DOVER, Del. – Sophomore left-hander Dan Fein fired his second complete game of the season and senior designated hitter Evan Graci tied a career high with four hits as the fourth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team completed a Capital Athletic Conference sweep of Wesley College, 5-1 at Bob Reed Field on Sunday.
Fein was one out away from his first career shutout, improving to 6-0 on the season. He scattered five hits and struck out seven, throwing 111 pitches. Graci batted 4-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs as Salisbury (21-5, 9-3 CAC) won its fifth straight game.
Junior center fielder Bill Root chipped in with a 2-for-5 day, with his eighth double, and two runs.
Salisbury jumped on Wesley starter Eric Willey for two runs in the first. Root led off with an infield single and Nick Gentry was hit by a pitch. Quinn Griffith moved the runners up with a sacrifice, before Graci singled through the left side, scoring Root for the lead. Danny Breen followed with a groundball to third to plate Gentry.
The Sea Gulls doubled the lead in the fourth inning. Graci started the rally with another single through the left side and advanced to third when Willey fired wildly into center field on a fielder's choice hit by Breen. Johnny Schiotis lifted a fly to right field that was deep enough to bring in Graci for a 3-0 edge. Two batters later, Chris Gaines singled, and left fielder Morgan Rupp bobbled the ball, allowing Breen to score from second with two outs.
Graci added another RBI single, this to right field, and was thrown out attempting to stretch the play into a double, but not before Root made it 5-0.
Fein retired Cory Smith and Trevor Mears around a Jon Carlson double in the ninth inning. Steve Perone broke up the shutout bid, delivering a single to center for Fein's second earned run of the season in 42 1/3 innings, raising his earned-run average to 0.43.
Willey took the loss for Wesley (15-11, 5-7) in eight innings. He allowed seven hits, three earned runs and a walk to fall to 0-3. Andrew Cooper pitched the ninth, allowing one hit.
SU hosts the University of Mary Washington in a three-game series, starting Friday at 3:30 p.m., at the SU Baseball Field. The Sea Gulls can clinch the top seed in the CAC tournament winning two-of-three games.