YORK, Pa. – The No. 4 Salisbury University baseball team earned a split of its doubleheader at York (Pa.) College on Saturday, earning the team's 12th Capital Athletic Conference victory of the season and with it clinching the top seed in the CAC tournament, which is slated to begin on Tuesday, April 17.

After dropping the opener, 9-2, the Gulls (23-5, 12-3 CAC) found themselves in a 1-0 hole after two innings of play with the Spartans bringing home a run on a sacrifice fly off starting pitcher Brett Collacchi.

The York lead would not last long as Salisbury came back with a pair of runs in the top of the third and one more in the fourth.

Sophomore Bill Root came up with a one-out single in the third and stole second before coming home on a single by senior designated hitter Chris Connor. And Salisbury took a 2-1 lead when Nick Gentry, who had walked, scored on an RBI single by sophomore Quinn Griffith.

York (12-16, 8-7 CAC) tied the game at 2-2 in the home half of the inning on Justin Cohen's RBI single before the Sea Gulls would take the lead for good in the fourth.

Sophomore Ken O'Neill singled with one out and advanced to second on a fielder's choice before scoring on a York throwing error for a 3-2 lead.

Collacchi maintained the lead into the fifth inning before being relieved by senior Jeff Hoffman, who came on with one out and two runners on base. Hoffman got two quick outs to get out of the jam, allowing the Gulls to hold onto the lead.

Salisbury added an insurance run in the top of the sixth when sophomore Johnny Schiotis singled to drive in senior catcher Tyler Bennett.

As the top seed in the CAC tournament, Salisbury will host a first-round game on April 17 against the No. 6 seed, and then will welcome all six teams on Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 22, for the conclusion of the double-elimination event.

In Saturday's first game, the Sea Gulls put up two runs in the first inning on an infield single by Connor and a squeeze bunt Griffith, allowing sophomore Joey Jones to score.

That was all the offense Salisbury would muster as the Spartans put up a run in the second and took the lead in the fifth with two runs. Four in the fifth and two more in the sixth put the game away as senior Devin Gardner took just his second loss of the year.

Drew Frankenfield and Andrew Hershey each had three hits to lead the Spartans in the win.

The Sea Gulls return home on Monday, April 9, when they host Messiah College at the SU Baseball Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.