The situation was eerily similar to last year’s late-season game when Northwestern and Salisbury went into the last inning with a tie score.

The Tigers won that battle back on May 9 of 2016, but the Falcons got revenge last Wednesday with a 6-5 come-from behind win on their home field.

“This was the same exact scenario (as last season’s game at Northwestern),” said Salisbury head coach Jeff Appleman. “It was the same exact score. Same exact scenario in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and nobody on.

“The only difference was the victor. It went our way this time.”

The Falcons’ Gretchen Helsel poked a seventh-inning single between third base and shortstop to bring in teammate Morgan Goletz with the game-winning run last Wednesday’s game.

“At first, I was really nervous but then, I just took a deep breathe,” said Helsel, who was able to score her first hit of the game when it was needed the most. “And, then I did what I had to do. I was able to hit the ball like I normally do.

“I was just so excited that we were finally able to beat them because we most definitely deserved this victory.”

The Falcons pushed three runs across home plate to score some redemption against their Colonial League Division South Division rival.

Salisbury took a 3-1 lead in the third inning thanks to a hits by Brooke Rogers and Lil Crouthamel, along with a three-base error on the Falcons. The Tigers soon fought back with a three-run sixth inning.

Tiger pitcher Emily Akelaitis hit a two-run home run, which scored Ashley Sisco. Then, Breeanna Bliss capped the inning with an RBI-triple, scoring Natalie Smith.

The Tigers had a 5-3 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Akelaitis was able score a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth.

The Tigers threated in the sixth, as Avery George doubled before Brooke Wehr drew a walk. But Falcon pitcher Emily Silberman got out of the jam to keep her team within striking distance.

Salisbury’s rally started with two outs when Payton Stauffer tripled to right-centerfield and scored on a wild pitch. Kaitlyn Kellez drew a walk before Morgan Goletz reached base on an infield hit. The Falcons’ Bryanna Driscol delivered an RBI-single to tie the game and Helsel ended it with the game-winning RBI.

“They will definitely remember this,” Appleman said. “These are the type of games you are going to see in the Colonial League. This league is so up and down with talent. The talent is good. I think we’re going to see a lot of games like this.”

Northwestern head coach Josh Zimmerman agrees that the league has a lot of balance this year. He

“If you look at the league website every day, it’s amazing seeing all the close scores and who’s beating who,” he said. “It’s a wide-open league. To win these close ones, it’s a lot of focus and attention to detail. I think we lacked that in some of our defensive play today a little bit. It came back to bite us a little bit.

“But, that’s why you play the game. You don’t play to be in those 16-0, 17-0 games. It’s easy to be a front-runner when you can do that. This is what it takes to win against a quality opponent. You’ve got to keep your focus. You’ve got to keep your determination and never fall asleep while you’re out there. Today, it just wasn’t our day.”