SALISBURY, Md. – The third-ranked and top-seeded Salisbury University baseball team opened the floodgates in the middle innings and never looked back, besting the third-seeded Mary Washington Eagles, 22-4, to win their third straight Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Baseball Tournament championship on Friday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the first inning but only came away with one run as Ty Lowe hit into a double play.
• The Sea Gulls answered quickly, tying the game in the bottom of the first. Dom Frigiola reached on a strikeout-wild pitch with one out and took second on a balk. Two batters later Danny Sheeler singled to right to bring Frigiola in and even it up, 1-1.
• With men on first and second and one out in the second, Andrew Gerhart laced an RBI double down the left field line to put UMW back up 2-1.
• Lowe belted a solo home run in the top of the third to double the Eagles' lead, 3-1.
• In the bottom of the third, Cameron Hyder legged out an infield hit to lead off, and two batters later Kavi Caster lashed an RBI double to the wall in right center. After an intentional walk to Sheeler, Jacob Ference blasted a line drive three-run homer to left, vaulting SU ahead, 5-3.
• Salisbury put up another crooked number in the fourth. With the bases loaded and two out, Sheeler blooped a two-run single into shallow left. After another walk loaded them back up, Caster scored on a wild pitch, and Stephen Rice snuck a single through the left side to bring in two more and make it 10-3.
• The Sea Gulls put up a three-spot in the fifth as Caster and Rice managed RBI fielder's choices and Frigiola scored on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 13-3.
• Frigiola and Rice each notched two-run singles in the sixth to make it 17-3.
• Caster brought home another on a two-out RBI single in the seventh, extending the cushion to 18-3.
• After the Eagles got one back in the top of the eighth on a Mike Dennis RBI fielder's choice, the Sea Gulls punctuated it on a Rice RBI single, Max Ehrhardt RBI double, and RBI grounders by Josh Barke and Hyder, giving the game its final 22-4 margin.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Stephen Rice set a new career high by driving in six runs; he finished the day 3-for-6 with a double and a stolen base. Rice's sixth-inning two-sacker gives him sole possession of third in Salisbury program history with 48 career doubles.
• Jacob Ference homered for the 12th time this season, going 1-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs. Ference is one big fly from tying Dave Westervelt's 1998 single-season SU home run record of 13; his 12 tie him with four other Sea Gulls for second.
• Ference's blast was Salisbury's 55th home run of the year, one shy of the 2009 single-season team record of 56.
• Kavi Caster and Danny Sheeler teamed up to go 4-for-7 with five runs and six RBIs from the three- and four-holes. Caster added a double and a steal.
• Cameron Hyder went 2-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored. Hyder has now scored 198 career runs, tying him with Pete Grasso '17 for second-most in program history and moving him within one of matching Justin Meekins '21 for the SU record.
• Brandon Epstein (6-0) earned the win in relief for the Sea Gulls, giving up one run on two hits over 2.2 frames.
• The rest of the Salisbury bullpen kept the Eagles at bay for the final five innings, with Tyler Villa, Mitchell Wittkamp, Bryce Sterling, Garrett Beaver and Corey Burton combining to allow just one unearned run.
• Benji Thalheimer tossed an inning and a third in his start, surrendering two runs on two hits with two walks and one strikeout on 33 pitches.
• The Sea Gulls' C2C three-peat clinches their 18th conference championship all-time. SU has now won at least three straight league titles on five occasions, most recently in 2016-18.
• With their 30th win in 2023, Salisbury has now won 30-plus games 21 times in the last 23 completed seasons dating back to 2000.

MARY WASHINGTON GAME NOTES

• The Eagles defeated 10th-ranked and second-seeded Christopher Newport 6-5 earlier on Friday to advance to the C2C championship round against Salisbury.
• Ty Lowe finished 1-for-4 with a solo home run to lead the Eagles at the plate.
• Andrew Gerhart went 1-for-2 with an RBI double.
• Bobby Ayscue scratched out three hits on the day, finishing 3-for-4.
• Jackson Myers (4-5) took the loss for UMW after giving up five runs on four hits in three innings of work.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will now await their postseason fate in pursuit of an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament.
• The Division III selection show is scheduled for Monday, May 15, at 12 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and men's and women's swimming, and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 188 conference championships and 44 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 on social media @SUSeaGulls.