CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – The St. Thomas baseball team dropped Game 1 of the NCAA Division III championship series on Monday, losing to Salisbury (Md.) University 6-1.
The Tommies (37-9) will need to beat the Sea Gulls (33-4) in Game 2 Tuesday to keep the best-of-three series alive. First pitch is at 11 a.m. Game 3, if necessary, would follow after a short break.
St. Thomas began the game with three straight singles to load the bases but came away with only on run. They had just three more hits — all singles — the rest of the way. Two of their six hits belonged to Jake Porter, who left the game in the fifth inning after suffering a leg injury while playing right field.
Salisbury, appearing in the World Series for the first time, took the lead on a two-run homer in the second off Tommies starter Duke Coburn, and it scored three more times in the fifth. The Sea Gulls have won 13 straight.
The Tommies are attempting to win their third national championship in their final year in Division III.
They entered the game with five consecutive come-from-behind victories.
