Hickory, N.C. —- The third-ranked Catawba College baseball team was held to three runs in its opening game of a three-game set at 10th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne, falling to the Bears 5-3 in South Atlantic Conference play.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Lenoir-Rhyne 9-7

- Both teams recorded three extra-base hits

- The Catawba Indians recorded the lone error in the contest

- Catawba had the two stolen bases on the afternoon

- The Bears' pitchers allowed three runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out four; the Catawba Indian staff allowed four earned runs on seven hits and five walks, striking out 11

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Colt Wilkins struck out nine in his 6.2-inning start, allowing four earned runs

- Seth Sharpe fanned two across the final four outs

- Brandon Crabtree tripled and doubled and scored twice

- Hunter Atkins singled twice and drove in a run

- Ty Hubbard doubled and scored; Nathan Chrismon had two hits

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Crabtree's hard-hit ball to right-center got by the centerfielder, resulting as a triple

- Atkins scored him on a sacrifice fly to take an early lead

SECOND INNING

- LR hit an RBI double and a two-RBI single to drop a three-spot in the bottom of the second to take a lead of its own

FOURTH INNING

- Crabtree sent a double the other way to lead off the fourth

- He tagged on a flyout and an RBI groundout scored him to get within a run

FIFTH INNING

- Hubbard hit a two-out double the other way in the fifth

- Jake Dunlap brought in the tying run on a two-out single to right field

- The Bears answered with a two-out RBI of their own on a double in the fifth

SEVENTH INNING

- LR padded its lead when it reached on an error, moved the runner over on a bunt and scored on another two-out base knock in the seventh

UP NEXT

- The two remaining teams with one loss in conference play with rejoin on Saturday for a doubleheader at 2 and 5 p.m.