By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Salisbury's title defense is alive and well as the Sea Gulls defeated the Pointers of UW-Stevens Point 5-3 in game eleven in the D-III World Series on Monday, June 6.

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Mitchell Wittkamp started the game for Salisbury but was ineffective and on came Xavier Marmol. Marmol shut down the Pointer offense for x innings as the Salisbury batsmen went to work, getting even in the fourth and taking the lead for good in the fifth inning. Marmol pitched 7.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing four base runners, two that were erased by double plays.

"That's a typical Salisbury game," said Salisbury head coach Troy Brohawn. "We got down early but played your brand. I cannot say enought about what X did. That was the best I have seen him pitch in four years."

" I was keeping everything low," said Marmol. "Capitalizing on the counts and letting the defense do the work."

Salisbury advances to the D-III Championship Series for the second consecutive year. They will play the bracket two winner to be determined between Eastern Connecticut and LaGrange.

Salisbury win today was their eighth consecutive win in the D-III World Series. They broke the record that was previously held by Montclair State between 2000 and 2001 when they won seven games during over two World Series. Photo by David Malamut d3photography.com

The scoring was opened by UW Stevens Point. Aaron Simmons took the seventh pitch of the game over the fence in right center for his second home run of the D-III World Series. The Pointers would go on to load the bases but Salsibury would escape the jam with no further damage.

UWSP added a second run in the second trip to the plate. Logan Matson reached first as Boos, who singled earlier, was erased. Matt Baumann added a single that the Salisbury second baseman was able to track down. His errant throw to third allowed Matson to come around and score.

Salsibury got one run back in the third. Zach Adams walked and was erased on a fielders choice as Luke Weddell took over at first base. Cameron Hyder was hit by a pitch and Patrick Campbell singled cleanly into centerfield to plate Weddell.

The Sea Gulls tied the game up in the fourth. Sky Rahill singled up the middle to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. Scott Cameron followed with a single to Simmons in right to knot the score at 2-2.

A lead off double in the fifth by Hyder in the fifth inning gave Salsibury their first lead of the game as a pair of ground outs to the right side moved him up 90 feet each time.

Still batting in the fifth inning, Kavi Caster base hit put him on first. an error allowed Caster to advance and Rahil to gain a spot on first base. Jacob Ference triples down the right field line scored both Kaster and Rahill, giving Salisbury a 5-2 lead.

"Last year I did not know what to expect," said UW-Stevens Point head coach Nat Richter. " Ths year we knew what we had and I knw makinf a run for this team was possible. The furure is bright for this team."

UW-Stevens Point exits the field with a 2-2 record in the 2022 D-III World Series and an overall record of 42-10. The 42 wins is a Stevens Point record for wins in a season.