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Salisbury
Wins NCAA South Regional
Sea Gulls Earn
First Trip to Division III World Series
Salisbury makes its first appearance in the
NCAA Baseball Championships when it begins play in the eight-team,
double-elimination tournament on Friday, May 25 in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Salisbury advanced to the World Series by winning the South Region
Championship on Sunday. The Sea Gulls (31-11) face Marietta (OH) in
their opening game on Friday at 1:15 pm.
Championship
Schedule
The eight-team, championship
tournament is being hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. All
games will be played at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton. Friday's opening day schedule:
10 a.m.
Montclair
State (35-9) vs. Chapman (37-9)
1:15 p.m.
Salisbury State (31-11) vs. Marietta (44-7-1)
4:30 p.m.
St. Thomas (35-9) vs. Illinois Wesleyan (37-13-1)
7:45 p.m.
Southern Maine (36-12) vs. Cortland State (33-9)
SU
in Postseason Play
The Sea Gulls are making their
seventh overall appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, and
first appearance in the championship round.
SU brings a 14-12 overall postseason record into this week’s
championship in Appleton. Salisbury made previous trips to the NCAA
Tournament in 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983 and 2000.
Gulls
Dominate South Regional with Pitching
Salisbury swept to a 4-0 record in
last week’s South Regional in Lynchburg, VA behind outstanding
pitching. The Sea Gulls allowed just five runs (three earned) in four
games and finished with a 0.75 ERA in the regional tournament. Senior
RHP Chad Swiderski worked to a 1.29 earned run average in 14
innings of work and finished 2-0. Sophomore LHP Star Kriger did
not allow an earned run in 13 innings of work, and finished with one win
and one save in the four games. Swiderski and Kriger were both named to
the 11-player all-tournament team. Senior RHP Derek Harman hurled
a complete-game five-hitter to account for the other win.
Five Named to All-Tournament Team; Harbaugh is Most Outstanding Player
In
addition to pitchers Swiderski and Kriger, Salisbury placed three other
players on the South Region’s all-tournament team. Senior 3B Mike
Harbaugh was selected as the Most Outstanding Player after hitting
.429 (6-14) with four runs scored, three steals and five RBI in four
games. Harbaugh was also flawless defensively, handling 17 chances
without an error while recording four putouts and 13 assists. Joining
Harbaugh were junior SS BJ Jarrett (.357, 3 runs, 18 assists) and
junior OF Chris Keane (.412 with a team-high seven hits).
Salisbury
Brings Two Championships to Appleton
The Sea Gulls will be aiming to
cap the 2001 season with their third championship of the year. In
addition to claiming their first South Region title last weekend,
Salisbury won its second straight Capital Athletic Conference
championship in April. Despite winning that crown, the Sea Gulls needed
an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament since the six-team CAC
does not qualify for an automatic berth.
Including three regular season tournaments this year (Tri-State
Tournament in Salisbury; Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, FL; Deane
Deshon Classic in Salisbury), the Sea Gulls have posted an 18-3 record
in tournament play in 2001.
Gulls
Jump to 8th Newest ABCA Poll
After entering the South Regional
with a ranking of 29th in the May 7 American Baseball Coaches
Association/Collegiate Baseball poll, Salisbury has jumped to 8th
in the newest poll, released on Monday, May 21. The new ranking is
the highest of the season for the Sea Gulls, who have been ranked in
four of this season’s five polls. The team’s previous high water
mark was in the March 26 poll, when the Gulls peaked at #11 in the
nation.
Second
Straight 30-Win Season
With four wins in last weekend’s
regional, the Sea Gulls improved to 31-11 overall and registered the third
30-win season in team history. This season’s win total is the second
highest ever, trailing only the 33-11 record posted by the 1977 team.
Salisbury finished with a 30-11-1 mark last year.
All three 30-win teams in the program’s history have advanced to
the NCAA Tournament.
Salisbury
Places Seven on All-Conference Team
Capital Athletic Conference champion
Salisbury placed a league-high seven players on the all-conference
baseball teams for the second consecutive year, including four players on
the 12-man first team. Sea
Gulls on the first team were senior 1B Brian Loy, senior 2B Nate
Israel, junior OF Jason Ewing, and senior RHP Derek Harman.
Named to the second team were senior OF Justin Taylor, junior DH Andrew
Colanero and senior RHP Chad Swiderski. In addition, Ewing was chosen by the league’s coaches as
the CAC’s Player of the Year, while first-year SU Head Coach Doug
Fleetwood was selected by his peers as the CAC's
Coach of the Year.
Statistically
Speaking
Salisbury brings a .322 team batting
average into championship round and averages 8.5 runs per game. The Sea
Gulls hit at a .331 clip while outscoring their opponents 29-5 in the four
regional games last week. SU has scored 10 runs or more 16 times this
season. The team's
leading hitter is junior OF Jason Ewing, who sports a .402 average.
He also leads the team with 10 HRs, 52 runs scored, 66 hits, 43 RBI and 24
steals. Coming off a strong showing in the regional, junior OF Chris
Keane has raised his average to .391, second highest on the team.
