West Palm Beach, Fla. —- The Catawba College baseball team rolled to a 16-3 season-opening win at Palm Beach Atlantic on Thursday evening behind a career-high six RBI from sophomore outfielder Sam Hunter in his Catawba debut.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Palm Beach Atlantic 14-5
- The Catawba Indians had the only two extra-base hits with a double and a homer
- The Sailfish committed three errors to Catawba's four
- Catawba left eight runners on base to 11 for PBA
- The Catawba Indians recorded each of the six stolen bases on the night
- Catawba's pitching staff struck out seven and walked just two, while the Sailfish punched out six and walked five
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Hunter went 4-for-5 with a double and six runs batted in and a run scored
- Dylan Driver recorded two singles with two RBI and two runs scored
- Drew Robertson had a single with two RBI and three runs scored
- Levi Perrell and Cooper Bryson also scored three runs apiece
- Jackson Price hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer
- Austin Fine went seven strong in his first start of the season, allowing one unearned run on two hits, striking out five and walking one
- Carson Edmiston and Mason Gwyn closed out the game in their season debuts
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Perrell was hit by a pitch and stole seconds to start the game
- Driver drove him in on an RBI single for Catawba's first run of the season
SECOND INNING
- Ty Hubbard scored on a wild pitch before Driver drove in an RBI on a fielder's choice
- Hunter's two-RBI single gave the Catawba Indians a 5-0 lead after two
FOURTH INNING
- Catawba loaded the bases with no outs to start the fourth, forcing the Sailfish to make a change on the mound
- Hunter hit a bases-clearing double to right center to open up an 8-0 lead for the Catawba Indians; he later scored on a balk
FIFTH INNING
- Catawba kept the offensive production going in the fifth on Robertson's no-out RBI single
- With the bases loading again, Hunter brought a run home with a single to right field to score Jackson Finger
- Bo Rusher III drove in a run on a sac fly for his first Catawba RBI, as the Catawba Indians took a commanding 12-0 lead
SIXTH INNING
- Bryson scored on an error to push the lead to 13-0
- PBA scratched across an unearned run in the bottom half on a sac fly
EIGHTH INNING
- Price belted a two-run homer to left field in the eighth for the first of the season for the team
- The Sailfish scored a run in the bottom half, but Edmiston forced a groundout to lead the bases loaded
NINTH INNING
- Zeb Burns drove in a run in his pinch-hit appearance, as Catawba took a 16-2 lead
- Kody Kelley hit a two-out RBI single for PBA, but Gwyn closed the door for the season-opening win, their third time scoring double-digit runs in the season-opener in the last four years
UP NEXT
- The Catawba Indians continue their Florida swing on Friday, facing Nova Southeastern at 7 p.m.
