SALISBURY, Md. - Top-seed Salisbury University
earned its tenth consecutive trip to the Capital Athletic
Conference tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon as
the Sea Gulls pounded out 25 hits en route to a 21-4 victory over
fourth-seed Stevenson University at Sea Gull Field. The win was the
second on the day for the No. 6 Sea Gulls (32-5) as they came from
behind earlier in the day to defeat second-seed York (Pa.) College,
5-4.
SU, the three-time defending CAC champions, have been in every
conference title game this decade. The Sea Gulls have won seven of
their eight CAC titles in the past 10 years. Salisbury will await
the winner of tomorrow's semifinal between third-seed Wesley
College and Stevenson (16-19). The winner of the 12 p.m. game will
face Salisbury for the title immediately following the semifinal
match-up.
The Mustangs entered Saturday's tournament game as the lone
undefeated team at 2-0. Salisbury entered 1-1 and was the visiting
team against Stevenson. The Sea Gulls jumped all over Mustang
starter Steve Krider (2-2) out of the gate. Sophomore
Andrew Miller set the tone early as he blasted a
lead-off home run to left-center field, his sixth of the season, to
give the Sea Gulls an early 1-0 lead. The next three batters smoked
base hits which produced two more Sea Gull runs as senior
Randy Boyle laced a single through the left side,
junior first baseman Mike Celenza (3-for-5, two
runs, three RBIs) clubbed a two-run homer into the parking garage
and junior Ryan Smith smashed a single to left.
Senior Cody Collins (3-for-6, two runs, two RBI)
capped off the top of the first as he hit an RBI groundout to plate
Smith to give SU an early 4-0 lead.
The Sea Gulls broke the game open in the sixth inning as they
scored all nine runs with two outs. SU sent 14 batters to the plate
and at one point recorded six straight hits. Sophomore Will
Evans (2-for-5, two runs, three RBIs) led off the sixth
with a bunt single and poked a two-run double to right field later
in the inning to pace the offensive outburst.
Salisbury had its entire starting lineup collect hits and had
three players register four hits. Senior Jordan
Crystal (4-for-7, three runs, five RBIs) had a breakout
game as all four hits went for extra bases which included two
triples. Miller (four runs) continued to collect hits after his
homer in the first as he finished the day 4-for-5 and Boyle (two
runs, one RBI) went 4-for-7 at the plate.
Senior Eric Willey (8-2) picked up his second
win of the day and eighth of the season as he scattered seven hits
and yielded two earned runs in six innings of work. Sophomore
southpaw Dustin Herbert (two strikeouts) relieved
Willey in the seventh and threw two shutout innings. Sophomore
Drew Baldwin (three strikeouts, two earned runs)
tossed the ninth.
Stevenson was led offensively by junior George Papuchis as
he went 2-for-4 and knocked in three of the Mustangs runs. Freshmen
Justin Anderson and Kyle Van Beek each collected two hits in the
loss.
With the loss, Stevenson will play in the semifinal game
tomorrow afternoon at Sea Gull Field against third-seed Wesley
College. The Wolverines knocked off fifth-seed St. Mary's (Md.)
College with a remarkable four-run rally in the ninth inning to win
12-11 on Saturday. The semifinal game is set to begin at Noon
followed by the championship game at 3 p.m.
2009 CAC Baseball Tournament
Sunday, April 19
Game 4: #3 Wesley vs. #4 Stevenson, Noon | Live
Stats
Game 5: Winner of Game 4 vs. #1 Salisbury, 3 p.m. | Live
Stats
Saturday, April 18
Game 3: #1 Salisbury 21, #4 Stevenson 4 | Box Score
Game 2: #3 Wesley 12, #5 St. Mary's 11 | Box Score
Game 1: #1 Salisbury 5, #2 York 4 (F/11) | Box Score
