EASTLAKE, Ohio – The third-seeded Salisbury University baseball team saw its 17-game winning streak end at the hands of the sixth-seeded Endicott Gulls, falling 5-1 to complete the first day of the 2026 NCAA Division III College World Series on Friday night at Classic Auto Group Park.
With the loss, the Sea Gulls are set for an elimination game showdown with second-seeded Rowan on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.
A pair of uncharacteristic defensive miscues put Salisbury behind the eight-ball in the top of the second inning. John Fusco reached on a flyball to left that got lost in the stadium lights, then two batters later James Benestad hit a grounder to first that ate up the SU gloves, allowing Fusco to score the game's first run. After a walk, Adam Regan rolled an RBI single through the right side to double the Endicott lead at 2-0.
Endicott tacked on one more in the third as Fusco doubled and A.J. Hamm tripled him home. Salisbury countered in the fourth as
Max Ehrhardt crushed a solo homer to the bleachers in left, bringing the Sea Gulls within 3-1.
The starting pitchers settled in from there as SU's
Aidan Brinsfield and EC's Brady Stuart each completed six innings with double-digit strikeouts to boot. In the seventh, Endicott KO'd Brinsfield by putting men on the corners with one out, and Cade Bernardo eventually scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
Endicott added one more in the ninth on a bases-loaded hit batsman, and Salisbury couldn't solve the EC bullpen as the "Battle of the Gulls" went to the green-and-blues from Massachusetts.
GAME NOTES
- Max Ehrhardt belted his third home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth to highlight a 1-for-4 night.
- Nathan Tondreault finished 2-for-4 with a double.
- Aidan Brinsfield (10-4) endured his first setback since Apr. 12 – the last time the Sea Gulls lost a game – despite a solid line of four runs (two earned) on seven hits over 6.1 innings. Brinsfield walked one and struck out a season-high 10 batters, in the process becoming just the seventh pitcher in SU history to fan 200 batters in his career.
- The loss snaps the Sea Gulls' 17-game winning streak, the program's longest since the 2015 season.
The Sea Gulls now have no margin for error as they head to the elimination bracket of the College World Series. Salisbury will joust with regional rival Rowan on Saturday at 5 p.m. after the Profs bowed to seventh-seeded Adrian 10-1 earlier on Friday. The winner will face either Endicott or Adrian in another elimination game on Sunday at 3 p.m., while the loser will see their season come to an end.
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.
