HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The Marymount University baseball team made its NCAA Division III Championships debut on Thursday morning against the No. 6-nationally ranked Sea Gulls of Salisbury University. The Saints were unable to topple the top-seeded team in the region, as Salisbury emerged with a 10-5 win. 

Marymount kept pace with Salisbury until deep into the contest. After the Sea Gulls struck for five runs in the bottom of the second inning, Ryan Bergenhagen settled in on the mound at Truist Point Stadium. The senior tossed three scoreless innings before exiting the contest in the sixth inning. He fanned five batters along the way, highlighted by a pair of swinging strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Saints responded to Bergenhagen's outing with runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Bobby Leitzel got MU on the scoreboard in the fourth frame with a sacrifice fly that allowed Alex Lemery to score easily from third. A double from Bryce Smith plated Bill Wojcik and moved David Kurzrock into scoring position with just one out. Robby Cable capped the rally with a deep fly ball to right field that brought home Kurzrock.

Marymount tied the game up in the next inning. After Casey Baker led off with a single and James DiGiulian worked a walk, Lemery rifled a single up the middle to load the bases. A grounder from Wojcik allowed Baker to score before Leitzel knotted the game at 5-5 with a groundout to second base.

Despite MU's best efforts, Salisbury scratched across two runs in the sixth inning to make it a 7-5 game. The Saints got runners on base in the seventh and eighth innings, but couldn't solve the Seagulls' bullpen as Salisbury picked up the win.

Lemery led the way for the Blue and White at the dish with a 2-for-3 outing with one run. Wojcik finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and a run. DiGiulian upped his single-season program record walk total to 34 with a trio of free bases.

Marymount returns to action on Friday, May 28 at 11 a.m. The Saints will face the loser of today's contest between Washington & Jefferson College and Birmingham Southern College. The most up-to-date schedules will be made available on marymountsaints.com.