Salisbury, N.C. —- The 9th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team scored the game's first nine runs and held on late to take game one of the 2024 NCAA DII Southeast Super Region best-of-three series over 7th-seed Georgia College on Friday night at Newman Park. The Catawba Indians now stand one win away from a trip to the Division II College World Series.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Georgia College 15-12
- The Catawba Indians recorded five of seven extra-base hits; GCSU hit the lone homer
- Both teams left six runners on base
- The Bobcats committed the lone error in the game
- Catawba had both stolen bases on the night
- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed six runs on 12 hits and three walks, striking out six; Georgia College's staff allowed nine runs on 15 hits, also striking out six
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Sam Hunter was 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored
- Dylan Driver had two doubles and scored three times
- Cole Hales also doubled twice in a three-hit effort, driving in a run and scoring another
- Levi Perrell and Bo Rusher also had multi-hit games; Rusher drove in a pair and Perrell scored twice
- Austin Fine earned the win on the mound, tossing six shutout innings, allowing five hits and a walk with six punchouts
- Hayden Simmerson retired the tying run in the ninth to close the door
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Driver doubled down the right field line in his first at-bat in the opening frame
- Rusher drove him in on a two-out RBI base knock the other way
THIRD INNING
- Driver started another scoring rally with a one-out double to left field
- Rusher once again drove him in on a two-out base hit up the middle
FOURTH INNING
- Cooper Bryson drove in Logan Rogers on a double off the wall in right-center
- Ty Hubbard's RBI base hit up the middle made it a 4-0 Catawba lead
- Hunter drove in another on a RBI base hit through the left side, but another Catawba runner was thrown out at the plate as GCSU kept it to a 5-0 lead
FIFTH INNING
- Hales' double and Drew Robertson's single allowed Hales to score on a fielder's choice to boost the lead to six runs
SIXTH INNING
- GCSU loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Fine kept the shutout going with two strikeouts to end the scoring threat
- Catawba turned the momentum into more runs; Hunter's two-RBI base hit back up the middle on a drawn-in infield made it an 8-0 game
- Hales added his third hit of the game with another two-out RBI base hit, leading 9-0
EIGHTH INNING
- Brandon Bellflower's three-run homer got the Bobcats on the board in the eighth
NINTH INNING
- GCSU kept the rally going in the ninth, loading up the bases with no outs
- An RBI single, a bases loaded walk and a sac fly brought the tying run to the plate for Georgia College with two outs to play with
- Perrell recorded two outs on ground balls to walk away with the win
UP NEXT
- Catawba and Georgia College continue the Super Regional on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. first pitch; the Catawba Indians need to win one of two games to advance to the DII College World Series
