EASTLAKE, Ohio – The third-seeded Salisbury University baseball team reached the end of the line for the 2026 season, falling to the second-seeded Rowan Profs 8-3 on the second day of the NCAA Division III College World Series on Saturday evening at Classic Auto Group Park.
The Profs jumped on the board first with a pair in the bottom of the first inning. Brett Chiesa brought home the first on a sac fly, then Nick Struble's two-out RBI single doubled the RU lead at 2-0.
The teams traded a run each in the third. The Sea Gulls broke up the shutout when
Jay Newton drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, while Rowan got that run back on one swing as Brayden Davis left the yard to make it 3-1.
Shaky defense proved to be SU's undoing in a five-run Rowan fifth. A single, error, and walk loaded the bases for Struble, who rolled one up the middle for an RBI knock. Another run scored on a wild pitch, then after a walk to load them up again Jason Schooley reached on another error that forced in another run. Mason Dorsey followed with a two-run double to give the Profs a commanding 8-1 lead.
Salisbury had the beginnings of a rally in the seventh with men on second and third and no out, but
Jackson Inman lined into a tough-luck double play at third that nearly became a triple play had RU made a quicker throw to second.
Jay Newton then struck out to end the threat.
The Sea Gulls plated two in the ninth as Inman socked an RBI triple and Newton doubled him home, but it was too little, too late, and the Profs finished the job and lived to fight another day in the Cleveland suburbs.
GAME NOTES
- Jackson Inman finished 1-for-3 with a triple, run, RBI, and two walks. The rib-eye was his 60th of the season, giving him one of just five 60-RBI campaigns in program history, and his 127 total bases are third-most of any Sea Gull in one year at the plate.
- Jay Newton doubled and drove in a pair as part of a 1-for-4 day.
- Nathan Tondreault registered his second multi-hit performance in as many games at the College World Series, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
- Trent Waire reached base three times, finishing 1-for-2 with a sac bunt, two walks, and a run scored.
- Ethan Hirschfeld (1-2) endured the loss after giving up two runs on three hits over his one inning as opener.
- Jack Rucker lasted 3.1 frames after Hirschfeld, surrendering five runs (two earned) on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts on 60 pitches.
- Tyler Villa and Bryce Sterling combined for three scoreless innings in their final career appearances.
Salisbury finishes the 2026 season with a 37-11 record, including a 17-game winning streak that was the program's longest in 11 years. The Sea Gulls captured the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) crown for the fifth time in six seasons, won their sixth straight Regional title, and reached the Division III World Series for the first time since 2023 and fourth time in six years.
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, 26 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.
