Salisbury, N.C. — The 11th-ranked Catawba College baseball team finished off its three-game sweep of Tusculum in the opening series of South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday afternoon, taking both ends of a doubleheader at Newman Park.
GAME ONE | Catawba 6, Tusculum 3
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Tusculum 9-5
- The Pioneers hit the lone homer; both teams had one extra-base hit
- The Catawba Indians recorded the lone stolen base of game one
- Catawba's pitchers allowed three runs on five hits and six walks, striking out 11; TU's staff allowed six runs on nine hits and three walks, striking out seven
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Kemper Nix earned his first win as a Catawba Indian, throwing five innings with two runs allowed on just three hits and five strikeouts
- Seth Sharpe provided three innings of relief with three strikeouts
- Calvin Douglas picked up the save with three strikeouts in the ninth
- Matthew Connolly picked up a pair of base hits with three RBI and a run scored
- Brandon Crabtree was 3-for-5 with two runs scored
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Tusculum's Ryan Ortega drove in the game's first run on a single in the top half of the first
- Crabtree and Hunter Atkins singled in the bottom half; a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases
- Connolly knocked a base hit through the left side, giving Catawba the early lead
- Jake Dunlap's RBI base hit bunt added Catawba's third run of the frame
- Logan Dyer notched a sacrifice fly to make it a 4-1 Catawba lead after one
THIRD INNING
- Landon Dockery hit a leadoff homer for the Pioneers in the third, cutting the deficit to 4-2
FOURTH INNING
- Connolly provided another RBI base hit in the fourth; his two-out single put the Catawba Indians ahead 5-2
FIFTH INNING
- Sam Hunter's two-out double the opposite way scored the runner from first to push the lead to 6-2
EIGHTH INNING
- A one-out walk and a single put runners on the corners
- A pinch-hit sacrifice fly cut the Pioneer deficit to 6-3
GAME TWO | Catawba 7, Tusculum 0
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Tusculum 10-4
- The Pioneers had two of three extra-base hits
- TU committed the lone error of the game
- Catawba had the lone stolen base of game two
- Catawba's pitchers threw seven shutout innings with four hits and two walks allowed with six strikeouts; TU's staff allowed seven runs on 10 hits and four walks
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Casey Gouge threw five scoreless innings with four hits allowed and five strikeouts
- Zachary Gaydos and Joe Burleyson offered hitless sixth and seventh innings, respectively
- Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBI and a run scored
- Atkins and Parker Stybrowkis were both 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored
- Logan Dyer drove in singled, drove in two and scored
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Hunter led off the first with a bunt single
- A single and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with nobody out
- Catawba was unable to score the run in the next two batters, but Dyer stepped up with a two-RBI single up the middle
- Styborski added a two-out RBI single the other way to give Catawba a 3-0 lead after one
SECOND INNING
- Hubbard walked and stole second, allowing him to score on Atkins' RBI base hit to go up 3-0
THIRD INNING
- Two walks and a single loaded the bases with two out in the third
- Hunter helped break the game open with a bases-clearing double off the left field wall, giving Catawba a comfortable 7-0 lead
UP NEXT
- Catawba turns its attention to a top-25 showdown at Belmont Abbey next Tuesday; first pitch from Abbey Yard is set for 4 p.m.
