Salisbury, N.C. —- Catawba College grad student Bo Rusher walked off Catawba's 12-inning marathon game with a solo homer to take the first two games of the series over Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday afternoon at Newman Park to improve the Catawba Indians' mark this season to 12-5 and 3-2 in South Atlantic Conference play.
GAME ONE | Catawba 15, Lenoir-Rhyne 5 - 8 innings
TEAM STATS
- Catawba out-hit Lenoir-Rhyne 16-9
- The Catawba Indians had nine of 11 extra-base hits in the game; both teams hit a homer
- LR committed both errors of the contest
- Catawba recorded five of six stolen bases in the game
- Catawba's pitchers allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks, striking out five; the Bears' staff allowed 13 earned runs on 16 hits and six walks, striking out four
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Levi Perrell was a homer short of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, a walk, a steal, two RBI and five runs scored
- Ty Hubbard went 2-for-4 with a homer, a steal, three RBI and three runs scored
- Drew Robertson had a three-hit game with a double, a steal and an RBI
- Dylan Driver, Sam Hunter and Logan Rogers each recorded multiple hits
- Austin Fine went six innings to earn the win, allowing three earned runs on five hits and striking out three
- Harris Jackson pitched a shutout eighth in relief
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- LR's Blake Bean hit a lead-off homer to give the Bears the early lead
THIRD INNING
- Rusher's sac fly, Cole Hales' two-RBI double and Robertson's RBI double helped Catawba put up a 4-spot in the third to take the lead
FOURTH INNING
- The Catawba Indians added three more in the fourth thanks to RBI doubles from Perrell and Hunter
SIXTH INNING
- Owen Blackledge's two-RBI double cut the Bears' deficit to 7-3
- Catawba responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half with RBI from Rusher and Hales
SEVENTH INNING
- Tyler McPeark's two-RBI double brought LR back within four runs
- The Catawba Indians once again re-stored their lead in the seventh behind Hubbard's two-run homer and Perrell scoring on a wild pitch
EIGHTH INNING
- Catawba finished off the 10-run win with three more in the eighth behind RBI base hits from Hubbard, Perrell and Driver
GAME TWO | Catawba 7, Lenoir-Rhyne 6 - 12 innings
TEAM STATS
- Lenoir-Rhyne out-hit Catawba 16-11
- The Catawba Indians had five of eight extra-base hits, with all three homers
- Catawba committed two of three errors in the field
- The Catawba Indians recorded eight of 11 stolen bases in the game
- The Bears' pitchers allowed six earned runs on 11 hits and six walks, striking out 13; Catawba's staff allowed six earned runs on 16 hits and one walk, striking out 10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Hunter was 3-for-6 with a homer, two RBI and a run scored
- Rogers also homered on a 2-for-5 day with two RBI and a run scored
- Driver was 2-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored
- Robertson went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored
- Rusher's walk-off home run sealed the win in the bottom of the 12th
- Payne Stolsworth was solid in his start, allowing three earned run in his 5.2 innings, striking out seven
- Brandon Rodgers earned the win, pitching the final five innings without allowing a run on hour hits, striking out two
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- LR once again jumped in front behind an RBI single from Sal Carricato and an RBI fielder's choice from Khi Holiday
THIRD INNING
- Catawba tied the game in the third on Driver's opposite-way RBI double and Hunter's RBI single
FOURTH INNING
- Rogers' two-out, two-run homer just snuck inside the left-field foul pole to take a 4-2 lead
SIXTH INNING
- McPeak's two-out RBI double tied the game in the sixth
SEVENTH INNING
- LR pulled ahead in the seventh with Bryce Stober's two-RBI single up the middle
- Hunter hit a one-out solo homer to right field to cut Catawba's deficit in half
- Hales reached on a costly two-out throwing error
- Catawba was down to its last strike when Robertson belted an RBI double the other way to tie the game
TWELFTH INNING
- After four scoreless frames in extras with plenty of defensive plays from Catawba to save a potential go-ahead run from the Bears, Rusher blasted the walk-off homer down the right field line to send Catawba to a three-game win streak
UP NEXT
- The Catawba Indians will go for the sweep on Sunday, hosting the Bears for the series finale at Newman Park at 3 p.m.
