Salisbury, N.C. — The third-ranked Catawba College baseball team closed out its sweep of Lincoln Memorial at Newman Park to extend their lead atop the South Atlantic Conference standings to three games.
GAME ONE | Catawba 14, Lincoln Memorial 5
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Lincoln Memorial 19-14
- The Railsplitters hit the lone homer of the game; the Catawba Indians had five of seven extra-base hits
- LMU committed the only error of the game
- Lincoln Memorial left seven runners on base; Catawba stranded 11
- The Catawba Indians recorded two of three stolen bases
- Catawba's pitchers allowed five runs on 11 hits and one walk, striking out eight; the LMU staff allowed 11 earned runs on 19 hits and six walks, striking out six
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Sam Hunter was 2-for-2 with a double, a stolen base, three RBI and three runs scored
- Logan Dyer went 3-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored
- Hunter Atkins added three hits with a double, two RBI and two runs scored
- Jake Dunlap also had three hits; Ty Hubbard went 4-for-4 with two RBI
- Seth Sharpe got the win, tossing four shutout innings with five strikeouts
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Gabe Gray took the first pitch of the game over the left field wall for a home run
- A single and Brady Morse's RBI double put LMU up 2-0
- LMU's two-out, two-run single capped a four-run frame
- A walk, a single and a bunt put two runners in scoring position for Catawba in the bottom half
- A ball off the bat of Atkins was lost in the sunny sky, leading to Catawba's first run of the inning
- Dunlap and Hubbard followed with RBI base hits to cut LMU's lead to 4-3 after one inning
THIRD INNING
- Hunter singled and stole second to lead off the third
- A groundout moved him up to third to set up Hubbard's two-out infield single to tie the game at 4
FOURTH INNING
- A single and a wild pitch had a runner in scoring position with nobody out
- Kevin Fernandez's sac fly put the Railsplitters ahead 5-4
FIFTH INNING
- Hunter walked and scored on Atkins' double to left field to tie the game at 5
SIXTH INNING
- Malachi Cloud reached on an error to start the sixth and Nathan Chrismon followed with a single
- Dyer's double scored a run to break the tie
- Hunter's sac fly made it 7-5, Catawba
- Dunlap sent a single the opposite way and Matthew Connolly's bases-loaded walk put Catawba on top, 9-5
SEVENTH INNING
- Hunter's opposite-field double scored two more runs to lead by six runs
- Dunlap recorded another RBI single to lead 12-5
- Cloud's third at-bat in two innings results in a two-RBI base hit to extend Catawba's lead to 14-5
GAME TWO | Catawba 8, Lincoln Memorial 0
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Lincoln Memorial 8-3
- The Catawba Indians hit the lone homer and three of five extra-base hits
- The Railsplitters committed the lone error
- Catawba left five runners on base; LMU stranded eight
- The Catawba Indians recorded two of three stolen bases
- Catawba's pitchers threw seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and five walks, striking out nine; LMU's staff allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and six walks, striking out four
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Casey Gouge got the win, hurling five shutout innings with just two hits allowed, striking out six
- Calvin Douglas and Zachary Gaydos closed out the shutout with a scoreless inning apiece
- Brandon Crabtree was 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored
- Hunter homered, driving in two
- Hubbard and Chrismon both drove in two on a single and scored
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Hunter got the scoring started with a two-run homer in the first
- Dunlap's double set up Hubbard's RBI groundout to take a 3-0 lead through an inning
SECOND INNING
- An error and a first-to-third on a single allowed Chrismon to score on Crabtree's sac fly
FIFTH INNING
- A walk loaded the bases for Catawba in the fifth
- RBI singles from Hubbard and Cloud pushed the lead to 6-0
- Chrismon drove in two more with a single through the left side, sending the lead to 8-0
UP NEXT
- Catawba returns to Newman Park on Tuesday, hosting Mount Olive at 3 p.m.
