SALISBURY, Md.– The Salisbury University baseball team defeated Penn State University-Harrisburg 11-3 and 14-3 in their doubleheader on Saturday.
The Sea Gulls’ victories against their Capital Athletic Conference rival give the team the No. 1 seed going into the CAC tournament next week.
The Sea Gulls (28-10, 15-3 CAC) and the Lions (28-10, 12-6 CAC) were scoreless through two innings but Salisbury’s offense got going in the third with seven runs.
Justin Meekins and Jack Barry hit consecutive triples with one out in the third to put the Sea Gulls on the board with one. Barry scored off a sacrifice fly from Scott Ardoin who was up to bat next. The Lions walked Jack Decker and Will Gutekunst next. Matt Padeway hit a single that Decker scored off of from second base. Colby Dean hit a triple that would score Gutekunst and Padeway. To complete the inning, Jay Perry hit a double and Kyle Canavan hit a single.
The Sea Gulls did not score again until the eighth, when Dean hit a solo home run to give the Gulls an 8-2 lead. Meekins was based from an error by the Lions that also allowed Perry to score. Barry hit a two run home run to close the inning for the Sea Gulls in the next at bat.
The win went to pitcher Austin Heenan (8-3) who went six innings with nine strikeouts and one run from five hits.
In the second game, the Sea Gulls scored 10 runs in just the first two innings to build their lead.
The first inning included four runs, contributed by Decker with a double for two runs and Padeway who hit an RBI triple. Padeway then scored off a throwing error by the Lions.
The six-run second inning came from Ardoin scoring from a walk with the bases loaded, followed by two more scoring from a single by Decker. Gutekunst was walked to again load the bases, then Padeway was hit by a pitch to score the fourth run. Dean hit a single that scored the last two runs of the second inning.
For the Sea Gulls, pitcher Connor Reeves (11-3) only allowed one batter on base through the first six innings. Reeves’ first hit allowed came in the seventh inning. He finished the game with 10 strikeouts, two hits and one walk. The 11th win on the year for Reeves puts him at the top for Division III pitchers, and is fourth in WHIP with 0.77.
Salisbury’s next games come at home against York College of Pennsylvania and Frostburg State University next week in the CAC tournament. The teams will be placed at the 4 and 6 seeds, pending their matchup at Frostburg on Monday.
