SALISBURY, Md. - Junior Jordan
Crystal delivered a walk off single in the bottom of the
13th inning with two outs to give the No. 26 Salisbury University
baseball team a huge 8-7 come-from-behind victory over visiting
Montclair State University on a windy Sunday.
The original schedule had today slated for a doubleheader to
make up Friday's rain out game but the first game lasted 16 minutes
shy of five hours. No make up date has been announced for the
second game. SU (8-1) has won eight in a row at home.
Salisbury tied the game 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Freshmen Andrew Miller, Devon
Quaglietta and senior Tyler Riley all
reached base on free passes (two walks and a hit by pitch,
respectively) to start the inning. Senior Brian
Camper hit into a fielder's choice that allowed Miller to
score to tie the game. The Sea Gulls had a golden opportunity to
end the game as they had runners at the corners with one out but
failed to push the game-winning run across.
The Sea Gulls loaded the bases again in the 13th as Crystal
singled off Michael Vitale (0-2) down the left field line to score
Mark Bostwick to end the game.
Montclair State (1-2) had led the entire game up until the
bottom of the ninth and led by as much as five, 7-2, going into the
bottom of the seventh. The Red Hawks knocked Salisbury starter
Eric Willey out of the game in the sixth inning as
they tagged him for three hits (a single and two doubles) and three
runs in that inning. Seniors Lou Politan, Jeff Miller and junior Ed
Kloepping each had three hits in the game and drove in five of
Montclair's seven runs.
Senior Justin Armiger (2-for-6) hit his fourth
home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut
into MSU's lead as SU now trailed by one, 7-6. Armiger's grand slam
re-energized the maroon and gold as they had been effectively shut
down by the Red Hawks pitching staff to that point. Crystal who
drove in the winning run was 3-for-6 on the afternoon with two runs
scored.
Junior Jeff Feigl (1-0) picked up his first win
of the season as he threw the final six innings in relief for the
Sea Gulls without yielding a run. He allowed six hits, struck out
three and walked two.
The Sea Gulls return to action on Wednesday, March 12, as they
travel to Glen Burnie, Md., to take on Capital Athletic Conference
foe Villa Julie College.
