Box Score Cedar Rapids, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team fell, 7-2, to second-ranked Salisbury University (Md.) in an elimination game at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III World Series Saturday night at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Eagles, ranked 13th on the D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, finish 36-13 on the season while the Sea Gulls improve to 36-7. 

Salisbury (Md.) will advance to face East Texas Baptist University or Lynchburg University (Va.) on Sunday, June 4 at 3 p.m. 

UWL's 36 wins this year are tied for second in single-season school history. The Eagles also won 36 games in 2015 and a school record 39 games in 2016.

In the second-ever meeting the two teams, Salisbury (Md.) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Kavi Caster walked to start the inning and stole second with one out. Scott Cameron's RBI single scored Caster with the first run of the game. UWL had won the only other meeting with Salisbury (Md.) entering the tournament, earning a 7-3 victory in the first game of the 2015 NCAA Division III World Series. 

UWL tied the game in the bottom of the second. Ty Hamilton singled with one out and went to second after Logan Pye was hit-by-pitch. Both runners moved into scoring position on Tim Urlaub's groundout. George Seaman then reached on a Salisbury (Md.) error to score Hamilton. 

The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the third after Hamilton's single knocked in Mac Born with two outs. Born had reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning and went to second on Anthony Vivian's single. 

The Sea Gulls tied it in the top of the fourth. Caster walked and went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Stephen Rice. Cameron followed with a double to score Caster to make it 2-2. 
 

Salisbury (Md.) took the lead with three runs in the top of fifth. Luke Weddell walked to lead-off the inning, stole second and went to third on a groundout. Danny Sheeler's RBI groundout scored Weddell to give the Sea Gulls a 3-2 lead. Caster's two-run home run scored Jacob Ference to extend the lead to 5-2. 

Ference's two-run double in the top of the ninth finished the scoring. 

Owen Anderson (4-6) suffered the loss for UWL, going 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, five runs and three walks with three strikeouts. Tucker Bouche pitched 2.1 innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts. Caleb Matl went the final 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, two runs and one walk with one strikeout.

UWL finished with nine hits as Hamilton and Jack Olver both went 2-for-4. Hamilton scored once with one RBI. 

Jackson Balzan (8-2) earned the complete-game victory for Salisbury (Md.), pitching 9.0 innings, allowing nine hits and two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts. The Sea Gulls totaled eight hits .

UWL was making its third appearance in the NCAA III World Series after making back-to-back trips in 2015 and 2016. UWL made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA III Championships in 2015 in Appleton, Wisconsin, advancing to the best-of-three championship series and a runner-up national finish. The Eagles finished 8-4 in the 2015 national tournament and 5-3 in 2016 while advancing to the championships in Appleton.