FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – For the second straight day, the seventh-ranked and second-seeded Salisbury University baseball team trailed in its final at-bat and found a way to get it done, rallying to best the top-seeded Mary Washington Eagles, 4-3 in 10 innings, in the 2026 Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon at Dickinson Stadium. With the win, the Sea Gulls claim their fifth conference title in six years and 20th in program history and will take a 12-game winning streak into next week's NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Sea Gulls wasted little time getting on the board in the first inning.
Nathan Tondreault walked,
Trent Waire bunted him up to second, and
Jackson Inman tripled him home to put SU on top 1-0.
The Eagles swung the margin in their favor in the fourth inning, loading the bases and tying the score on a hit batsman, then William Tutt lifted the go-ahead sac fly into left. UMW scratched another across in the seventh on a Tutt single-plus error and Ryan Henson RBI knock to make it 3-1.
Salisbury cut the deficit in half in the eighth as
Jay Newton doubled and came in on a
Jake Witter single. Then in the ninth after an
Ethan Ruiz one-out walk, Tondreault singled up the middle and Ruiz rolled into third. Eagle third baseman Eric Powell then overthrew the bag at second base trying to get Tondreault, who broke for second on the throw back to the infield, allowing Ruiz to score and tie the game at 3-3.
In the top of the 10th the Sea Gulls revved up the small-ball machine to go ahead to stay.
Cole Swift led off with a walk and took second on a wild pitch, then
Max Ehrhardt was plunked to put two on.
Griffin Shirk bunted the runners up, and
Mickey Haynes rolled into an RBI groundout to chase Swift home and put SU back up 4-3.
UMW had a golden opportunity to tie it in the home 10th as Oliver Martin was hit by a pitch and took second on a wild pitch. Collin Clark bowled a single up the middle and Martin came charging home, but Ruiz unleashed a perfect throw from shallow center to nab him at the plate. Connor Hassan followed by flying out to Ruiz in center, setting off a wild Sea Gull celebration behind the mound.
GAME NOTES
- Jackson Inman finished 2-for-5 with a triple and an RBI.
- Nathan Tondreault went 2-for-5 from the leadoff slot with a run scored.
- Mickey Haynes batted 1-for-4 and drove in the winning run on a groundout.
- Jay Newton doubled and scored as part of a 1-for-4 afternoon.
- Ethan Ruiz walked twice, scored one run, and picked up the crucial outfield assist at the plate to preserve the lead in the 10th.
- Bryce Sterling (3-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and 10th to pick up his second win in two C2C Tournament games.
- Tyler Villa surrendered two runs on two hits over 3.2 innings of his start.
- Garrett Beaver, Jack Rucker, and Cole Williams teamed up for 4.1 innings of one-run ball as a bridge between Villa and Sterling.
- With 68 career appearances, Williams is now tied with Star Kriger '03 and Brandon Epstein '23 for third in all-time SU history; his next time on the bump will tie him for second.
- Salisbury rallied from late-inning deficits in both C2C Tournament games; SU trailed Christopher Newport 7-2 in the eighth and 7-6 in the ninth in Friday's semifinal tilt.
- Of the Sea Gulls' five championships in the C2C era (since 2021), this is the first the maroon and gold have clinched away from home. SU celebrated at home in 2021-23 and 2025.
- Salisbury's 12th straight win extends the team's longest winning streak since the 2023 campaign further into postseason play.
The Sea Gulls will now tune in to Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which will stream on NCAA.com at 12 noon. Though the C2C championship does not carry an automatic bid into the national field, Salisbury was ranked No. 8 in the most recent NCAA Power Index (NPI), all but assuring the team of a 26th consecutive regional berth.
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.
