WELLESLEY, Mass. – Needing to win two games with no margin for error, the ninth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team proved up to the challenge and then some. Riding a pair of pitching masterpieces from freshmen Aidan Brinsfield and Ethan Hirschfeld, the Sea Gulls bested the Mitchell Mariners 15-0 and 11-0 to win the Babson Park Regional of the 2024 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Govoni Field.
 
With their fourth straight regional crown in tow, the Sea Gulls advance to next weekend's Super Regionals against the eighth-ranked Salve Regina Seahawks. The best-of-three series will be held on Friday and Saturday at a location and times to be determined.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE

• The Sea Gulls scored early and often with crooked numbers in each of the first three innings. In the top of the first, SU loaded the bases on two hit batsmen and a bunt single. Danny Sheeler brought one run home on a sac fly and Zach Geesaman plated another on a squeeze bunt, putting Salisbury up 2-0.
• Max Ehrhardt doubled with one out in the second. Three straight singles by Andrew Kell, Kyle Brex, and Tim Petrucelli produced two runs, then Sheeler doubled home another to make it 5-0.
• With the bases loaded again in the third, Brex plated one with a single, then two batters later Sheeler tagged a two-run base knock to get it to 8-0.
• Ehrhardt belted a solo home run in the seventh, then Petrucelli and Geesaman went yard in the eighth to make it 11-0.
• SU put three more across in the eighth on an Adam Tommer RBI double and two-run single by Ehrhardt go push it up to 14-0.
• The Sea Gulls added one more for good measure in the ninth as Joey Bowers worked a bases-loaded walk to give the game its final 15-0 margin.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Aidan Brinsfield (5-0) struck out a season-high 11 batters over seven three-hit innings, walking just one batter on 111 pitches.
• Todd Hendrix and Bryce Sterling spun a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, to secure Salisbury's third shutout victory of the regional.
• Danny Sheeler continued his torrid run at the regional by going 3-for-4 with a double, stolen base, and four RBIs.
• Max Ehrhardt finished 3-for-5 with a double, homer, three runs, and three RBIs.
• Tim Petrucelli batted 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Petrucelli's 12th dinger has now tied him with four other SU players for fourth in single-season program history.
• Zach Geesaman also went 2-for-4 with a round-tripper and two rib-eyes.
• Kyle Brex went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs, while Andrew Kell scored three runs and stole a base.

MITCHELL GAME NOTES

• Jack Hayes doubled for the Mariners' only extra-base hit of the game.
• Angel Galindez, Cole Lalli, and Michael Gajda each singled for the rest of MC's four hits.
• Jacob Quiles (6-4) was on the hook for the loss after giving up eight runs on 10 hits in three innings.

GAME TWO

• The Sea Gulls again got on the board early with a crooked number in the bottom of the second inning. Dylan Winebrenner, Adam Tommer, and Max Ehrhardt strung together a trio of two-out singles to produce one run, then after a wild pitch Andrew Kell brought home a pair with a two-run single to make it 3-0 SU.
• In the fifth, Tim Petrucelli worked a two-out walk and Danny Sheeler doubled him home to make it 4-0.
• Winebrenner and Tommer singled in the sixth and ended up on second and third after an error. Ehrhardt then singled them both home to boost the margin to 6-0.
• Salisbury truly broke the Mariners' back with a four-run seventh. With two on and no out, Zach Geesaman laid down a sac bunt that was thrown away, allowing a run to score. Trent Waire followed with an RBI knock, stole second, and moved to third on a Winebrenner single. Tommer executed a squeeze bunt to plate Waire and Winebrenner scored on an Ehrhardt RBI double to make it 10-0.
• Geesaman's two-out RBI single in the eighth proved to be the final cherry on top of an 11-0 final score.
• Ethan Hirschfeld needed little in the way of offensive help, holding MC to just four hits on the day. With two down in the ninth, Justin Adorno rolled one over to first that Sheeler gloved and took to the bag himself, setting up another joyous celebration for "Gull Pile U."

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Ethan Hirschfeld (5-2) went the distance with a transcendent four-hit shutout, allowing just three singles and a double while walking two, hitting two, and fanning four on 116 pitches. Hirschfeld's previous season-long for innings pitched in a start was six.
• Hirschfeld's complete-game effort comes just one day after Benji Thalheimer spun his own four-hit shutout in Saturday's elimination game against UMass Dartmouth.
• Max Ehrhardt brought the lumber from the nine-hole, finishing 3-for-3 with a double, run, and four RBIs.
• Dylan Winebrenner and Adam Tommer combined to go 5-for-7 with an RBI and five runs scored from the seven- and eight-holes.
• Tim Petrucelli batted 2-for-4 with a double and three runs, while Andrew Kell picked up two rib-eyes.
• Salisbury recorded clean sheets in four of its five games at the Babson Park Regional, outscoring the competition by a combined margin of 43-5. SU only blanked one opponent during the regular season and had yet to hold a foe off the board over a full nine innings.
• SU has now won nine regional championships in program history, moving past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in 2001, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

MITCHELL GAME NOTES

• Thai-ler Sestokas went 2-for-3 with a double to account for half of the Mariners' hits.
• Cole Lalli and Jack Hayes each singled off of Hirschfeld.
• Jadon Canelli (4-1) absorbed the defeat for the Mariners, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits in 5.1 innings.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will compete in their fourth straight Super Regional against No. 8 Salve Regina, who took down Washington & Jefferson 12-3 in Cortland, N.Y. on Sunday to win its first regional title in program history.
• Game 1 of the best-of-three series will be held on Friday, with Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) on Saturday. Game times and locations will be determined in the coming days.
• Salisbury will enter the Super Regional round seeking to qualify for its fourth consecutive NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. The Sea Gulls would be the first team to make four College World Series in a row since UW-Oshkosh qualified for seven straight from 1990-96.

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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, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 23 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 199 conference championships, and 45 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 follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.