Salisbury, N.C. —- The 9th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team punched their ticket to the Southeast Super Regional for the first time since 2019 at Newman Park on Saturday afternoon. The Catawba Indians held 25th-ranked and fifth-seed Young Harris scoreless over the final six innings to take the 6-4 victory.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Young Harris 10-6
- Both teams recorded three extra-base hits; YHC had both homers
- Both teams left seven runners on base
- The Mountain Lions committed the lone error in the game
- Both teams recorded two stolen bases
- Catawba's pitchers allowed four earned runs on six hits and one walk, striking out seven; Young Harris' staff allowed five earned runs on 10 hits and six walks, striking out two
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Levi Perrell was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored
- Dylan Driver singled, drove in a run and scored
- Sam Hunter recorded a pair of hits and drove in a run
- Ty Hubbard singled, walked twice and scored twice
- Casey Gouge earned the win out of the bullpen, throwing five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks, striking out four
- Brandon Rodgers and Hayden Simmerson combined for 1.2 innings to close the door; Simmerson picked up his eighth save of the year and second of the weekend
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- For the second straight day, Catawba got aboard early, led by Perrell's leadoff double
- After a sac bunt moved runners over, Bo Rusher's sac fly got the Catawba Indians their first run
- Drew Robertson ripped a two-out, RBI double the other way to score Driver and take a 2-0 lead
- YHC drew a hit-by-pitch with two outs and Jeremy Begora's RBI double cut Catawba's lead in half in the bottom half
SECOND INNING
- Perrell's second double in as many innings score Hubbard from second as Catawba added to its lead
- Hunter's two-out infield single scored a run from third to take a 4-1 lead
- The Mountain Lions answered with a two-run homer from Marco Colina to cut their deficit back to a single run
THIRD INNING
- With the hit and run on, Perrell's single through the right side scored Cooper Bryson from second
- Driver added another run on a single to center field
- Hunter's base hit looked to score another, but the YHC outfielder threw the runner out at home
- Catawba once again was hurt by the long ball in the bottom half, as Jack Enrico trimmed the YHC deficit to 6-4
- No runs were scored after the third inning, as Gouge, Rodgers and Simmerson kept the Mountain Lions off the scoreboard over the final six frames
UP NEXT
- Catawba will host seventh-seed Georgia College for a best-of-three series at Newman Park next weekend; game one is set for Friday
- For updates on game time, ticketing, parking and all other information regarding the Southeast Super Regional, be sure to check back in at catawbaathletics.com
