SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University
baseball team won a big in-region game against Christopher Newport
University, the USA South champions, with an 8-3 win Saturday
afternoon at Sea Gull Field. The Sea Gulls, ranked No. 4 in the
latest D3baseball.com poll and No. 5 in the coaches' poll, tied the
school record for wins in a season with 37 as the Sea Gulls
improved to 37-2 this season.
Junior Eric Willey (9-0) picked up his ninth
win of the season and continued his dominance on the mound as he
threw eight solid innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on
five hits and struck out a season-high 10 batters.
The Sea Gulls, the top ranked team in the South region, trailed
2-0 early as the offense struggled through the first four innings
against CNU starter Kyle Baumann (3-3). The offense put it together
in the fifth and pushed four runs across the plate on four hits.
Sophomore Mike Celenza (2-for-4, two runs, four
RBI) smacked one of his two home runs for the game to knot the
score at two apiece. Salisbury scored two more runs in the inning
on RBI singles by senior Tyler Riley (2-for-4, one
RBI) and junior Jordan Crystal (1-for-5, one run,
two RBI).
Crystal knocked in his second RBI of the game in the seventh and
freshman Will Evans hit a sacrifice fly to give
the Gulls a four-run lead, 6-4, going into the eighth inning. The
Captains tacked on a run in the top of the eighth as junior Mike
Giarrizzi (1-for-4, one run) singled to lead off the inning, stole
second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a
double play ground out.
In the bottom half of the inning, Celenza hit his second homer
of the game, a two-run shot to right field, to seal the win for
Salisbury.
The maroon and gold will be on the road for their next two games
as they will face tough opponents in No. 13 Johns Hopkins
University on Tuesday, April 29, and Montclair State University on
May 8. Salisbury defeated Johns Hopkins 21-6 last year at home and
won an 8-7 thriller in 13 innings over Montclair State earlier this
year, also at home.
