Salisbury, N.C. — The 4th-ranked Catawba College baseball team bounced back from a difficult loss in the opening game of a Saturday doubleheader at Newman Park to win 16-1 in the weather-delayed rubber match versus Wingate in a matchup of the top two teams in the South Atlantic Conference standings heading into the weekend.
GAME ONE | Wingate 12, Catawba 10 - 10 innings
TEAM STATISTICS
- Wingate out-hit Catawba 15-9
- Both teams hit two homers and three extra-base hits
- The Bulldogs committed the lone error of the contest
- Catawba left two runners on base; the Bulldogs stranded 10
- The Catawba Indians had the only two stolen bases of the game
- Wingate's pitchers allowed eight earned runs on nine hits and four walks, striking out 10; Catawba's staff allowed 12 runs on 15 hits and seven walks, striking out 11
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Brandon Crabtree was 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, three RBI and two runs scored
- Logan Dyer went 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored
- Malachi Cloud homered in two hits hits three RBI and a run scored
- Zachary Gaydos struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings
HOW IT HAPPENED
THIRD INNING
- Nathan Chrismon walked and stole second in the third
- Dyer's two-out RBI single scored the game's first run in the third
- Crabtree sent a double over the center fielder's head to score Dyer to take a 2-0 early lead
FIFTH INNING
- Wingate singled and walked to start the fifth
- Bowen Powell singled to right field to score a run
- A walk loaded the bases
- Tanner McCammon's single up the middle scored two runs as Wingate took the lead
- Jake Courville's two-run single gave the Bulldogs a 5-2 lead
- Chrismon got on with a bunt single
- Cloud's infield single scored him to make it 5-3
- Dyer got on with a single up the middle before Crabtree tied the game with an opposite-field homer that bounced up over the wall to tie the game at 5
SIXTH INNING
- Bowen Powell's two-run homer returned the lead to Wingate in the sixth
SEVENTH INNING
- Ty Hubbard walked to lead off the seventh and Cloud's no-doubt homer to left field tied the game at 7
- Two more Catawba Indians reached on walks, allowing them to score on an error on a sharply hit ball to take the lead, 9-7
- Hunter Atkins' sac fly made it 10-7 after seven
EIGHTH INNING
- Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Wingate in the eighth
- The Bulldogs scored on a double play to make it 10-8
- McCammon's two-out RBI single trimmed the Catawba deficit to a single run
NINTH INNING
- Catawba retired the first two batters of the ninth before Bradley Hart reached on a single and the next batter was hit by a pitch
- Down to their final strike, Wingate tied the game on a bloop single to center
TENTH INNING
- Ben Karpowicz's two-run homer put the Bulldogs ahead, 12-10 in the tenth
GAME TWO | Catawba 16, Wingate 1
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Wingate 17-3
- Both teams hit a homer, but the Catawba Indians had eight of nine extra-base hits
- The Bulldogs committed the lone error of the game
- Catawba recorded all three stolen bases
- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed one run on three hits and three walks, striking out six; Wingate's staff allowed 14 earned runs on 17 hits and five walks, striking out four
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Sam Hunter was 2-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and four runs scored
- Dyer added four hits with two doubles, and RBI and three runs scored
- Matthew Connolly doubled twice, drove in three and scored twice
- Atkins doubled in two hits, driving in two and scoring two
- Casey Gouge went six innings, allowing just one run on two hits, striking out five
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Powell started the scoring for Wingate with a one-out homer in the top of the first
- Dyer led off the bottom half with a double the other way
- Two groundouts moved him over and in with Hunter picking up the RBI
- Atkins had an infield single and stole second, setting up Connolly's RBI double to give Catawba the lead
SECOND INNING
- Cloud picked up a two-out single to left in the second before stealing second
- Dyer dropped an RBI single to right field to score him, leading 3-1
THIRD INNING
- Hunter led off the third with a single before Connolly scored him on his second double of the game
- Jake Dunlap scored him with a single through the right side, leading 5-1
FOURTH INNING
- Dyer doubled to lead off the fourth, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Atkins' sac fly
- Dunlap's infield single scored two as Connolly hustled around from third and scored on the bang-bang play
- Hubbard pushed a ball down the third-base line to score two more as Catawba blew open a 10-1 lead
FIFTH INNING
- Atkins' RBI double kept the runs coming in the fifth
- Connolly's sac fly made it 12-1
- Chrismon's two-out double down the left field line pushed Catawba's lead to 13-1
SIXTH INNING
- Hunter's three-run homer to right field in the sixth to make it 16-1
UP NEXT
- Catawba heads to Kannapolis on Tuesday for its annual Cannon Ballers College Series game
- The Catawba Indians take on 17th-ranked Francis Marion at 6 p.m.
