Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College baseball team moved to half a game out of first place in the South Atlantic Conference on Friday night, besting visiting Limestone 8-4 at Newman Park.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba out-hit Limestone 13-8
- The Catawba Indians recorded five of eight extra-base hits in the game with two of three homers
- The Saints committed three of four errors in the contest
- Both teams stole two bases on the night
- Catawba's pitchers allowed four earned runs on eight hits and three walks, striking out 11; Limestone's staff allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits and three walks, striking out six
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Dylan Driver was 2-for-4 with a homer and triple with an RBI and two runs scored
- Bo Rusher also homered in one of two hits on the night, driving in a run and scoring another
- Drew Robertson went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored
- Austin Fine earned his fifth win on the season, going 6.2 innings strong, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out four
- Brandon Rodgers and Hayden Simmerson provided 2.1 innings of shutout relief; Simmerson punched out six across the final two innings, allowing just one hit
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Driver homered in his first at-bat for the second straight game, taking Colt Wilkins deep to give Catawba the early lead
- Rusher followed up with another solo blast to center just two batters later to double up the lead
SECOND INNING
- Noah Love added to the homer trend in the second with another solo shot to cut the Limestone deficit in half
THIRD INNING
- The Saints took the lead in the third following Wayne Stone's RBI double and Ben Partridge's RBI single up the middle
- Driver answered with a lead-off triple in the third
- Sam Hunter's RBI double scored him to tie the game at 3
- Robertson's RBI single the other way returned the lead to the Catawba Indians
FOURTH INNING
- Logan Rogers led off the fourth with a lead-off double
- Levi Perrell picked up the RBI later in the frame
SEVENTH INNING
- Sion Barnette's two-out RBI single trimmed the Catawba advantage to 5-4
- Catawba loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom half before Robertson scored on a wild pitch
- Perrell's sac fly scored another run, while Catawba took advantage of a Saint error in the field to tack on one more, leading 8-4 after seven
NINTH INNING
- Simmerson took it from there, striking out three in both the eighth and ninth innings to send Catawba to their eighth win in the last nine games
UP NEXT
- Catawba and Limestone wrap up their three-game set on Saturday with a doubleheader at Newman Park; first pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m.
