No. 6 Salisbury is headed to the final round of the 2021 NCAA Division III World Series after scoring four runs in the top of the ninth inning to rally past the Cortland Red Dragons, 11-8, on Sunday night and into Monday morning at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Sea Gulls will play for the national championship for the first time in program history, taking on St. Thomas in the championship round of the College World Series. Game 1 is scheduled for Monday at 3:30 p.m. CT.
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- 2021 was anything but usual
Having already delivered late-inning heroics earlier on Sunday, Cortland came back from a 7-3 deficit after five innings, scoring three times in the fifth and taking an 8-7 lead after Mat Bruno hit a two-run homer in the seventh.
Salisbury, however, scored four runs on just two hits in the top of the ninth with the help of three hit batsmen, a walk and an error. Jacob Ference was hit to start the inning and Cullen McAuliffe singled with one out. Justin Meekins singled to load the bases, and Kavi Caster and Scott Cameron were each hit by pitches to force in the tying and go-ahead runs, respectively, The Red Dragons looked like they were going to turn a double play during the next at-bat to keep the deficit at one, but a throwing error on the play kept the inning going and two runs scored.
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| Freshman Benji Thalheimer threw the final two and two-thirds innings to get the win for Salisbury. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
Salisbury took a 2-0 lead in the first on a Scott Cameron homer and a Cameron Hyder RBI single. Cortland tied the game in the bottom of the inning on singles by Krafft and BeVard, a groundout, and a Varian two-run single. The Sea Gulls answered with two in the second on back-to-back RBI singles by Caster and Cameron and added a run in the third on a two-out wild pitch.
Giordano's RBI single in the third drew Cortland within two at 5-3, but Salisbury tacked on single runs during the next two innings – Stephen Rice singling in a run in the fourth and Meekins hitting an RBI single in the fifth.
Cortland scored three runs on a rally that started with two outs in the fifth. The Red Dragons loaded the bases on consecutive singles from Giordano, Varian and Daniel Coleman. A balk brought in one run, followed by a Bruno RBI infield single. Bruno then stole second, and a throwing error on the play allowed Coleman to score from third and Cortland trailed 7-6.
In the bottom of the seventh, Varian led off with an infield single and was forced out at second on a Coleman bunt. Bruno followed with a homer to left to give the Red Dragons their first lead. Benji Thalheimer entered in relief at that point and got the last two batters out. He allowed only a two-out walk in the eighth and retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the win.
Bruno finished 3-for-5 with a homer, double and three RBI, Varian was 3-for-5 with two RBI, and Krafft went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored for the Red Dragons. BeVard ended 2-for-4 with a walk and Giordano was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Cortland starter Shane Mugnolo allowed six runs, five earned on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks in four and a third innings. Krasney gave up a run on five hits over the next two and a third frames, Mike Hennessy retired the only batter he faced to escape a first-and-second jam in the seventh, and Spencer Weyand gave up one hit and struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning. Bailey Gauthier pitched the ninth and took the loss.
For Salisbury, five players finished with multiple hits. Luke Weddell and McAuliffe each went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Cameron was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI, Caster was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs, and Rice finished 2-for-5 with two RBI. Salisbury starter Xavier Marmol allowed six runs, five earned, on 12 hits in four and two thirds innings.Scott Roberts came into the Division III World Series having given up just seven runs all season, but Salisbury knocked him around for seven more in the first three-plus innings en route to an 11-1 victory in Cedar Rapids. The game was the final contest of a long day, the first one of the Series, and did not start until 9:45 p.m. local time.