HANOVER, Md.  —  The Catholic baseball team played its second to last non-conference game of the season on Wednesday afternoon against sixth-ranked Salisbury. After the game was within two runs for the first six innings, the Cardinals broke the game open with a five-run bottom of the seventh and went on to capture their second ranked win of the year, 10-5.

The Cardinals cracked the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first inning after Jack Elwell worked his way aboard with a lead-off bunt single. Elwell stole second to move into scoring position and then a throwing error from Salisbury pitcher Cole Williams allowed Elwell to come into score from second to make it a 1-0 game. The Seagulls answered back in the top of the second on an RBI base-hit up the middle from Cole Swift to even the game back up. 

Joe Haines started the bottom of the second off by ripping a double that one-hopped the fence in right center field to put himself in scoring position. With two outs in the inning, Justin McCarthy came through with his first RBI hit of the season into center field to bring Haines to the plate to put the Cardinals back on top. Once again, Salisbury had an answer in the top of the third as Andrew Kell cashed in with a two-out single into left field to pull the game even at two.

Catholic scored for the third consecutive inning in the bottom of the third, sparked by a one-out double into right field from Joe Marini. Dante Pozzi's single moved Marini up to third base and Zach Burton dropped down a squeeze bunt after him to bring Marini in to score to put Catholic back on top 3-2. Luke Cardman entered the game out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fourth and picked up a huge strikeout to strand all three runners on base to hold on to the lead. 

Marini came up with another big swing in the bottom of the fifth inning when he launched a solo homer into right field for his second extra-base hit of the game to extend the lead to 4-2. It was the second long ball of the season for Marini, making him the seventh Cardinal to hit multiple home runs on the season.

After the Seagulls scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit back down to one, the Cardinals offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh before an out was even recorded to open up a 9-3 lead. Elwell, Mitchel Johnson and Marini all reached base to load the bases up to start the inning. Pozzi worked a walk to earn himself an RBI and Zach Burton followed up by ripping a double into left field to bring two runners home. Haines brought in the final two runs of the inning with a hard-hit single up the middle to plate Pozzi and Burton to wrap up the scoring in the inning.

After Catholic added one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, Salisbury brought in two runs in the top of the ninth and had runners on first and third with one out. Lucky Perrotto came in out of the bullpen and recorded the final two outs to close out a 10-5 win for the Cardinals to move them to 16-14 on the season. It is the first time in the history of the series dating back to 1999 that the Cardinals have defeated the Seagulls in back-to-back seasons.

Inside the Box Score

• Marini has been on a tear since coming back into the lineup over the weekend as he is 9-for-18 with four doubles, a homer and four RBI over the past five games. He is now second on the team in doubles with eighth and his 21 RBI are the third-most on the team.
• Haines had a strong day at the plate in the first start of his career, finishing 3-for-5 with two singles, a double and two RBI. It was the first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of his career. 
• Cardman had the best and longest outing of his season to earn his third win of the season. Cardman pitched 4.2 in relief, allowing five hits, three runs with only one being earned and a pair of strikeouts.

Catholic's next game is Saturday, April 19 for a Landmark doubleheader against Scranton at Joe Cannon Stadium. First pitch for game one is slated for 11 am.