The University of Mary Washington baseball team (RV) fell in heartbreaking fashion to No. 7 Salisbury on Saturday afternoon in the Coast-to-Coast Conference championship game, 4-3, at Dickinson Stadium in Fredericksburg, Va.
Eagles starter Matthew Boyd was dominant in his outing that lasted 7.1 innings as he yielded just two runs on six hits, three walks, and a hit-by-pitch as he worked into the eighth inning. Gavin Riley nearly finished off the victory for Boyd, but the Sea Gulls were just able to come back and come out victorious in the end.
Salisbury started the game off in the first inning with an RBI triple to left that gave it an early 1-0 lead before Boyd held the Sea Gulls hitless until the sixth inning. Before that, though, UMW had taken a 2-1 lead thanks to Eric Powell's bases-loaded hit-by-pitch that tied the game at one, then William Tuttle's sacrifice fly to left gave UMW the lead.
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Boyd worked around a baserunner in the sixth, and UMW struck for another run in the seventh when Tuttle reached on an infield single, then advanced to second on an errant throw. Ryan Henson drove in Tuttle with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.
Salisbury, though, chipped away as it scored a run after a leadoff double, then a ground ball that was almost surely going to be an out hit the first base bag and went over the head of Henson, who was at first baseman as the Sea Gulls cut into the gap, 3-2.
Riley came into the game and shut the door that inning and trotted back out for the ninth inning. After a groundout to first, Riley yielded a walk to the next Salisbury hitter to put a runner at first with one out. A single from the next batter drew a throw to third from right field. As the throw came into third, the Salisbury player who hit the ball made a mad dash for second, which drew an errant throw and allowed the Sea Gulls to tie the game at three.
Connor Hassan came in from the bullpen and slammed the door with a strikeout, then a ground ball to send the game into the bottom of the ninth tied at three. After the Eagles failed to score, Salisbury drove in the final run on a walk, then a hit-by-pitch, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Finally, a fielder's choice drove in the run as Jake Herbst was able to escape the jam with limited damage.
In the bottom of the 10th, Oliver Martin was hit by a pitch with an out, then was moved to second on a wild pitch. Collin Clarkson singled up the middle, but hit the ball hard enough that it was able to be fielded by the Salisbury center fielder and thrown to the plate in time to nail Martin, who was trying to go from second to home. Clarkson advanced to second on the throw, but that was as close as he'd get as a flyout ended the game.
The Eagles will await to hear where they are headed for the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon. You can watch the selection show on NCAA.com.
