkamp stranded a pair on in each frame to neutralize the threat. Wittkamp stayed in through a 1-2-3 ninth, getting Cuadros to foul out to first to put it in the books.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Tim Petrucelli blasted his fifth home run in six games, finishing 1-for-3 with three RBIs. With 11 homers on the year, Petrucelli is now tied with Jason Ewing (2002) and Kavi Caster (2023) for eighth in single-season program history.
• Danny Sheeler powered his sixth round-tripper of the campaign, going 1-for-3 and walking twice. Sheeler becomes the 11th player in Sea Gull baseball history to hit 20 career home runs; the blast moves him into a tie for eighth on the all-time SU leaderboard.
• Andrew Kell racked up three more extra-base hits, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, an RBI, and a run scored.
• Trent Waire produced his third straight multi-hit game, going 3-for-5 with a triple, run, and RBI.
• Max Ehrhardt went 2-for-3 with two runs and two rib-eyes from the nine-hole.
• Shawn Rosemond (6-0) earned the win in relief after stitching together 2.1 scoreless four-hit frames. Rosemond walked one and fanned two.
• Mitchell Wittkamp recorded his first career save by holding the Saints hitless over the final 2.1 innings. Wittkamp walked one and punched out three.
• Ethan Hirschfeld lasted 3.2 innings in his start, giving up four runs (one earned) on six hits with two walks and five whiffs on 77 pitches.
• Before the game Salisbury honored the nine graduating senior members of its baseball program: Joey Bowers, Kyle Brex, Dom Frigiola, Zach Geesaman, Todd Hendrix, Justin McDermott, Tim Petrucelli, Benji Thalheimer, and Adam Tommer.

MARYMOUNT GAME NOTES

• Quincy Via, Bobby Leitzel, and Ryan Cuadros combined to go 5-for-14 with two runs and five RBIs from the top of the lineup.
• Jay Beavers sparked the Saints from the eight-hole, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
• Kyle Lewis (2-4) was dealt the loss after giving up the tying and go-ahead runs over his three innings of relief work.
• David Muirhead surrendered seven runs on eight hits in a 3.1-inning no-decision.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will play their final regular season game next Saturday, May 4, at Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) rival and 11th-ranked Christopher Newport.
• First pitch from Newport News, Va., is scheduled for 2 p.m.