SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 18 Salisbury University softball team picked up a pair of big wins on Friday during the first day of the Salisbury University Invitational, hosted at the Henry Parker Complex. The Gulls toppled No. 22 Christopher Newport University in 10 innings in the opener before putting up a season-high 23 runs in the night cap against Wilkes University.

After grabbing a 3-0 lead in the first game on sophomore Lindsay Brown's RBI single in the first and junior Casey Zaino's two-run hit in the third, the Sea Gulls saw CNU battle back. The Captains scored a run in the fourth and plated three runs in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead.

But the Sea Gulls (9-3) would not go quietly, tying the game in their final at-bat of regulation. Freshman Harley Hill opened the home half of the seventh inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Junior Erika Brittingham's single through the right side pushed Hill to third before Brown knocked her home for the tying run.

CNU would plate a run in the top of the eighth and threatened more before the inning was cut short by a double play turned by Salisbury sophomore second baseman Carly Read, stranding a pair of Captains in scoring position.

The game would be extended again when senior Kristin Lord ripped a single down the left field line allowing sophomore Hannah Mills to score, tying the game at five. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 10th, when the Gulls would finish things off.

With Mills the runner placed on second by international tie-breaking rules, the Sea Gulls manufactured the winning run. Zaino bunted Mills to third and, after a ground out and a pair of walks to load the bases, sophomore Sarah Alpaugh drove Mills home with the winning run.

The momentum of the win carried over to the second game, with Salisbury collecting a 23-0 win and seeing two pitchers combine on a perfect game. The Sea Gulls' top offensive inning in the game came in the second, when 16 runs crossed the plate. The number is tied for fifth in NCAA Division III history for runs in one inning.

Nine players finished with multiple hits, led by senior Taylor Webb who went 4-for-5 in the game, scoring twice and driving home two runs. Zaino, Read and sophomore Michelle Gravdahl each had three hits.

Senior Kelly Leary, who worked three innings, and freshman Kathryn Larson, who went two, combined for the perfect game. Leary struck out four while Larson sat down three batters on strikes.

Salisbury will close out the event with two games on Saturday. The Sea Gulls will battle Shenandoah University at 10 a.m., and take on Baruch College at noon.