By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa –  Salisbury scored three in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead and went on to defeat UW-Stevens Point 8-3 in game two of the Division III baseball championship.

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Adkins survived two errors by the defense and uncharacteristic wildness to earn his seventh win of the season. They will face Marietta in Saturday’s first winner’s bracket game, scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CT.

"I was just trying to compete with what I had," said Adkins. What you get out of Jimmy is great stuff," said Salisbury head coach Troy Brohawn. "You are not going to find a bigger competitor."

"He mixed it very well," said UW-Stevens Point outfielder Aaron Simmons. "He commanded the inside and outside of the plate."

Jimmy Adkins made up for lost time. Injured last year, he came in and pitched the Salisbury Sea Gulls to a date with top seeded Marietta on Saturday. Photo by David Malamut, d3photography.com | More photos from this game

Matt Bautmann led off the game with a walk, just the ninth for Adkins all season. Simmons followed with a ball that skipped past the first baseman down the right field line. By the time Cameron Hyder got to the ball and fired into the infield, Simmons had slid into third and Bautmann had scored.

I was being aggressive to start with, I just fought it out from there," said Bautmann. "I was going to get to third [on Simmon's triple] but coach was waving his arm around."

Kavi Caster had a great inning defensively in center in the third, robbing UW-Stevens Point of a Texas Leaguer hit over second and then ranging back 390 feet deep in left-center to save extra bases to end the inning. In the following at-bats, Salisbury scratched out a run. Scott Cameron singled through the right side and moved to third via a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to the Pointer second baseman. Cameron Hyder's clean single to left center brought home Cameron and we were tied.

In the fourth inning, Adkins got into a little trouble. Luke Wendell could not come up with a ground ball that skipped off his glove into left field and Payton  Nelson reached first base. Bradley Comer walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Adkins stranded the runners with three strikeouts to maintain a tied game.

UWSP got into some trouble in the fifth leading to two Salisbury runs. Cameron was hit by a pitch and advanced a bag when Zack Adams walked with one out. Following a pop up to second, the Pointers seemed poised to get out of the inning unscathed. A Hyder double, his second hit of the game, brought home one and he scored when Patrick Campbell singled down the right field line.

UWSP got one run back in the sixth when a Jacob Boos triple sailed past a diving Caster, the Pointers second of the game, plated Nelson. Nelson had walked to gain first and stole second, easily scoring on the three bag hit.

Salisbury tacked on a run in their turn in the sixth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Adams' sacrifice fly brought home Stephen Rice who opened the inning with a safety to center. A free pass to Luke Wendell reloaded the bases and ended the day for the UWSP starter, JD Schultz. Tyler Beyer entered the game and with a flyout to center, the the damage was limited.

Salisbury added three more in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

"Once we take a lead, it is our job to tack on," said Brohawn. "We should be playing with pleasure and not pressure. The team that does that the best will have a great series."

UW-Stevens Point will face Catholic in an elimination game at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday.