SALISBURY, Md. – For the second year in a row, the Salisbury University baseball team took on the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, in an exhibition game. And for the second year in a row, the Sea Gulls gave the home team all they could handle, falling 6-2 in front of 2,012 in attendance on Tuesday evening.
Salisbury was celebrated not just for its baseball team and the strong game it played, but all of the Salisbury University student-athletes in attendance were recognized as part of the NCAA's National Student-Athlete Day.
"It's a special night and it's not all about baseball," Salisbury Head Coach Doug Fleetwood said. "You get all the student-athletes from the other teams; it might be the only time all year they all come together and they get to do all the between-inning contests and that's nice. It's just a great night for the University."
Salisbury starting pitcher Chris Greiner put down the Shorebirds in his one inning of action. The senior allowed just one walk while striking out a pair of batters.
The Sea Gulls fell behind 4-0 when the Shorebirds put together a four-run inning in the bottom of the second, coming up with three hits, including a two-run double by Michael Ohlman.
But the Sea Gulls would come right back with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Freshman Bill Root got things going with a one-out walk and classmate John Schiotis followed suit. Senior Brian Green, a local product out of Parkside High School who grew up watching the Shorebirds at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, drove home the Gulls' first run of the night with a one-out, line drive double down the left field line.
Schiotis found his way home on a sacrifice fly by senior Dustin Herbert, cutting the Delmarva lead to 4-2.
Salisbury junior pitcher Brian Brusoe kept the Shorebirds in check with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.
The Salisbury offense had just two more base hits on the night as freshman Joey Jones picked up a single over the third baseman's head in the top of the fifth inning and added a shot up the middle with two outs in the top of the seventh to finish the night 2-for-2, but could not come around to score either time.
The Shorebirds would add single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to get to their six runs. Seven different Salisbury pitchers combined to allow just eight Shorebird hits and a pair of strikeouts.
Salisbury will get back to the task of winning the Capital Athletic Conference regular-season title on Thursday as it travels to Dover, Del., to take on the Wesley College Wolverines. The game is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. The teams will conclude their series at the SU Baseball Field on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
