A shaky start doomed Mitchell College in its NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional opener on Wednesday.

The mistake-prone Mariners fell into a 6-0 hole after two innings and never climbed out.

They committed five errors overall in an 11-1 loss to fourth-seeded Salisbury University at Santander Stadium in York, Pa.

Salisbury (30-4-1) is the fifth-ranked Division III team in the nation.

"It was a tough one," coach Travis Beausoleil said in a telephone interview. "We've played such good baseball this entire season.

"It just wasn't the errors. It was the plays that we just didn't make. It was a rough one all the way around."

Luck wasn't on Mitchell's side either.

An upset in Wednesday's second game meant fifth-seeded Mitchell (32-6) will play top-seeded Kean University in a losers' bracket game at 10 a.m. today.

Kean (34-11), which lost to eighth-seeded Penn State-Berks, 5-4, is ranked fourth in the country.

"It's an unlucky draw for us," Beausoleil said. "We're going to have to run into some good baseball teams in order to win the whole thing. We need to go out and play Mitchell baseball."

Beausoleil has a deep and talented pitching staff at his disposal. Ace right-hander Al Jordan Johnson (10-0, 1.11), a Fitch High School graduate, will attempt to keep his team alive today.

"He's been our guy all year," Beausoleil said.

Four Mitchell pitchers struggled against Salisbury's potent lineup. The Sea Gulls pounded out 15 hits. Starter Tyler Shamas (7-2) only lasted into the second inning and allowed six runs.

Shamus has been dealing with a groin injury.

"Something is up," Beausoleil said. "He just doesn't have the control and command and arm action that he normally does. You could see him laboring."

Salisbury took advantage of two errors to push across four runs in the first. Peter Grasso's two-run double made it 6-0 in the second.

Mitchell reliever Eddie Santiago, a freshman from New London, pitched four innings, giving up four runs — three earned.

The Mariners managed just five hits against Brett Collacchi (6-2), who struck out 10 and walked just one. Their only run came in the third inning. Seniors Ryan Goodwin and Peter McTernan both singled and the run scored when senior Kenneth Olszewski reached on a two-out error.

Olszewski singled in the fifth to set the school's single season hit record with 57.

Junior right fielder Neftali Arroyo tripled for Mitchell's only extra base hit and also made a strong throw to complete a double play in the fifth inning.

With the loss, Mitchell is in familiar territory. The Mariners emerged out of the losers' bracket to win the New England Collegiate Conference tournament championship in each of the last two years.

"It's a brand new day," Beausoleil said. "Someone is going home. We're 3-0 (this season) in elimination games. Hopefully, our guys will come out with some fire."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe