SALISBURY, MD.- Salisbury posted a six-run fifth inning Friday morning, and the top-seeded Sea Gulls went on to beat the second-seeded Captains of Christopher Newport, 7-3. The game at Sea Gull Stadium was the first of three battles on the second day of the double-elimination Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. 

The defeat means Keith Parr's team will return to action late Friday afternoon to play the winner of the upcoming Frostburg State/Mary Washington game.

The Captains, who split their two meetings with Salisbury during the regular season, posted only two hits in the defeat. CNU grabbed an early 1-0 lead when pinch-runner Meagan Jones stole second, third, and then home for the first run of the game in the top of the second inning. Jones, a senior who has been out of the lineup recently due to a wrist injury, scampered home on a double steal as senior catcher Hannah Cook swiped second base.

Salisbury answered by plating a run in the bottom of the third inning on a Mollly Simpson solo home run, her 14th of the season.

Christopher Newport took a 3-1 advantage in the top of the fifth with two unearned runs. Senior Scoop Simon drove home senior Tori Clarke and junior Rachael Shiflett with a double, but the lead would be short-lived.

Salisbury then sent 11 batters to the plate in its big six-run inning in the bottom half of the fifth, as the Sea Gulls grabbed the 7-3 advantage that would end up the final tally.

Annah Brittingham went the distance in the circle for the Gulls, allowing only one earned run on just two hits. She is now 16-2 for the season.

Senior lefthander Hanah Marshall got the start for CNU, and pitched well until the devastating fifth inning. She allowed five runs in six innings of work, and fell to 7-2 for the season. Junior Maiven McKnight entered the game in relief during the fifth, but failed to retire any of the four batters she faced, allowing two walks and two hits, including a home run to Kim Dorsey of the Gulls.

Salisbury, the fifth-ranked team in the nation, is now 33-4 and advances to the championship Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m.

CNU, ranked eighth in the country, is now 33-6 this season and will have to win Friday's elimination game with the Bobcats or Eagles to advance to Saturday morning's title game.