Montclair, NJ – Junior rightfielder Kyle Hayman (Wilmington, DE / St. Elizabeth) drove in the tying run while freshman Pete Grasso (Wilmington, DE / A.I. Supont) added the go-ahead run as seventh-ranked Salisbury University rallied for two runs in the ninth inning handing Montclair State a 4-3 loss at Yogi Berra Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Grasso drove in two runs and also nailed down the victory for the Sea Gulls (33-7) with a scoreless ninth inning earning his first save of the season. Salisbury, which has won 16 straight, will now wait for the NCAA Division III Tournament selections which will be announced on Sunday, May 11 on NCAA.com. The Sea Gulls captured the Capital Athletic Conference beating Christopher Newport 5-1 on April 20 to earn the league's automatic bid.

Senior second baseman Lou Martini (Flemington, NJ, North Hunterdon) and freshman Philip Scott (Paulsboro, NJ, Paulsboro) each had an RBI for the Red Hawks, who ended their season at 22-18. Montclair won 14 of its final 19 games with four of the five losses coming to ranked teams, including two to No. 6 Rowan as well as No. 20 Kean University.

MSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Connor Abreu (Piscataway, NJ, Piscataway) and Nicholas Martins (Linden, NJ, Linden) drew walked to open the inning. The runners each moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch and a second wild pitch allowed Abreu to score with the first run of the game.

Salisbury took the lead in the third as Grasso delivered a triple to left-centerfield tying the contest with a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Quinn Griffith (Federalsburg, Md. / North Caroline) putting the Sea Gulls in front, 2-1.

Montclair State retied the game in the fourth. Martini walked and Christopher Reynolds (Randolph, NJ, Randolph) followed with a double, putting runners at second and third. Scott lofted a ball to center scoring Martini knotting the game at 2-2.

The Red Hawks went back on top in the seventh pushing across a run with two outs. Senior shortstop Cody Pace (Milltown, NJ, Spotswood) singled with Abreu and Martins again coaxing back-to-back walks loading the bases. Martini then bounced a ball to third that took a wicked bounce off the third baseman for a base hit allowing Pace to score for a 3-2 Montclair advantage.

Salisbury had a chance to plate runs in the eighth and could not score however the Sea Gulls did miss out on its chance in the ninth. Junior catcher Austin Barefoot (La Plata, Md. / La Plata) collected an infield single to leadoff and senior shortstop Ken O'Neill (Lothian, Md. / Southern Senior) was hit by a pitch putting runners at first and second. A sacrifice moved the runners up with Hayman tying the game on a fielder's choice. Grasso followed with a ground ball error bringing home O'Neil with the go-ahead run as the Sea Gulls moved back in front, 4-3.

Montclair State would get the tying run on in the ninth as Juan Perdomo Jr. (South Brunswick, NJ, South Brunswick) walked with pinch-runner Ryan Long (Washington Township, NJ, Washington Township) moving to second on Pace's sac bunt. Abreu flied to right moving Long to third however Grasso got a ground out to end the game.

Junior righthander Kyle Hamby (Laurel, Md. / Good Counsel ) got the win in relief as he struck out two and allowed a hit in 1 1/3 innings as he improved to 3-0. Senior lefthander John Silvestri (Livingston, NJ, Seton Hall Prep) took the loss for the Red Hawks as he ended his final season for MSU at 4-3. Senior Dylan Papa (South Plainfield, NJ, South Plainfield) got the start and allowed two runs and five hits in four innings. Freshman righthander Connor Lindsay (New Egypt, NJ, New Egypt) tossed three scoreless innings.