SALISBURY, Md. - It was a milestone day for Salisbury University baseball coach Doug Fleetwood as his No. 6 Sea Gulls opened up the 2009 Capital Athletic Conference tournament with a first round victory that earned Fleetwood his 300th career win at his Alma Mater. The top-seed Sea Gulls defeated the sixth-seed University of Mary Washington Eagles, 7-3, on Thursday at Sea Gull Field.

Salisbury (30-4), the three-time defending CAC champions, began its quest for a ninth conference title today and will next host third-seed Wesley College tomorrow (Friday, April 17) at 3:30 p.m. in a CAC second round game.

Fleetwood (Class of 1972) has accumulated a 300-89-6 career record in nine seasons at SU. His winning percentage of 77 percent ranks in the top five among all Division III active baseball coaches in the country. Since Fleetwood took the reins in 2001 the Sea Gulls have made eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances including two College World Series trips (2001, '04).

"You want to be successful in whatever you do. We have been fortunate to have been successful here throughout the years. We want to take this program to the highest level possible," said Fleetwood. "This is a great place to work. This is not about me. It is about the players and the coaches I have been fortunate enough to coach and work with over the years."

SU, who is also ranked No. 2 in the national media poll, won its 13th consecutive game and the fifth straight CAC tournament first round game. This is the fourth win over the Eagles this season for the maroon and gold that has outscored the Eagles 30-5.

The Sea Gulls had seven players collect hits in the victory over Mary Washington (14-14). The Sea Gulls were led by sophomores Brad Baylis (one run) and Andrew Miller (one home run, one run) who both drove in two runs apiece. SU had two players notch two hits on the day in junior first baseman Mike Celenza (one double, one run) and senior outfielder Jordan Crystal (one double, one run).

Sophomore starting pitcher Kyle Judson was stellar through seven innings as he ran his record to 8-0 on the year. The right-hander fanned seven and held a no-hitter through the first six innings of play. Freshman Matt Peterson (one strikeout) closed out the game for SU as he threw two perfect innings.

The game was scoreless through the first two innings before Salisbury opened up the scoring with a five-run third inning. Baylis led off with a single and moved to third base on a double by sophomore third baseman Brian Green. Senior Randy Boyle followed with a groundout to shortstop which plated Baylis. Salisbury added two more runs when Miller clubbed a home run off of the scoreboard in left-center field. SU made the score 5-0 when Baylis came up a second time and was hit by the pitch with the bases loaded which forced home junior catcher Ryan Smith (two runs).

After a scoreless fourth inning, the Sea Gulls tacked on a single tally in the fifth when Celenza doubled to right field. He scored two batters later on a double by Crystal.

Judson's bid at a no-hitter was preserved through six innings thanks in part to an outstanding defensive play by Celenza, who snagged a ball to his right and threw over to Judson at first to retire Eagle hitter Shane Sixsmith. UMW would finally get to Judson when Eric Rehbein broke up the no-hitter with a lead-off single in the seventh inning. Mary Washington went on to score three runs in the inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Bryan Quintana. The runs in the inning were the first the Sea Gull pitching staff had given up in the past 29 innings.

Salisbury added an insurance run in the bottom half of the seventh inning as Baylis picked up his second RBI of the game on a fielder's choice that plated Smith.

Mary Washington had three players collect hits in the game. Quintana (one run) spearheaded the UMW offense with the two-run home run. Will Wright and Alex Howell each scored once for the Eagles. Mary Washington starter Andrew Cox (5-4) was tagged with the loss after he gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits in six innings. Cox struck out five and walked four in the game.

The Sea Gulls are the weekend host of the double-elimination conference tournament. There are three games slated to be played at Sea Gull Field on Saturday and the championship will be crowned on Sunday.