FROSTBURG, Md. – The Marymount (Va.) University baseball team took the field against Salisbury University on Saturday afternoon, battling back from a six-run deficit before falling to the third-seeded Sea Gulls, 11-10, to end the Saints run in the Capital Athletic Conference tournment.

The Saints took the first at-bat as the visitors on the scoreboard but were kept scoreless until the third inning. Salisbury struck first, scoring six runs in the first two innings to lead 6-0. In the third inning, freshman Conner Hall heated up the bats for MU with a double down the left-field line. Freshman Luke Tyree came up to the plate and moved Hall to third on a ball hit to the second baseman before junior Lorenzo Calderon followed with a shot to the first baseman to score Hall and bring the Saints within five of the Sea Gulls.

Both teams put in work on the defensive end to keep both teams scoreless until the fifth. On the mound for the Saints was junior John LaMotta, who kept the Sea Gulls scoreless in the bottom half of the third and fourth innings. LaMotta dominated on the mound, completing the third inning with three up, three down and striking one out in the fourth followed by a ground out. LaMotta allowed one hit in the two-inning stretch before catching the batter stealing to end the fourth inning.

Hall kept his bat hot, reaching first base on a single to center field to start the top of the fifth, advancing to second on a wild pitch, before Tyree singled to right field to advance Hall to third. Junior Brandon Savage racked up an RBI with a shot to left field to score Hall for the second time in the game, 6-2.

Marymount fell behind 8-2 in the fifth but quickly answered with three runs in the top of the sixth. Hall, once again, came through for the Saints, sending z ball deep over the fence for his second home run of his collegiate career. His home run brought in juniors Ben Berczek and Roy Coates to cut the deficit to three, 8-5.

MU continued to battle back in the top of the seventh. Savage started the inning with a single to left field. As Savage stood on first with one out, senior Ryan Blake stepped up to the plate and sent the ball soaring over the fence to score two and get within one of the Sea Gulls, 8-7. 

In the top of the eighth, the Saints continued to rally, bringing in three runs to take their first lead of the game, 10-8. The two-run advantage followed an impressive performance by the Saints. Berczek brought in one run off a single down the right field line befoer Blake laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position, and junior Brandon Orbe finished the job with a shot to left field, scoring both runners for two RBI.

The Saints managed to keep the Sea Gulls scoreless though two innings before Salisbury was able to regain the lead 11-10 in the bottom of the eighth. Marymount was unable to answer in the top of the ninth and fell short 11-10.

Marymount racked up 15 hits including two home runs, and two doubles to score its 10 runs. Sophomore Collin Bazemore pitched 1.1 innings before LaMotta took over the mound for 3.2 innings, followed by Berczek who completed two innings, and Hall who closed the game out. The pitchers combined for three strike outs.

The Saints conclude postseason play, making their second appearance in just three seasons into the tournament. In just three seasons of the program, Marymount has posted its first 20-plus win year.