By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com
Salisbury drew within one game of its first national championship in baseball with a 6-1 win over St. Thomas in game one of the Championship Series of the 2021 D-III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
- D3baseball.com World Series Scoreboard
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- 2021 was anything but usual
The adage of good pitching beats good hitting was on display Monday afternoon as the Championship Series opened. Salisbury was averaging 11 runs and St. Thomas, 7 runs. Each team was kept below these numbers today.
The Championship Series continues Tuesday at 11 a.m. with the final game, if necessary, following 30 minutes after the completion of game two.
There is no saving for tomorrow now," said Salisbury head coach Troy Brohawn. "I wanted to get one for the team so they can play carefree tomorrow. The pressure is on them."
Tough one, not how you want to open up the series," said St. Thomas head coach Chris Olean. "You don't want to be down one game in a three game series. We have some pitching left and we have been here before."
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| Clayton Dwyer came in the game in the sixth inning with a runner on first and faced just two batters over the minimum as Salisbury won game one of the championship series. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
St. Thomas opened the scoring with an unearned run. Sam Kulesa reached when Cullen McAuliffe, the Salisbury second baseman, threw the ball wide. Two singles loaded the bases with no outs. Kulesa scored when Charlie Bartholomew hit into a double play for the early lead.
Salisbury grabbed the lead in the second on Jacob Ference's second home run of the series, fourth in the season. Sky Rahill singled before the big fly and scored ahead of Ference for a 2-1 lead.
Salisbury added to its lead in the fifth. Stephen Rice singled and stole second. He was joined on the bases by Ference who was hit by St. Thomas starter Duke Colburn. Luke Weddell's drive tipped off the glove and trickled into right field. Weddell ended on second with double and the two Sea Gulls on the bases came home. On the play, St. Thomas right fielder Jake Porter was injured and replaced by Mike Wallace. McAuliffe's safety plated Weddell for a four run lead for Salisbury.
Salisbury added another run on a Cameron Hyder's sacrifice fly. Rice doubled to open the inning and moved to third on a ground out to second. Hyder's fly ball was plenty deep enough to bring Rice home for the final run of the game
Jackson Balzan earned the win, the second of the series. He was effective in his five innings, allowing one rune, earned on five hits and two walks. Clayton Dwyer earned his second save of the season pitching four shutout innings. He allowed one hit and a hit batter. Duke Colburn took the loss, he allowed five runs, all earned, on ten hits and a walk.
Rice led all hitters with four hits on the day. Ference and Weddell had two RBIs. Rice and Ference scored twice.