KINSTON, N.C. -- Almost before it got started, the Salem Avalanche's first playoff series since 2001 was over.

In just two games, the Kinston Indians ousted the Avalanche from the Southern Division championship series, clinching their third straight division title and fourth since 2002 with a 5-0 victory at Grainger Stadium on Thursday night.

"We didn't give up, they were just better than us," Salem first baseman Ole Sheldon said. "They pitched better, they played better, they hit better."

Felled by uncharacteristically poor defense in the opener Wednesday, the Avalanche struggled with both pitching and offense Thursday.

Salem starter Rory Shortell didn't get out of the third inning, and the Avalanche hitters had just four hits.

"I'm really disappointed," Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said. "It wasn't that long ago that we were playing really well."

The Avalanche finished the season with a 76-31 record, going 44-23 in the second half with a 14-game winning streak that went a long way toward capturing Salem's first half-season division title since the first half of 1988.

But they finished the regular season with three straight losses and then lost three more games to rainouts.

"The whole week kind of dragged on, but that's no excuse," Sheldon said. "Everything was on the line, we just didn't get it done."

With an uncharacteristically sloppy defensive effort, the Avalanche lost the series opener 9-6 in Salem on Wednesday.

Pankovits replaced third baseman Billy Hart, who had one error Wednesday, with Wladimir Sutil. It was Sutil's first stint at third since joining the Avalanche from low-A Lexington in mid-June.

Jeff Mackor got the start behind the plate, replacing all-star catcher Lou Santangelo.

"I was just trying to go with who's been hot," Pankovits said. "But it didn't matter. It was a total shutdown of our offense."

Beau Torbert and Drew Sutton, Salem's most consistent hitters this season, each managed a single. Francisco Caraballo had the other two hits, also singles.

The Indians backed up Wednesday night's stellar start by Chuck Lofgren with a better one by Scott Lewis. The left-hander did not allow a run in six innings -- his longest outing of the season, though he needed just 65 pitches to get there. He struck out six and walked one.

For Salem, Shortell put the first two runners aboard in each of the first three innings, giving up a run in each, and was relieved by Raymar Diaz with a run in and a runner on second with no outs in the third.

In his first relief appearance since May, and his first in an Avalanche uniform, Diaz got catcher Javi Herrera out, but Stephen Head blasted a two-run shot over the right-field wall for a 5-0 Indians' lead.

Diaz, Enyelbert Soto and Ryan Thompson finished up without allowing another run, but the Indians didn't let up on Salem's hitters.

Lewis left the game in the capable hands of J.D. Martin, just up to Kinston on a rehab assignment recovering from last year's Tommy John surgery.

Before his injury, Martin went 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA for the Indians in the 2004 Carolina League playoffs.

He allowed just one hit, striking out five of the 10 batters he faced including all three in the ninth inning to close out the series.

"Both games seemed like they were over fairly early," Sheldon said. "We tried to fight, but at some point you've just got to get it done."

SALEM KINSTON

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Maysonet ss 3 0 0 0 Constanza rf 4 1 3 1

Sutton 2b 4 0 1 0 Panther cf 2 0 0 0

Sellers dh 3 0 0 0 Choy Foo 3b 4 1 1 0

Garza ph-dh 1 0 0 0 Brown dh 3 1 1 1

Torbert lf 4 0 1 0 Herrera c 4 0 1 0

Sheldon 1b 4 0 0 0 Head 1b 4 2 2 2

Mackor c 3 0 0 0 De La Cruz ss 4 0 1 0

Caraballo rf 3 0 2 0 Drennen lf 3 0 1 0

Alcantara cf 3 0 0 0 Reyes 2b 3 0 0 0

Sutil 3b 3 0 0 0

Totals 31 0 4 0 Totals 31 5 10 4

Salem 000 000 000 -- 0

Kinston 113 000 00x -- 5

DP -- Salem 2. LOB -- Salem 5, Kinston 5. 2B -- Herrera (2), Choy Foo (1), Brown (2). HR -- Head (1). SB -- Constanza 2 (2).

IP H R ER BB SO

Salem

Shortell L, 0-1 2 7 4 4 2 0

Diaz 3 2 1 1 1 2

Soto 2 1 0 0 0 1

Thompson 1 0 0 0 0 1

Kinston

Lewis W, 1-0 6 3 0 0 1 6

Martin S, 1 3 1 0 0 0 5

Shortell pitched to 2 batters in the 3rd. WP--Shortell.

Umpires --Basner, home; Praunder, first; Young, second; Weinstein, third.

T -- 2:14. A -- 1,237.

HOW THEY SCORED

Kinston first: Constanza singled. Constanza stole second. Panther walked. Choy Foo grounded into a double play; Constanza to third. Constanza scored on a wild pitch by Shortell. Indians 1, Avalanche 0.

Kinston second: Head singled. De la Cruz singled; Head to second. Drennen flied out. Reyes reached on a fielder's choice; Head to third; de la Cruz out at second. Constanza singled; Head scored. Indians 2, Avalanche 0.

Kinston third: Choy Foo doubled. Brown doubled; Choy Foo scored. Diaz relieved Shortell. Herrera grounded out. Head homered; Brown scored. Indians 5, Avalanche 0.