Box Score Box Score in HTML FormatBox Score in PDF FormatYORK, Pa. -- In the second round of the Capital Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, the third-seeded Christopher Newport Captains (20-14) would suffer a 6-0 setback to 16th-ranked and second-seeded Salisbury University (25-7), despite the eighth straight quality start from senior
Bryan Bierlein (5-4). The Captains right-hander would allow three earned runs in 6.2 innings of work, but the CNU offense was unable to get going against Salisbury's Brett Collacchi (8-1), who combined with two Sea Gull relievers for the shutout.
The double-elimination CAC Tournament will continue on Saturday, as the Captains will face elimination in a head-to-head matchup with fifth-seeded Wesley College (16-14). The Wolverines stayed alive with a 6-1 win over St. Mary's (Md.) in an earlier game on Friday. Salisbury will advance to take on top-seeded York College (Pa.) in the first game of the day on Saturday, and the losing team of that matchup will face the winning team in the CNU-Wesley game at 4:00 pm on Saturday.
Collacchi was terrific from the start for Salisbury, holding the potent CNU offense in check. After a single from senior
Billy Steel in the first inning, the Salisbury starter retired 18 straight batters before allowing another single in the seventh inning. Senior
Justin Weaver had the hit for CNU, but was stranded on second base two batters later. Collacchi's start ended there, wrapping up a 7-inning, two-hit effort with six strikeouts and two walks.
In the eighth inning, Christopher Newport looked ready to mount a big rally against reliever Jon Schmedel. The Captains loaded the bases against the sophomore, but were unable to plate a run, ending the potential come-from-behind effort. It was just the second time this season that Christopher Newport failed to get on the scoreboard, and the first against a conference opponent.
Salisbury scored one run in the third to take the lead, then added a pair in the fifth, one in the sixth and a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning. Bierlein was solid for the Captains, working out of several jams and limiting the damage to just four runs, three earned, over 6.2 innings of work. He struck out a pair and allowed nine hits, but fell to 5-4 on the season.
Johnny Schiotis led the way for the Sea Gulls, driving in three in a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Freshman Tom LaBriola added three hits for the Sea Gulls.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available from York College (Pa.) on Saturday. For a full schedule, rosters, stats and more,
click here for the Tournament Website.