Senior 1B Brian Loy is next at .366 and had a team-leading 42 RBI
during the regular season, but he will not play in the championships due
to injury. Salisbury entered the NCAA Tournament ranked second in the
nation in defense. They bring a .972 fielding percentage into Friday’s
game.
Pitchers
Bring 2.73 ERA Into the Championship
Already ranked among the national
leaders with a team ERA of 2.95 prior to the start of the regionals, the
Sea Gull pitching staff lowered its ERA a bit more to 2.73 following the
four regional games. Salisbury began the NCAA Tournament with the sixth
lowest team ERA in Division III. Three senior hurlers – Chad
Swiderski (7-3), Derek Harman (6-2) and Mike Bostian
(5-2) – lead the squad in victories. Swiderski leads the team in innings
worked (80 2/3), complete games (5) and strikeouts (49). Sophomore Star
Kriger has the lowest earned run average (1.05) among those with at
least 14 innings of work this season. Senior RHP Bobby Hamel is 4-1
and was named to the Verizon District II all-Academic team. Senior Andy
Brown leads the team with three saves.
Head
Coach Doug Fleetwood
Doug Fleetwood
is in his first year as the head coach of the Salisbury baseball program
and serving in his third year overall with the Sea Gulls. Fleetwood was
named as the new head coach in November, replacing Robb Disbennett, who
stepped down after three seasons as the head coach.
Prior to joining the Sea Gulls, Fleetwood piloted the
Cambridge/South Dorchester (Md) High School baseball team for 12 seasons,
winning the state title in 1978 and advancing to the state regionals 11 times. He
compiled a 171-63-1 record. His teams made five appearances in the state
semifinals, and produced numerous players who went on to collegiate
careers or who were drafted professionally.
Fleetwood was selected by his peers as the Capital Athletic
Conference’s Coach of the Year in 2001. He also became the third coach
in Salisbury history to pilot the team into the NCAA Tournament.
Quoting
Coach Fleetwood on the South Regional
“It really came down to
pitching for us and all of our pitchers did a great job at this (regional)
tournament. We couldn’t ask for the starting pitching to be any better.
I also thought that, for the first time this year, we put all three phases
of the game – pitching, hitting and defense – together. We made great
plays defensively in every game, and we hit throughout the lineup
everyday.”
Baseball Championship Caps Busy NCAA Year
for Salisbury
This week’s baseball championship
appearance caps an extraordinary year of athletics success for Salisbury University. The Sea Gulls have had 12 of their 19 varsity sports
represented in NCAA Tournaments and Championships during the 2000-01
academic year. Last fall, the field hockey team advanced to the final four
(hosted by Salisbury), the women’s soccer team reached the NCAA
quarterfinals, the men’s soccer team advanced to the second round, the
volleyball team earned its second NCAA bid, and the women’s cross
country team had a championship qualifier for the second straight year. In
the winter, the women’s basketball team made its second NCAA Tournament
appearance, and the women’s swimming team had its first-ever NCAA
Championship qualifier. This spring, the men’s and women’s lacrosse
teams both reached the national quarterfinals, the women’s tennis team
earned its first-ever NCAA bid, and the softball team was the Atlantic
Region’s runnerup. Salisbury ranked fifth in the Sears Directors Cup
standings in the fall before falling out of the top 20 following the
winter season. The Gulls hope a strong spring will push them past last
year’s final ranking of 18th.
Salisbury’s
Probable Lineup
LF
Jason Ewing
.402, 10 HR, 43 RBI
CAC Player of the Year
2B Robbie
Robeson .239,
0 HR, 6 RBI
has turned six double-plays
DH Kevin
Davis
.295, 2 HR, 35
RBI leads the team with 10 doubles
C Mike Russell
.314, 2 HR, 15 RBI
had two hits in regional final
1B Andrew
Colanero .358,
2 HR, 29 RBI .528 slugging % is 2nd on team
RF Chris
Keane
.391, 0 HR, 11
RBI had team-high 7 hits in the regionals
3B Mike
Harbaugh .256,
1 HR, 21 RBI South Region MOP with .429 avg.
SS B.J.
Jarrett
.289, 0 HR, 26
RBI hit .357 in the regionals
CF Justin
Taylor
.344, 2 HR, 19
RBI 17 steals is 2nd on team
In
the Dugout
2B
Nate Israel
.354, 0 HR, 25
RBI First-team all-conference
C
Kevin Hurney
.233, 0 HR,
3 RBI .991
fielding %
Pitchers
RH
Chad Swiderski
7-3, 2.79 ERA
Leads team in wins, innings and strikeouts
RH Derek
Harman
6-2, 3.05 ERA
First team all-conference
LH Mike
Bostian
5-2, 2.70 ERA
16 career wins leads the staff
LH Star
Kriger
2-1, 1.05 ERA
Made first start of the season in regionals
RH Bobby
Hamel
4-1, 4.28 ERA
Named to Verizon all-district academic team
RH Andy
Brown
2-1, 1.84 ERA
Leads the squad with 3 saves
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