SALISBURY, Md. – The "Team of the '20s" will dance in the limelight once more.
For the fourth time in six years, the seventh-ranked Salisbury University baseball team is headed to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship after sweeping a pair of Super Regional games against the 21st-ranked University of Chicago Maroons, winning 5-3 and 7-4 on a rainy Friday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
In the process, the Sea Gulls extended their winning streak to 17 games – the program's longest in 11 years – and will be one of eight teams to play in the Division III World Series beginning next Friday in the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake, Ohio.
GAME ONE
Jackson Inman got the party started in the first inning with a towering solo home run off the scoreboard in left center. After forcing the Sea Gulls to strand multiple baserunners in the second and third, the Maroons answered in the fourth, tying it up on a two-out RBI double by Max Wiesner.
In the top of the fifth, Chicago took its first lead as Nathan Bae rolled a two-out RBI single up the middle. The Gulls punched back in the home fifth, putting men on the corners with no out and setting up Inman for a game-tying sac fly to deep center. Following an error to put two more on,
Jake Witter served a bloop double down the left field line to chase home the go-ahead tally, and
Max Ehrhardt plated another with an RBI groundout to put SU up 4-2.
Michael Gladden belted a solo home run in the top of the seventh to get the Maroons within 4-3, but SU countered in the bottom of the frame on an Ehrhardt sac fly to get it back to 5-3. Chicago had a chance to answer in the eighth, putting the first two men on, but pitcher
Cole Williams got the lead runner at third on a would-be Jack Sharp sac bunt, struck out Luke Weston, and picked Sharp off at first to get out of the jam.
The Maroons faced Salisbury closer
Bryce Sterling with grit with one out in the ninth, with Erik Rindner, Gladden, and Bae using a combined 27 pitches to load the bases on a single and two walks, respectively. Sterling found a new level, though, striking out Harrison Belden and, on a full count pitch, getting Ryan Bhojwani to fly out to center to put it in the books.
Game Notes
- Jackson Inman batted 2-for-4 with a double, homer, two runs, and two RBIs. With his 12th dinger of the season, he moves into a tie with four others for fifth in the Sea Gulls' single-season leaderboard; his next blast will tie him with Dave Westervelt (1998) and Tim Petrucelli (2024) for third.
- Max Ehrhardt doubled and drove in a pair, while Jake Witter went 2-for-3 with a two-sacker, steal, and rib-eye.
- Aidan Brinsfield (10-3) muscled his way through 6.1 quality innings, scattering three runs on 10 hits with one walk and two strikeouts on 115 pitches. Brinsfield becomes SU's first 10-game winner since Clayton Dwyer in 2021, while his 20 career wins make him just the 14th pitcher in program history to reach the mark.
- Cole Williams put up an inning and two-thirds scoreless relief for the hold in his 27th appearance of the season, giving him sole possession of fifth on the SU all-time rolls.
- Bryce Sterling needed 40 pitches but earned every bit of his ninth save of the year, stranding the bases loaded to secure the victory. The save was the 15th in Sterling's career, tying him with Kyle Hamby '15 for the most in Salisbury history. Sterling also tied Hamby for second on the single-season leaderboard and is one away from tying Drew Baldwin (2011) for tops.
GAME TWO
Nathan Tondreault put a charge in the Sea Gull bats as the first batter of the game, doubling to lead off the top of the first inning and coming around to score after a
Trent Waire sac bunt and
Jackson Inman RBI groundout. Then in the third after
Ethan Ruiz beat out a bunt single, Tondreault ripped a triple to bring him in and scored on a Waire base knock. Inman in turn cranked an opposite-field two-run homer to give Salisbury a commanding 5-0 lead.
The Maroons clawed a pair back in the sixth, the latter coming on a solo blast by Ryan Bhojwani. SU reinforced its lead over the next two frames on successful squeeze bunts by Waire and
Griffin Shirk to make it 7-2.
Chicago rallied for a pair as the rain picked up in the bottom of the ninth, but senior hurler
Tyler Villa was not to be denied, forcing Harrison Gladden to roll over to fellow senior
Max Ehrhardt at second base. Ehrhardt made the play, and the gold-clad Gulls spilled out of the dugout, dogpiling and hoisting the Super Regional trophy through the hazy mist.
Game Notes
- Jackson Inman went yard once again, batting 1-for-4 with three RBIs. His 13th homer of the season tied him for third on the SU single-season leaderboard; he sits one back of matching Jacob Ference (2023) and Danny Sheeler (2023) for the top slot.
- Nathan Tondreault finished a homer shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, triple, RBI, steal, and two runs scored.
- Trent Waire went 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs and two more sac bunts, adding to his national-leading 20 for the year.
- Jack Rucker (8-0) locked in for the middle innings, lasting 5.2 frames and surrendering just two runs on nine hits. Rucker walked none and struck out two on 72 pitches.
- Ethan Hirschfeld delivered two scoreless to open, while Tyler Villa got the final four outs to seal the deal.
- Salisbury's 17-game winning streak is its longest since the 2015 season when it won 19 straight from Mar. 11 through Apr. 8; the Sea Gulls were unbeaten over their first 22 games that season, starting out 21-0-1.
The Sea Gulls will make their ninth appearance in the College World Series overall and first since going back-to-back-to-back in 2021-23, during which they won the national title in 2021 and finished runner-up in 2022.
The Salisbury Super Regional was one of three that played two games on Friday in anticipation of inclement weather over the weekend. The rest of the Championship field will be determined on Saturday and Sunday, after which the teams will be reseeded and placed in two four-team double-elimination pods. Pool play at Classic Auto Group Park will begin on Friday, May 29, with the first game penciled in for 10 a.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 211 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.
