SALISBURY, Md. – The fifth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team rallied for six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win a wild one over the Penn State Harrisburg Lions, 10-8, on Friday afternoon at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• For the second straight game the Lions took an instant lead as Dallas Hite led off the game with a home run. Harrisburg had a chance for more, putting two men on with two out, but Xavier Marmol struck out Matt Isaac to limit the damage.
• The Sea Gulls responded with a big inning in their first trip at bat. Kavi Caster singled to lead off, then after a flyout Cameron Hyder and Ben Anderson were plunked to load the bases. Sky Rahill then dropped a dying quail into shallow center, scoring Caster and Hyder to put SU up 2-1.
• Ethan Wentzlaff followed by slashing an RBI single into right. Rahill moved to third on Wentlaff's hit and then came home on a squeeze bunt by Patrick Campbell, completing a four-spot to give Salisbury a 4-1 lead after one.
• Harrisburg got two unearned runs back in the top of the third. Hite reached on a leadoff error at third, stole second, and took third on a Kevin Lehner single. Lehner then got in a rundown trying to steal second and was tagged out, but Hite sprinted home to get the Lions back within 4-2.
• With the bases empty again, Matt Parks restarted the rally with a double, then Chase Smith singled to put men on first and third. Brendan Henn came up next and hit a hard grounder that shot off Marmol's foot and over to first base, where Rahill fired home to get Parks for the second out.
• Isaac came up next and hit a routine grounder to third, but the throw to get the force at second skipped the dirt, and Smith scored to make it a one-run game at 4-3.
• Harrisburg inched back ahead in the fifth. With runners on second and third and one out, Henn grooved a two-run base knock into right center to make it 5-4 Lions.
• The Lions could have had more, loading the bases with two out, but Drew Sassaman lined out to short and the Sea Gulls kept it a one-run game.
• Parks gave Harrisburg an insurance run with a towering solo homer in the sixth, making it 6-4.
• Salisbury had a chance to get back into it in the seventh, putting men on the corners with one out, but Anderson struck out and Rahill popped out to first, and the Lions got through unscathed.
• Sassaman led off the top of the eighth with a double and eventually came home on a Lehner sac fly to make it 7-4 Lions.
• After staying bottled up at the plate from the first inning on, the Sea Gulls erupted in the bottom of the eighth. Wentzlaff pounded a double off the wall in left to lead off, and Josh Barke worked a pinch-hit walk to put two on. Zach Geesaman then rolled a single through the left side to score Wentzlaff and get it back to 7-5.
• Dom Frigiola came up next and laid a sac bunt down that the pitcher threw all the way into right field, allowing Barke and Geesaman to come home with the tying runs and putting Frigiola on third. After a pitching change, Caster lined the first pitch he saw into the right center gap for an RBI double, giving Salisbury an 8-7 lead.
• After a walk and a sac bunt put runners on second and third, Anderson poked a base hit through the left side to plate both runners, making it a six-run Sea Gull eighth and a 10-7 lead.
• Harrisburg had one more rally in its system in the ninth. With men on the corners and one out, Sam Merchant brought a run home on a groundout to first that made it 10-8. Maddux Ryan made good contact to right, but Wentzlaff dove and snagged the catch for the game's final out.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Kavi Caster reached on all five of his trips to the plate, going 3-for-3 with two walks, two runs and the go-ahead RBI double in the middle of the Sea Gulls' six-run eighth.
• Sky Rahill finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
• Ethan Wentzlaff and Zach Geesaman put up identical lines, each going 2-for-4 with a double, run and RBI.
• Brock Hilligoss (2-1) picked up the win in relief for Salisbury, getting the final two outs of the eighth on a sac bunt and a runner caught stealing.
• Brandon Epstein nailed down his first save of the year, entering with a three-run lead and allowing the Lions to score just once in the ninth.
• Xavier Marmol lasted 4.1 innings in his start, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

PSU HARRISBURG GAME NOTES

• Dallas Hite continued his monster series for the Lions, going 2-for-5 with a leadoff homer, two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Matt Parks finished 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run, while Kevin Lehner went 2-for-4 with a double, run and RBI.
• Tom Westers (0-1) was tagged with the loss after failing to get an out in the eighth. One of four Lion arms to pitch in the eighth, Westers allowed both inherited runners to score on his throwing error and saw the tying and go-ahead runs cross on his ledger.
• Drew Harshbarger hit the showers after just an inning and a third, surrendering four runs on four hits with one walk and no strikeouts.
• Tyler Stabley mystified the Salisbury bats for 4.2 innings in relief of Harshbarger, giving up just one hit and three walks while striking out two.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury's Saturday game against Elizabethtown was canceled earlier Friday due to impending inclement weather. The Sea Gulls and Blue Jays will play a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 12 p.m., pushed back an hour from its original start time.
• Coverage on the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN) will begin at 11:45 a.m.

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 the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. 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, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.

To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.