Salisbury, N.C. —- The 6th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team advanced to the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship Series behind a dazzling start from senior Kemper Nix, who struck out 13 batters in 6.2 scoreless innings in the 10-0 run-rule win over Coker at Newman Park on Sunday.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Coker 14-4
- The Catawba Indians hit the lone homer and all seven extra-base hits
- Catawba left five runners on base; the Cobras stranded six runners
- The Catawba Indians had both stolen bases in the game
- Catawba's pitchers tossed seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and one walk, striking out 14; Coker's staff allowed 10 runs on 14 hits and two walks, striking out five
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Nix was fantastic, striking out a career-high 13 batters with 6.2 shutout innings of work, scattering four hits with no walks
- Nathan Chrismon was 3-for-4 with a double and five RBI
- Malachi Cloud went 2-for-2 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored
- Hunter Atkins was 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored
- Logan Dyer, Brandon Crabtree and Matthew Connolly all added two hits with a double each
HOW IT HAPPENED
SECOND INNING
- Connolly's two-out double started a rally for Catawba in the second inning
- Cloud scored him on an opposite-field single to right field
- Dyer's double over the left fielder's head scored another
- Crabtree hit a double off the wall that scored Catawba's third run, all with two outs
THIRD INNING
- Atkins led off the third with a double to left field
- Chrismon hit a two-out double to right-center to score the run, but was thrown out advancing to third
FOURTH INNING
- Cloud's solo homer in the fourth put Catawba in front 5-0
FIFTH INNING
- Chrismon once again came through with a two-out base hit to score two runs, but was thrown out extending the play to second base
SIXTH INNING
- Catawba loaded the bases with nobody out; Sam Hunter's fielder's choice scored a run to extend the lead to 8-0
SEVENTH INNING
- Jake Dunlap's double with one out in the seventh put two runners in scoring position in the seventh
- Chrismon drove in two more on a single up the middle to put Catawba over the mercy limit
UP NEXT
- Catawba advances to the SAC Championship Series at McCrary Park in Asheboro, N.C. next Friday and Saturday against either Lenoir-Rhyne or Wingate
- Game one is set for 4 p.m. on Friday
