SALISBURY, Md. – The seventh-ranked Salisbury University baseball team pounded out 23 hits, including five home runs, on the way to a 15-5 bashing of the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets in 2025 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament action on Saturday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
With the win, the Sea Gulls advance to the Salisbury Regional championship round with a chance to claim their fifth consecutive regional title. SU will battle either Baldwin Wallace or Ramapo needing to win just one Sunday game to take the crown.
The Yellow Jackets scratched their first run across in the first thanks to a Sea Gull miscue. Joey Marousek was plunked to lead off and took second on a bad pickoff throw. After a sac bunt, Mally Kilbane singled him home, but SU kept the lid on the inning thanks to a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play.
Salisbury punched back in the second, starting with a solo blast by Noah Burroughs to tie the game. With the bases loaded and one out, Trent Waire legged out an RBI single, then after Max Ehrhardt was plunked to force in another, Danny Sheeler lifted a sac fly to deep center, capping the four-run rally to put the Sea Gulls up 4-1.
BW responded with a Sean Kolenich RBI double in the third, then in the fourth Carson Petrecca belted a solo homer, followed by back-to-back doubles by Mason Fixx and Marousek to knot it up at 4-4. The Sea Gulls countered with a three-spot in the home fourth, with Sheeler, Dylan Winebrenner, and Burroughs stringing together consecutive RBI knocks to put SU back up 7-4.
With two down in the fifth, Waire walked and Ehrhardt chased him home with an RBI double, knocking Yellow Jacket starter Brit Kostura out of the game. Sheeler greeted the BW bullpen by tattooing the first pitch to dead central for a two-run home run, and Winebrenner made it back-to-back jacks to build the margin to 11-4.
Waire and Ehrhardt teamed up for back-to-back opposite field shots in the seventh to make it 13-4, and eighth-inning rib-eyes by Cole Swift and Waire pushed it to 15-4. BW got one back in the top of the ninth but it was far too little, too late, as the Sea Gulls booked a trip to the regional final with a 10-run win.
GAME NOTES
- Trent Waire put up a four-hit game from the nine-hole, finishing 4-for-4 with a home run, three runs, and three RBIs.
- Max Ehrhardt went 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, three RBIs, and three runs scored.
- Danny Sheeler clubbed his eighth home run of the year, finishing 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs. Sheeler's 29th career blast ties him with former teammate Kavi Caster for third in SU history.
- Dylan Winebrenner and Noah Burroughs each had two hits with a homer and two RBIs. Winebrenner's 10th big fly of the year makes him just the 14th player in Sea Gull history to reach double-digit dingers in one season.
- BK Wilson had three hits and scored one run while also making two spectacular diving catches in center field.
- Shawn Rosemond (2-1) shut down the Yellow Jackets over 2.2 scoreless innings, scattering two hits and striking out one for his second win of the year.
- Garrett Beaver ate up 3.2 innings in his start, surrendering four runs on eight hits with no walks and two punchouts.
- Ethan Hirschfeld, Aidan Hankins, and Bryce Sterling each worked an inning in relief and combined for just one run against.
The Sea Gulls will battle the winner of Saturday evening's elimination game between Baldwin Wallace and Ramapo in the regional finals on Sunday, with the first game from Donnie Williams Stadium set for 11 a.m. A Salisbury win would clinch the regional championship and send SU to next weekend's super regional, while a loss would force a winner-take-all game later on Sunday.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming) and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 205 conference championships, and have produced 51 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.