SALISBURY, Md. – The 12th-ranked Salisbury University baseball team halted a two-game skid with one of its biggest wins of the season, downing the fifth-ranked Shenandoah Hornets 6-3 on Monday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
The Sea Gulls flexed their muscles with two home runs in the first two innings. With two on and two out in the first,
Jake Witter clubbed one down the right field line that stayed fair for a three-run dinger. Then in the second after the Hornets got one back,
Trent Waire slashed a line drive into the jet stream in right center for a two-run big fly, putting Salisbury in the driver's seat at 5-1.
Shenandoah answered in the third as JP Williams pounded a two-run double to left center, narrowing the margin to 5-3. The Salisbury bullpen came in from there, though, and extinguished the Hornet bats over the final 6.2 innings.
Cole Williams and
Jack Rucker teamed up for the lion's share, giving up just two hits combined while getting 17 outs of the final 20 outs.
Salisbury tacked on one more in the sixth at
Jay Newton tripled and scored on a Witter base knock, making it 6-3. It was more than enough as
Bryce Sterling put up a zero in the ninth, punching out Kyle Garrett looking to bring an end to Shenandoah's nine-game winning streak.
GAME NOTES
- Jake Witter went 3-for-4 with his first collegiate home run and four RBIs in just his fifth appearance in the Sea Gull starting lineup this season.
- Jay Newton finished 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs, and two times hit by the pitch.
- Trent Waire belted a two-run homer, his third of the season, as part of a 1-for-5 day.
- Nathan Tondreault went 2-for-3 with two runs scored leading off.
- Cole Williams (6-0) opened Salisbury's bullpen masterclass with 2.2 innings of scoreless one-hit ball. He walked one and fanned one on 28 pitches.
- Bryce Sterling set a new career high with his seventh save of the year, working around a walk to put up a scoreless ninth with one strikeout. Sterling's seven saves on the season move him into a tie with Corey Willey (2003) for third-most in program history, and his 13 career saves are two back of the Sea Gulls' all-time mark.
- Jack Rucker proved practically unhittable in his three scoreless innings, striking out five batters against just one hit and one walk.
- Ethan Hirschfeld made the start and got the game's first seven outs, ultimately allowing three runs on five hits in 2.1 innings.
- Salisbury has now won three straight games against Shenandoah over the past three seasons, countering the Hornets' own three-game streak in the series from 2021-23.
The Sea Gulls will wrap up a five-game, six-day stretch on Tuesday at home against Neumann. First pitch from Donnie Williams Stadium is pegged for 3:30 p.m.
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), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). 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 207 conference championships, and have produced 54 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
