SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 26 Salisbury
University baseball team swept the College of Staten Island in a
doubleheader on a frigid Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Field. The
Sea Gulls (4-1) won the first game 17-1 followed by a 9-2 win over
the Dolphins. The sweep was the maroon and gold's second of the
season as they defeated Stevens Tech last Saturday by a combined
score 35-3.
Salisbury faced early deficits in both games as Staten Island
(0-2) was able to jump on Sea Gulls in the first inning of each
game. Juniors Anthony Piccirillo and Michael Madalone led the way
for the Dolphins in both games. Piccirillo led off both games with
a hit (single and a double) and eventually came around to score on
a sacrifice fly in the first game and an RBI single in the second
game by Madalone.
The offense for the Sea Gulls dominated from then on as they
outscored the Dolphins, 24-1 from the second inning on in both
games. Senior second baseman Randy Boyle had a
monster day at the plate going 5-for-6 and scoring four runs.
Sophomore first baseman Mike Celenza collected
four hits, scored four runs and knocked in two. Senior third
baseman Justin Armiger added three hits and scored
six times. Freshman outfielder Andrew Miller led
all Sea Gull batters with five RBI on the day.
The Salisbury pitching staff finished both games strong and only
allowed eight total hits. Senior Ryan Bennick
(1-0) started the first game as the righthander went four innings
as he gave up one run on three hits and struck out two. Sophomore
J.D Polcari, freshmen Bryan Bloch
and Drew Baldwin each tossed a scoreless inning to
round out the first win.
Freshman Dustin Herbert (2-0) won his second
consecutive start as he took the mound in the second game. He
tossed five effective innings where he allowed two runs on five
hits and struck out five. Juniors Adam Keeling,
Jeff Feigl and Lucas Hanson
finished the last three innings without yielding a run or a hit.
The SU pitching staff as a whole only surrendered one walk and
struck out 11 Dolphin batters in both games. The Sea Gull bullpen
recorded five scoreless innings and surrendered no hits.
The maroon and gold return to action tomorrow (Sunday, February
24) as they host Eastern University at 1 p.m. in a makeup game from
Friday that got moved due to inclement weather.
