SALISBURY, Md. – The top-ranked Salisbury University softball team forced a winner-take-all championship final with a pair of wins on Friday. The Sea Gulls started off the day with an 8-0 run-rule win over the Mary Washington Eagles in the elimination game before a thrilling 2-0 victory over seventh-ranked CNU.

HOW IT HAPPENED - UMW

• Salisbury loaded the bases in the bottom half of the second inning. Abby Mace laced a ball to the center fielder that bounced off the top of the center fielder's glove that cleared the bases and put four runs across.
• The Sea Gulls got the run-rule in effect with a four-run fourth inning. Three-straight singles by Mace, Lindsey Windsor and Natalie Paoli put SU ahead, 8-0. Paoli's two-run single scored Windsor and Mace.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES - UMW

• Nicole Ortega (W) pitched an efficient complete-game shutout with only 51 pitches. She only allowed three hits and struck out two while pitching two over the minimum.
• As a team, Salisbury had seven hits with Abby Mace, Lindsey Windsor, Natalie Paoli, Carrie Jacoby, Jillian Dawson, Maddison Lednum and Madi Lemon each tallied a hit.
• Mace and Lemon each scored twice while Paoli drove in a pair of runs.

HOW IT HAPPENED – CNU

• CNU loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning with one out. Savannah Sheats forced Isabel Hall to groundout with a fielder's choice to Sheats then Sheats forced Meredith Brickner to fly out to center field to keep the game scoreless.
• Aggressive base running helped the Sea Gulls get on the board in the fourth inning. A throw down to first got away from the first baseman and Lindsey Windsor scored all the way from first base to get the first run of the game on the board.
• Madi Lemon gave Salisbury insurance in the seventh in a big way with a solo bomb to left field to double SU's lead to 2-0.
• Sheats retired the side in order in the bottom half of the seventh to send the teams to the deciding final game.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES – CNU

• Savannah Sheats (W) improved her record to 11-0 on the season with a three-hit shutout. She scattered four walks but struck out two in the complete-game effort.
• Madi Lemon hit her second home run of the season in the seventh inning. Lemon and Carrie Jacoby registered the only extra-base hits for Salisbury. Jacoby had a double in the first.
• Lemon, Jacoby, Meghan Reed, Lindsey Windsor, Sam Flowers and Natalie Paoli all registered hits for the Sea Gulls.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury takes on CNU in the C2C Championship Final on Saturday.
• The game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start from Margie Knight Sea Gull Softball Stadium.

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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 men's and women's swimming, and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse. 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, 194 conference championships and 44 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.