VIRGINIA BEACH – The No. 9 Salisbury University baseball team took to the road for the first time in 2020 to face off against Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday afternoon but fell to the Marlins, 6-1.

THE RUNDOWN

Final Score: Va. Wesleyan 6, Salisbury 1

Records: Salisbury (4-2) | Va. Wesleyan (3-5)

Location: TowneBank Park – Virginia Beach, Va.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Marlins threatened in the bottom of the first inning when they put runners on the corners with two away, but Salisbury starting pitcher Jackson Balzan tallied his first strikeout of the game against Connor Hall to end the inning and keep the score at 0-0.
• That changed in the bottom of the third inning when Virginia Wesleyan went ahead 2-0 on a Jacob Pilarski two-run double into right field.
• The Sea Gulls got one back in the top of the fifth inning. Stephen Rice began the inning with a double to center field before advancing to third base on a groundout to the other side of the infield. Jimmy Adkins then laid down a sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat to score Rice from third base to cut the Marlins lead to 2-1.
• The Marlins had a big inning in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four more runs to open the lead up to 6-1. A passed ball with runners on the corners led to the first run of the inning before a pair of RBI doubles down the right and left field lines and an RBI single to third base brought home scored the other three.
• Salisbury threatened one other time in the top of the seventh inning after getting a runner to third base but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. The team only landed one other runner on base the rest of the way as the Marlins held on for the 6-1 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Jackson Balzan (1-1) pitched five innings in his second start as a Sea Gull and struck out six batters but was tagged for four runs – all earned – on five hits in the loss.
• Salisbury was limited to only two hits on the afternoon – a first inning single by Justin Meekins and a fifth inning double by Stephen Rice – as the Wesleyan pitching staff managed to cool down one of the top offenses in the nation. Five Marlin pitchers combined for seven strikeouts while allowing no walks.

UP NEXT

• The team will take the next few days off before returning home to face off against the Oswego State Lakers on Sunday, March 1 beginning at noon.
• Live video and stats will be available during the contest.