SALISBURY, Md. - The top-seed Salisbury
University baseball team rebounded from a rough start to cruise to
the 2009 Capital Athletic Conference championship on Sunday
afternoon as the Sea Gulls took down fourth-seed Stevenson
University for the second day in a row, 16-5, in front of a crowd
of 300 at Sea Gull Field. The win marks the fourth consecutive
conference championship for the Sea Gulls, seventh in the past nine
years under head coach Doug Fleetwood, and ninth overall since SU
joined the conference in 1995.
The No. 6 Sea Gulls (33-5), who were the visitors for the
championship game, got off to a slow start against Stevenson
(17-20) as the Mustangs looked strong after they defeated
third-seed Wesley College, 9-8, in the semifinal game earlier in
the day.
Salisbury caught fire in the fourth inning after it watched the
Mustangs build a 5-0 lead and never looked back as they posted 16
unanswered runs. Freshman outfielder Bill Morton
(two runs) paced the Sea Gull attack as he went 2-for-4 and
collected a career-high six RBIs. Sophomore left-hander
Dustin Herbert (6-1) picked up his sixth win of
the season as he came on to relieve fellow sophomore Kyle
Judson who drew the start for the Sea Gulls.
Stevenson got to Judson early as he lasted just two innings and
surrendered five runs (four earned) on seven hits. Senior Wade
Keenan put the Mustangs on the board as he poked a home run to left
field to lead off the bottom of the second. Stevenson had its next
two batters reach base via hits and then took advantage of two Sea
Gull errors in the inning to push two more runs across the plate
for an early 3-0 lead.
The Mustangs continued to hit the ball well in the third inning
as the first three batters singled to load the bases. Herbert came
on to relieve Judson and limited the damage to just two runs in the
inning. After Herbert hit Keenan with a pitch to force in a run, he
got senior Griffin Stewart to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and
then struck out the next batter to end the inning.
The Mustangs held a 5-0 advantage through three innings but that
was all the offense they would muster as Herbert scattered five
hits over seven innings (no runs to his credit) and struck out
eight to close out the game.
The Sea Gull bats woke up in the fourth as they strung a few
hits together and Morton delivered the first of his two doubles in
the game to plate two of the four SU runs. Senior Cody
Collins (3-for-6, four runs, RBI) and junior Mike
Celenza (3-for-6, three runs, three RBIs) both scored on
the play to cut the Mustang lead to three, 5-2. Salisbury tacked on
two more runs in the inning from a sacrifice fly off the bat of
sophomore Brian Green (2-for-4) and an error by
the Mustangs to cut the deficit to one, 5-4.
Salisbury tied the game in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by
Morton and took the lead for good in the sixth as Celenza
highlighted a four-run sixth inning. The left-handed first baseman
hit a three-run homer to center field, his 10th of the season and
second in as many games against the Mustangs, to put Salisbury
ahead 8-5. Collins followed Celenza's blast with one of his own two
batters later to extend the Sea Gull lead to 9-5.
Morton put the game out of reach in the eighth as he cleared the
bases with his second double of the game. Sophomore Andrew
Miller (1-for-3, run) added a sacrifice fly in the inning
to put SU up 13-5. The Sea Gulls tacked on three more runs in the
ninth without a hit as they took advantage of two Mustang miscues.
The maroon and gold have six more regular-season games left
before the regional selections are announced. That stretch features
two games on back-to back days (April 24-25) against No. 26
Christopher Newport University , a rematch of last season's
regional final game on the road against Johns Hopkins University on
April 28 and a single game against a tough Montclair State squad to
end the season.
2009 CAC Baseball Tournament
Sunday, April 19
Game 5: #1 Salisbury 16, #4 Stevenson 5 | Box Score
Game 4: #4 Stevenson 9, #3 Wesley 8 | Box Score
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
