CNBNews

SALISBURY, MD – Rowan couldn’t hold off a late-inning rally by #2 Salisbury as the Sea Gulls put up eight runs in the eighth inning to take the lead for good en route to a 17-12 win in the NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Sea Gull Stadium. With the second win in the best-of-three series, Salisbury clinched its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, while Rowan fell in its second straight Super Regional. The #23 Profs end the year with a 33-15 record.  

Trailing 12-5 after seven innings, the Sea Gulls (35-6) scored eight runs with three hits and three Rowan errors to take a 13-12 lead. The game-winning run came by way of Scott Cameron scoring on a bases-loaded walk.  

Ryan Murphy closed out his stellar career at Rowan with a 3-for-5 effort, that included three RBI, two runs and a home run. Pat Defeciani was 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI, with Phil Sedalis going 2-for-5 with three runs and two RBI, with Tyler Cannon adding three hits, two runs and another double to give him a nation’s best 31 on the year. 

Lefthander Zach Grace didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and kept Salisbury off the scoreboard until the sixth inning, as he went 6.1 innings and struck out 10.  

In a reversal from Friday’s game in which Rowan spotted Salisbury eight runs, the Profs built up an 8-0 lead through five innings. Murphy got things going with a single and Jason Morgan and Pat Defeciani each followed with the same, as Murphy scored first. Brian Gallante laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored Morgan as Rowan took the early 2-0 lead.  

The Profs added to the lead in the third when Phil Sedalis singled and Murphy hit his ninth home run of the season to go up 4-0.  

Rowan then extended it to 8-0 in the fifth, when Cannon started the four-run inning with a single. Sedalis reached on an error and the two Profs advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Anthony Schooley. A walk to Dylan Maria loaded the bases and Murphy drove in another run with a ground out. That set the stage for a two-run single by Jason Morgan, who eventually stole second and scored on a base hit by Defeciani. 

Salisbury got on the board in the sixth with four runs as they recorded four hits against Grace, starting with a solo home run by Jacob Ference. Pinch hitter Andrew Kell hit a two-run double and the Sea Gulls scored their final run when Cameron Hyder singled.  

Rowan answered right back with three in the bottom of the sixth when Chris Curcio walked, Cannon doubled and both scored on a single by Sedalis. Schooley added the third run, driving home Sedalis as the Profs led 11-4. Salisbury scored one more in the top of the seventh and Rowan added another in the when Curcio reached on an error that allowed Defeciani to score, giving the Profs a 12-5 lead.  

That lead wasn’t safe as among the hits in Salisbury’s eighth inning was a two-run triple by Roman March and then in the ninth, Cameron put the game out of reach with a three-run home run down the left field line.