GLENVILLE, W. Va. (March 11, 2018) — Still awaiting the completion of its new home field, the Salem University Tigers baseball team proved its roster is a little ahead of its infrastructure, sweeping the Central Pennsylvania College Knights in a three-game series over the weekend. 

Playing in Glenville while construction at Frank Loria Memorial Field finishes, the Tigers got strong performances from the entire pitching staff and manufactured offense in a variety of different ways. 

Game 1 (March 10, 2018) 

Moving from the bullpen to starting, Cole Standifer threw a no-hitter through four innings, striking out seven while retiring 11 of the 13 batters he faced to pick up his first win as Salem won 5-1. 

Standifer walked two batters but was never threatened, picking off Quinton Heckard in the first inning while Dylan Frawley, working from behind the plate, shutdown every Knights' attempt a steal.

The Tigers provided Standifer with all the run support needed, scoring a run in the first inning and two more in the second.

Salem worked the base paths, picking up five stolen bases. The Tigers quickly turned singles or walks into runners in scoring position by getting perfectly timed jumps on the Knights' pitches, comfortably beating the throw down to second. 

Noah Suarez led the game off with a single for Salem, stealing second on the next pitch. Tyler Ault then moved him over on a fielder's choice groundout from third to first; setting up Jimmy Cramer's RBI sacrifice fly to left field. 

Salem got RBI singles from Thirus Jones and Ault in the second inning. 

Standifer saved his best inning for last, striking out the side in the fourth before Salem turned to its bullpen. 

Jordan Wagner took the mound for Salem in the fifth inning, retiring all three batters while striking out two. Ben Mack pitched the sixth inning, surrendering back-to-back doubles with two outs to give the Knights their lone run before closing out the inning. 

Brendan Case finished out the game for Salem, forcing two pop-ups and a groundout from the four batters he faced to end the game. 

Cramer was 1-for-2 with two RBIs for Salem, while Josh LaPrest was 3-for-4 with his sixth home run of the season, sending a towering shot over the left field fence in the fifth inning. 

Game 2 (March 10, 2018) 

Hits were few and far in between in the second game of Saturday's double header. But for every inch Central Pennsylvania provided Salem, the Tigers took a mile, stretching six walks and two hits into five runs in a shutout victory. 

Dillon Champagne got the start for Salem, picking up his first collegiate victory. His arm was electric. While his pitches are always live, in this game they were controlled, setting the tone with movement and speed to strikeout two batters swinging in the first. 

Suarez and Tyler D'Alessandro led off the bottom of the first with two walks, stealing second and third base; getting in the head of Central's pitcher, forcing a balk to score the first run and move D'Alessandro to third. 

Najay King, batting in the fifth spot, later hit a groundout to first, scoring D'Alessandro to give Salem a quick 2-0 lead. 

Salem scored two more runs in the third inning without a hit or error, taking advantage of three walks and a number of passed balls. 

The Tigers picked up their only two hits of the game in the fifth inning. Suarez started the inning with a single to left field, then stole second base; setting up D'Alessandro's RBI single to right field. 

Champagne pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three hits and walking two while striking out eight hitters; getting two outs in the sixth with two on before turning the inning over to Andrew Lett for the final out. 

Head Coach Addison Rouse turned to three different pitchers in the final inning, getting an out each from Joshua Delaney, Michael Rupp, and Dakota Jarrett to end the game. 

Game 3 (March 11, 2018) 

Batting in the cleanup spot, Najay King stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth with two out and one on, connecting on the first pitch with such force the question was not if the ball would go over, but how far would it clear the mark. 

In the final game of the series, Salem's bats came to life, producing 11 hits in an 8-2 victory. 

Logan Persse started for Salem, picking up his third win of the season by pitching eight innings, giving up seven hits and one run (unearned) while striking out four. 

The Tigers' defense turned a season-high three double plays to offset three errors, leaving six Central Pennsylvania College players stranded on base. 

Salem got big performances from Mateo Gil and Ault, who combined to hit 5-for-8 with five RBIs and two runs scored and four stolen bases. 

As a team, the Tigers hit 11-for-35 (.314) with seven RBIs and eight stolen bases. 

With the victory, the Tigers improve to 9-5-1 on the season. Salem will return to action on March 13 against Davis & Elkins College at 3 p.m.