SALISBURY, Md. – The seventh-ranked Salisbury University baseball team made their long-awaited return to the diamond in grand fashion, powering past the RIT Tigers, 10-0 in eight innings, during Sunday afternoon's Opening Day fixture at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
The Sea Gulls used small ball to push across their first two runs. With runners on the corners and one out in the second inning,
Trent Waire laid a squeeze bunt down the first base line, scoring
Dylan Winebrenner to give SU an early 1-0 cushion. Then in the fourth,
Jackson Inman walked and came around to score on a bad pickoff throw and two wild pitches to make it 2-0.
The Tigers threatened to get back into it in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but SU reliever
Garrett Beaver coaxed a double play grounder off the bat of Randy Dodig to escape the jam. Salisbury countered in the home fifth with another manufactured run, as
Danny Sheeler lifted a sac fly to center to plate
Alex Craig and push the advantage to 3-0.
Noah Burroughs brought the big lumber in the sixth, belting a solo home run to dead central. Then after two errors and a walk loaded the bases, Craig lifted another sac fly to center to plate Waire and make it 5-0.
In the seventh, SU put men on second and third on a walk, hit batsman, and sac bunt. With the infield drawn in, Inman shot a grounder into right for a two-run single that made it 7-0. Then in the eighth, Sheeler ripped a two-run double and Winebrenner brought in one more on an RBI single, triggering the 10-run rule and a 10-0 SU victory.
GAME NOTES
- Danny Sheeler finished 1-for-2 with a double, run, and three RBIs from the three-hole.
- Noah Burroughs homered in his first collegiate game, going 1-for-3 with the solo bomb in the sixth.
- Jackson Inman also provided a big hit in his Sea Gull debut, batting 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs, and one run scored.
- Alex Craig and Dylan Winebrenner each scored two runs and drove in another.
- Garrett Beaver (1-0) tossed 3.2 scoreless two-hit innings to finish off the SU shutout. Beaver walked one and struck out four on 44 pitches.
- Tyler Villa started the clean sheet with 4.1 no-run innings, scattering three hits with one walk and three punchouts on 64 pitches.
The Sea Gulls are back in action on Monday with a doubleheader against Alfred State. First pitch of Game 1 from Williams Stadium is set for 10 a.m. with Game 2 to follow 30-45 minutes after the end of the first game.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming) and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's 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 won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 202 conference championships, and have produced 50 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.
