Grande Chute, Wis. (5/28/11) – The Kean University baseball team was unable to rally out of the elimination bracket and fell to Salisbury University, 10-3, to bow out of the World Series and end their season at 42-11.
Salisbury wasted little time and took advantage of a leadoff hit batsman as they bunted him over to second and he would come around to score one batter later off an RBI single. A hard hit ball and an appropriate wind gust gave Salisbury an RBI triple and Dave Quaglietta was able to score after he broke for home on a squeeze attempt that resulted in a wild pitch. The Sea Gulls picked up right where they left off in the second as Matt Beck led off the frame with a double to left center. With one out, a walk and bunt single loaded the bases before back-to-back singles from Ken O'Neill and Brian Green would soon give the Sea Gulls a 5-0 lead.
Kean put together their best scoring opportunity in the fourth as junior Lee Cavico and senior Ken Gregory hit back-to-back singles through the right side with one out. With two outs, catcher Eddie Jennings loaded the bases with his own single through the right side but senior Kyle Walker wasn't able to make it four in a row as second baseman John Schiotis got to the ball in the hole to end the threat.
Salisbury added two more in their half of the fourth again taking advantage of a leadoff hit batsman while using small ball to move him over. An RBI double and RBI single in the frame helped to increase the SU lead to 7-0 through four.
Kean was able to scratch across one run in the top of the sixth as senior Chris Carrano led off the inning with a double in the gap. A single from Cavico put runners on the corners with no outs, but Salisbury got Kean to ground into a double play which broke up the shutout but would eventually end the threat in the sixth.
The Cougars were able to tack on single runs in the eighth and ninth aided by a Salisbury miscue in the eighth and an RBI single from Walker in the ninth.
Cavico finished the day with a 3-for-4 performance.
