SALISBURY, Md. – With a prime chance to repeat as Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) champions, the ninth-ranked and top-seeded Salisbury University baseball team will play host to this weekend's C2C Tournament in pursuit of their 17th conference title. The opening game between the second-seeded Christopher Newport Captains and the third-seeded Mary Washington Eagles is set for Friday at 12 p.m. The Sea Gulls will play the loser of that game later that day at 3:30 p.m.
THE SCHEDULE (DOUBLE ELIMINATION)
Friday, May 13
G1: 12 PM - #2 Christopher Newport vs. #3 Mary Washington | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
G2: 3:30 PM - #1 Salisbury vs. G1 Loser | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Saturday, May 14
G3: 12 PM - #1 Salisbury vs. G1 Winner | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
IF THREE TEAMS REMAIN
Saturday, May 14
G4: 3:30 PM - #2 CNU vs. #3 UMW (CNU home) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Sunday, May 15
G5: 12 PM - #1 Salisbury vs. G4 winner (#1 seed away if lower seed unbeaten) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
IF TWO TEAMS REMAIN
Saturday, May 14
G4: 3:30 PM – 2-0 team vs. 1-1 team (unbeaten team home) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Sunday, May 15
G5 (if necessary): 12 PM – Winner take all (G4 visitor is home) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
HOW WE GOT HERE
- Salisbury finished the regular season 27-8 and went a perfect 6-0 against C2C opponents.
- The Sea Gulls swept two doubleheaders against the Eagles on Apr. 9 and 30. SU also won both ends of a twin bill at CNU on Apr. 16; a home doubleheader on May 7 was canceled due to rain.
THE 2022 SEA GULLS
FRONTRUNNERS
- Salisbury started the season ranked No. 1 in the nation and never fell lower than 13th in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA polls.
- The Sea Gulls won 15 of their final 16 games to close out the regular season, including a 12-game winning streak from March 23 through Apr. 16 during which they outscored opponents 144-20.
- SU is shooting for its 22nd straight NCAA Regional appearance dating back to 2000, which would extend the second-longest active tournament streak in Division III.
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME
- Salisbury played 28 of its 35 regular season games at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium in 2022, going 20-8 within the friendly confines.
- The Sea Gulls batted .306 as a team and scored 9.75 runs per game at home with 92 stolen bases, 19 home runs and a .895 team OPS en route to outscoring opponents 273-111.
- SU eclipsed 10 runs 12 times in 28 home games and threatened to break 30 twice. The Sea Gulls pounded St. Mary's (Md.) 28-6 on March 30 and throttled Marymount (Va.) 29-1 on Apr. 11.
READY FOR TAKEOFF
- Outfielder Kavi Caster was named C2C Player of the Year after leading the conference in nearly every major offensive statistical category. Caster ranks top-20 nationally in on-base percentage (.580, fourth), slugging percentage (.831, 11th) and batting average (.446) and ranks top-50 in eight other statistics.
- Cameron Hyder joins Caster as one of two C2C players to bat .400 for the season (.401). Sky Rahill is tied for second in the conference with 38 RBIs, while Stephen Rice is right behind him in fifth with 37 rib-eyes.
- Salisbury boasts four of the league's top five home run hitters (Caster, Scott Cameron, Rice, Ben Anderson) and four of its top five base stealers (Caster, Hyder, Cameron, Rice).
- Maintaining their reputation as masters of situational hitting, the Sea Gulls carry national top 10 rankings in HBPs (95, sixth), sacrifice bunts (40, seventh) and sacrifice flies (32, 10th).
LOCKED AND LOADED
- Right-hander Jimmy Adkins captured C2C Pitcher of the Year after posting Division III's second-best ERA (0.83) and its best WHIP (0.67). Adkins has made just five starts but has given up a mere three earned runs in those 38 innings (0.71 ERA) and has tossed two complete games.
- Salisbury's well-rounded rotation features four of the C2C's top five win totals (Jackson Balzan, Benji Thalheimer, Xavier Marmol, Adkins), three of its top-five ERAs (Adkins, Thalheimer, Balzan) and two of its top five strikeout artists (Balzan, Adkins). Balzan and Adkins are 12 and 15 punchouts, respectively, from 200 in their careers.
- The Sea Gulls own the best team ERA in the nation at 2.71 and also lead Division III in hits per nine (7.09), plus a fourth-place ranking in WHIP (1.15).
- Playing behind the SU arms is a defense whose .980 fielding percentage is tops in the country.
SENIOR DAY REDEUX
WHAT'S ON THE LINE
- Due to the C2C only fielding three baseball teams, the winner of the C2C Tournament will not receive an automatic bid to into the NCAA Tournament. C2C member schools will need a Pool B or Pool C at-large bid to make the field.
- The Division III selection show is scheduled for Monday, May 16 at 12 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 188 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.
To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.
