Overview
Beginning play one week shy of a year following the cancellation of its ill-fated 2020 season, the Sea Gulls powered their way to a 25-4 mark in the regular season, punctuated by a sweep of Christopher Newport in the inaugural Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Championship, to qualify for its 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Salisbury was assigned to the High Point, N.C. Regional, winning all four games and outlasting Birmingham Southern 9-6 in 12 innings to punch its ticket to the Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. SU outslugged the competition in group play, besting Cortland 11-1, Wheaton (Mass.) 11-9, and Cortland again 11-8 to advance to the best-of-three final series against St. Thomas (Minn.).
Behind five strong innings from NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jackson Balzan and a home run by Jacob Ference, the Sea Gulls cruised to a 6-1 victory in Game 1. In Game 2, Kavi Caster’s two-run single in the fourth put SU on top for good, and Caster caught the final out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 4-2 win - the team's 14th straight - and the first baseball national championship for “Gull Pile U.”
Major Awards
College World Series Most Outstanding Player - Jackson Balzan
Perfect Game Division III MVP - Kavi Caster
ABCA National Coach of the Year - Troy Brohawn
ABCA National Assistant Coach of the Year - Ron Siers
C2C Player of the Year - Justin Meekins
C2C Pitcher of the Year - Clayton Dwyer
C2C Coach of the Year - Troy Brohawn
ABCA/D3baseball.com All-Americans (2)
Clayton Dwyer (Consensus 2nd Team)
Justin Meekins (D3baseball 4th Team)
Statistical Leaders
Batting Average: Justin Meekins, .387
Runs: Kavi Caster, 44
Home Runs: Kavi Caster/Sky Rahill, 6
RBI: Kavi Caster/Justin Meekins, 39
Stolen Bases: Kavi Caster, 21
Wins: Clayton Dwyer, 10
Saves: Clayton Dwyer, 3
ERA: Clayton Dwyer, 2.18
Innings: Clayton Dwyer, 78.1
Strikeouts: Clayton Dwyer, 107
