NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The fourth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team used a five-run sixth inning to power its way to a 7-5 victory over the Christopher Newport Captains on Wednesday afternoon in a Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) game at Captains Park.

BOX SCORE 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Sea Gulls and Captains traded a run each in the first inning. In SU's first time up, Luke Weddell managed a one-out single, stole second base and scored on a Stephen Rice base hit up the middle to make it 1-0. CNU answered in its half of the first with a Jay Cassady RBI double to tie the game.
• With a man on second and two out in the bottom of the second, Connor Clark doubled home the go-ahead run for the Captains, and Jonathan Fisher followed with an RBI single to put CNU on top 3-1.
• The Captains added an insurance run in the fifth as Daniel Elliott notched a two-out RBI single, pushing the lead to 4-1.
• Salisbury woke up its bats with CNU's starting pitcher wearing down in the top of the sixth. Rice led off with a single, then Sky Rahill got hit by a pitch to put two men on. After a sac bunt, Scott Cameron slashed a triple down the right field line, scoring both runners to make it a one-run game at 4-3.
• Christian Murphy brought Cameron home with a game-tying RBI single. After a pitching change and a flyout, Murphy stole second and Justin Meekins drew a two-out walk. Weddell and Cameron Hyder followed with back-to-back base hits, bringing home Murphy and Meekins to give the Sea Gulls a 6-4 lead.
• CNU mustered up a rally in the bottom of the seventh as Cassady pegged a one-out triple and scored on an Elliott single, cutting the SU lead to 6-5. From there Salisbury went to the bullpen and brought in Xavier Marmol, who stranded a pair of runners to get out of trouble.
• The Sea Gulls reinforced their lead in the eighth. Trent Saunders hit a leadoff single and ended up on third after an error and sac bunt. Weddell then singled him home to put Salisbury up by its winning 7-5 margin.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Scott Cameron finished a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple, run scored and two RBIs to lead the Sea Gulls at the plate.
• Luke Weddell went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs from the two-hole for SU.
• Stephen Rice finished 2-for-5 with a run and RBI, while Sky Rahill had two hits and scored a run.
• Clayton Dwyer (7-0) stayed perfect on the hill and struck out a season-high 10 batters in a winning effort. Dwyer allowed four runs on seven hits with three walks in five innings of work.
• Corey Burton took the baton from Dwyer and lasted 1.2 innings, giving up one run, and Xavier Marmol earned his first save of the year by closing out the final 2.1 scoreless frames.
• With the win, Salisbury improves to 10-1 in C2C play (17-3 overall), building their lead over second-place CNU (8-4) to 2.5 games with five to go in the regular season.

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT GAME NOTES

• Daniel Elliott went 2-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the Captains.
• Jay Cassady finished 2-for-4 with a double, triple, run and RBI. Eric O'Brien tallied three hits and scored a run.
• Cassady (2-3) was undone by a rough sixth and took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls close out the week with a pair of games at C2C foe Mary Washington on Friday and Saturday afternoon. The games will be SU's final two road contests of the regular season.
• First pitch from Earl Dickinson Stadium on Friday is set for 3:30 p.m.