WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a hard-fought battle between two top-10 ranked teams on Wednesday evening, #10 Catholic came up just short against top-ranked Salisbury, falling 8-7 at Talbot Field. 

Catholic scored five runs in the first three innings of the contest, holding a 5-2 lead until the sixth when Salisbury plated a pair to cut the deficit to 5-4. The Cardinals added another run in the bottom of the seventh, but a four-run eighth propelled Salisbury to victory. 

Ben Nardi continues to rake, picking up three hits including a solo home run in the bottom of the first to extend his hitting streak to 29 games and push his career home run total to 26. 

Jacob Ference ripped a two-run shot in the top of the second to put the Sea Gulls on top, but Catholic responded in the bottom of the third with a four-run inning. Justin McCarthy led off the inning with a bunt single to third base. Dante Pozzi drew a walk on a full count to put a pair of runners on base against Salisbury starter Jackson Balzan. Joe Marini drew a walk to load the bases still with nobody out in the inning. Nardi singled to drive in a pair of runs with a third running scoring after an error in the outfield to put Catholic ahead 4-2. Mitchel Johnson ripped a double into the gap to score Nardi and push the lead to 5-2. 

The top-ranked Gulls chipped away in the top of the sixth, getting it within a run after an RBI single from Stephen Rice and a sacrifice fly from Dom Frigiola. 

Marini led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, advancing on a single from Nardi. Mitchel Johnson pushed one through the hole on the left side and into left field for an RBI single to score Marini to extend Catholic's lead to 6-4. 

With Danny Fitzgerald on the mound, Ference led off the eighth with a double before a Derek Zelesnick error put runners on the corners for the Gulls. Frigiola laid down a squeeze bunt, sacrificing himself to score Ference and make it a 6-5 game. Brendan Martin entered the game for the Cardinals, allowing a single to Cam Hyder before striking out Luke Weddell after another squeeze opportunity was overturned upon review, sending the runner back to third. Despite being held in check early on in the game, Kavi Caster stepped up and drove a three-run shot to center to put Salisbury ahead by a pair of runs. 

The Cardinals threatened in the ninth inning, pushing one run across and getting the tying run into scoring position, but Salisbury's Jimmy Adkins was able to retire Zach Burton to close it out with a final score of 8-7. Nardi ripped a double in the inning, scoring on a double from Johnson to cut the lead to one. 

STATS OF NOTE

• Nardi and Johnson combined for seven of the team's 11 hits while driving in six of the seven runs. 
• With four hits, Nardi tied Marini for the team lead in batting average at .404. 
• Nardi's double was his 10th of the season and 30th of his career while he also drove in the 99th, 100th, and 101st runs of his career earlier in the game. 
• Nardi's homer was the 40th of the season for Catholic. The Cardinals entered the day ninth in DIII in homers and sixth in home runs per game. 
• Camden Mounts and Cody Bosak combined for 5.0 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven batters as a tandem. Bosak struck out two batters to sit one K shy of 75 for his career.

Catholic will travel to Elizabethtown for a massive Landmark Conference series this weekend between a pair of unbeaten teams in LC play.