June 3, 2023

Balzan, No. 2 Salisbury Baseball shut down No. 13 UWL in elimination game

More news about: Salisbury

Batting

Salisbury
2B: Cameron Hyder; Danny Sheeler; Jacob Ference; Scott Cameron
3B: none
HR: Kavi Caster
UW-La Crosse
2B: none
3B: none
HR: none
full stats

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Jackson Balzan pitched his second career complete game and the second-ranked and second-seeded Salisbury University baseball team got power strokes from Kavi Caster and Jacob Ference on the way to a 7-2 victory over the 13th-ranked and sixth-seeded Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship on Saturday evening at PG Cares Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Sea Gulls broke the ice in the top of the second inning. Kavi Caster led off with a walk and promptly stole second base. Two batters later Scott Cameron grooved an RBI single into right to put SU ahead 1-0.
  • The Eagles countered immediately in the bottom of the second. Ty Hamilton beat out a one-out infield single and Logan Pye was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a groundout, then George Seaman hit a grounder to short that resulted in an error, allowing Hamilton to score to tie it 1-1.
  • In the home third, Jack Olver tagged a one-out single, then after a fielder's choice Anthony Vivian and Ty Hamilton strung together back-to-back base knocks, with Hamilton's driving home a run to make it 2-1 UWL.
  • Salisbury answered in the top of the fourth. Caster once again drew a leadoff walk and moved up on a sac bunt. Cameron followed with a sun-assisted double to left center that put men on second and third, and Zach Geesaman brought Caster home with a sac fly to even the score at 2-2.
  • Luke Weddell worked a walk to lead off the fifth, stole second and came around on back-to-back groundouts, with Danny Sheeler picking up the go-ahead RBI to put Salisbury back on top 3-2.
  • Jacob Ference restarted the rally with a single, then Caster blasted a two-run home run that landed across the street beyond the right field wall, making it a three-run fifth and a 5-2 SU lead.
  • The Sea Gulls tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Cameron Hyder shot a one-out double into the left field corner and Sheeler was hit by a pitch. Ference came up next and clobbered a line drive to dead center for a two-run double that made it 7-2.
  • The run support was more than enough for starter Jackson Balzan, who went the distance and got Jordan Williams to pop out to short for the final out of the game.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

  • Kavi Caster reached all five times he came to the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with his 11th home run, two RBIs, three runs, three walks and a stolen base. Caster's 29th career blast breaks a tie with Jack Barry '19 for third-most in Sea Gull history.
  • Jacob Ference moved into the three-hole and went 2-for-5 with a double, run, steal and two RBIs.
  • Scott Cameron was hit by a pitch for the 28th time this season, matching Justin Meekins' 2017 SU record; Cameron finished 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and steal.
  • Danny Sheeler went 1-for-4 with an RBI, run and stolen base.
  • Jackson Balzan (8-2) pitched a complete game for his first win since Apr. 11, surrendering just two runs (one earned) on nine hits across all nine innings with no walks and three strikeouts on 119 pitches.
  • The complete game is the second of Balzan's career and first since going the distance to beat Cortland in the opening game of the 2021 Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids on June 4, 2021.
  • Balzan has won all three of his World Series starts dating back to 2021, boasting a 1.17 ERA across 23 innings of work on Division III's biggest stage.

UW-LA CROSSE GAME NOTES

  • Ty Hamilton finished 2-for-4 with a run and the only RBI on the day for the Eagles.
  • Jack Olver went 2-for-4 for UWL's only other multi-hit game.
  • Owen Anderson (4-6) was knocked out after Caster's two-run homer in the fifth, allowing five runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4.2 frames.

UP NEXT

  • The Sea Gulls will play another NCAA Baseball Championship elimination game on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. CDT).
  • SU will face the loser of the Lynchburg-East Texas Baptist game that was still being played at press time.

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 23 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 196 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.