Baseball

SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 4 Salisbury University baseball team defeated Rhodes College in its final home game of the 2008 regular season, 8-5, on Monday afternoon. The victory marked Salisbury's 38th of the season, a new single-season record for the program.

Salisbury (38-2) took a four-run lead, 7-3, into the eighth inning when the Lynx scored two runs off of junior starting pitcher Eric Willey to reduce the Sea Gull lead to two. Rhodes left fielder Richard Hurd blasted a two-run home run to left as the Lynx (27-14) inched closer to SU, 7-5. The Gulls managed to add an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning as freshman Andrew Miller (3-for-5) hit a double, with two outs, to score sophomore Matt O'Keefe.

Senior Ryan Bennick closed out the game for the Sea Gulls as the right-hander secured his first save this season as he got the final five outs. Willey, the 2008 Capital Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year, became the first Sea Gull to win 10 games since Nick Dunk won 10 in 2006. That was also the last season the Sea Gulls won 37 games. The school record for pitching wins in a season is 12 held by Brian Brushe set in 1977. Willey hurled seven and a third innings as he allowed five runs on seven hits and struck out three Lynx batters.

This was an important South region game for both teams as Rhodes, from Memphis, Tenn., played its first ballgame since April 20. The Lynx added games against Salisbury and a doubleheader with Greensboro College (May 6) to give them a chance to improve their NCAA postseason resume. Salisbury is the top-ranked team in the South region.

SU put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning against Rhodes ace Robert Flanagan (5-3), an imposing 6-foot-7 left-hander who is listed at 250 pounds on the roster. Senior Mark Bostwick slapped a two-run single to left field to score Miller and junior Randy Boyle (1-for-4, two runs, walk).

Boyle has reached base in every game this season and has a hit in 39 of 40 games played by the Sea Gulls. He is the new school record holder for runs scored in a season with 65, which is also ranked third in the nation. Salisbury as a team has scored 455 runs, which leads the country, and is a new school record.

The Sea Gulls broke open the game in the sixth and seventh innings. SU scored two in the sixth off the bat of freshman shortstop Will Evans (2-for-3) who doubled to right field. Center fielder Jordan Crystal (2-for-4) and Bostwick came around to score.

Rhodes battled back in the seventh as the Lynx scored three off Willey. First baseman Daniel Vanaman led off the inning with his fourth home run of the season with a towering shot into the pines trees beyond the left field fence. The Lynx manufactured two more runs before Willey got out of the jam as SU held onto the 4-3 lead.

The Sea Gulls chased Flanagan in the bottom half of the seventh as SU matched Rhodes with a three-run inning of its own. Miller doubled followed by a Boyle single set the table for sophomore Mike Celenza. The slugging first baseman crushed a three-run home run, his seventh of the year, to give SU its four-run lead back.

Salisbury went 26-1 at Sea Gull Field this season as the lone loss came against CAC rival University of Mary Washington in the conference tournament. That loss snapped the 35-game winning streak for the maroon and gold.

Salisbury will close out the regular season on Thursday, May 8, on the road against Montclair State University at 1 p.m.