SALISBURY, Md. – The 10th-ranked Salisbury University baseball team needed no drama to extend its winning streak to 10 games, blanking the Stevenson Mustangs 17-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Sea Gulls struck early, taking advantage of wild Mustang arms in the first inning. Cameron Hyder ended up on second after a throwing error at second, then after a sac bunt Kavi Caster poked one through the left side for an RBI single. Caster then advanced to second on a bad pickoff move, stole third and came home when the throw to catch him sailed into left. The three Stevenson errors helped Salisbury go up 2-0.
- Caster sparked another rally in the fourth, drawing a four-pitch walk to lead off. After Caster stole second and took third on a balk, Stephen Rice got him home with an RBI double to right center. Sky Rahill followed with a walk, then after a sac bunt Scott Cameron rolled one through the right side for a base hit, scoring Rice and Rahill to make it 5-0.
- Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, then Hyder and Patrick Campbell brought home one each on two straight singles, and Caster bookended things by drawing a bases-loaded free pass to make it a six-run frame and an 8-0 Salisbury lead.
- Rahill and Jacob Ference scored on back-to-back balks in the fifth, boosting the lead to 10-0.
- Hyder and Campbell brought home two more in the seventh with sac flies, then with two on and two out Trent Saunders hit a single to center that got by the center fielder, allowing all three runners to score and make it 15-0.
- Zach Adams capped the scoring with a pinch-hit two-run homer to right center in the eighth, giving the game its final 17-0 margin.
SALISBURY GAME NOTES
- Kavi Caster finished the day 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, runs and RBIs.
- Sky Rahill and Cameron Hyder each extended their double-digit hitting streaks. Rahill finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored to get to 19 games, while Hyder went 1-for-4 with a run and two RBIs to make it 13 games.
- Scott Cameron finished with two RBIs, while Luke Weddell scored twice.
- Zach Adams hit a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning to go along with his pinch-hit double in Monday's game, giving him two extra-base hits in two official at-bats this season.
- Benji Thalheimer (5-0) won his third straight start with six scoreless innings of three-hit ball, walking three and punching out seven. Thalheimer now boasts a 17.1-inning scoreless streak over his last three outings.
- Justin McDermott, Corey Burton and Brandon Epstein each handled a scoreless inning in relief of Thalheimer to shut the door on Salisbury's fourth clean sheet of the year.
- The Sea Gulls have averaged 13.3 runs over their 10-game winning streak that began on March 23.
- Salisbury finished off their 18-game homestand that began on March 10 with a victory to go 15-3 over that span.
STEVENSON GAME NOTES
- Elliott Schilpp went 1-for-3 with a double, the only extra-base hit for the Mustangs. Stevenson managed only four hits on the day.
- Cameron Nebel (1-3) took the loss, giving up eight runs (six earned) on three hits and four walks over 3.1 innings.
UP NEXT
- The Sea Gulls hit the road for the first time in over a month on Saturday with a Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) doubleheader at Christopher Newport.
- First pitch of Game 1 is slated for 12 p.m. with Game 2 to follow approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.
To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.