Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College baseball team out-scored Emory & Henry 29-2 in a Saturday doubleheader, completing the sweep of the Wasps to open up South Atlantic Conference action at Newman Park. The Catawba Indians improve to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in the SAC, while E&H drops to 4-10 overall and 0-3 in league play.
After a pitcher's duel on Friday night, game one on Saturday started the Saturday slugfest for Catawba, whose lone homer of the day came from Drew Robertson in game one, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. Carson Yates added two more RBI in game one, while Cameron Mills, Dylan Driver and Harris Jackson chipped in multi-hit games for the Catawba Indians.
Catawba put up a five-spot in the home half of the second inning, as Jackson Finger got the ball rolling with an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch. Levi Perrell drove Robertson home on a sacrifice fly before Blake Marsh drove home Mills on a walk and Driver scored on a wild pitch. At this point, the game was delayed for 11 minutes due to rain.
After the restart, Catawba added more runs in the fourth, as Perrell stole a base and scored on the same play after a pair of Wasp errors. Then, Yates hit a 2-RBI double before scoring himself on a wild pitch.
Robertson homered to leadoff the fifth, while RBIs from Driver, Jackson and Robertson capped the offensive outpour in the 13-2 win in the opener.
Joseph Webb earned the win on the mound, pitching two shutout and hitless innings in relief after starter Brandon Rodgers got a no-decision after going four innings, giving up the two runs.
Game two was more of the same, as Yates drove four home, Mills and Finger both had three-hit games and Marsh hit two doubles in the 16-0 win in seven innings. The Catawba Indians put up four runs in the bottom of the first before adding five runs in both the fourth and fifth.
Mason Gwyn earned his second win on the mound this season, tossing five shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out five.
Catawba hits the road next week, starting with a ranked midweek matchup at #14 UNC Pembroke on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.