Cary, N.C. —- The seventh-ranked and third-seeded Catawba College baseball team utilized a walk-off RBI single from redshirt sophomore Hunter Atkins to cap a wild 10-9 win over fourth-ranked and sixth-seeded Point Loma to advance to the national semifinals in the Division II Baseball National Championships in Cary on Tuesday night.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Point Loma out-hit Catawba 11-10
- The Catawba Indians hit the lone homer and four of six extra-base hits
- Both teams committed an error
- Catawba left 12 runners on base; the Sea Lions stranded 16
- Point Loma's pitchers allowed nine earned runs on 10 hits and 11 walks, striking out four; the Catawba Indian pitchers allowed nine runs on 11 hits and 10 walks, striking out eight
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Hunter Atkins was 5-for-5 with a homer and five RBI
- Brandon Crabtree delivered the game-tying RBI double and scored the winning run
- Ty Hubbard doubled and scored two runs
- Joe Burleyson threw 95 pitches across five innings pitched, giving Catawba a chance to pull ahead in front
- Colt Wilkins struck out the lone batter he faced with the bases loaded to keep the deficit at one
HOW IT HAPPENED
THIRD INNING
- A swinging bunt loaded the bases for Point Loma with one out in the third
- Hank Smith's RBI single scored the game's first run
- A sac fly from Mason Cook and Aiden Arriaga's RBI single with two outs sent the Sea Lions' lead to 3-0
FOURTH INNING
- Point Loma loaded the bases again in the fourth and Smith delivered with a two-run single to extend PLNU's lead to 5-0
FIFTH INNING
- Sam Hunter singled up the middle and Atkins followed with a two-run homer to left field to get Catawba on the board
- Point Loma pitching surrendered five consecutive walks as Catawba scored two more runs without putting the ball in play
- Crabtree's RBI sac fly to deep right field tied the game at 5
- Atkins had his second two-RBI base hit of the inning with a two-run single to cap Catawba's seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead
SIXTH INNING
- Catawba reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the sixth
- A sac bunt and a tag-up on a deep fly ball moved Hubbard up to third
- A wild pitch got away from the Sea Lions' catcher to make it an 8-5 Catawba lead after six
SEVENTH INNING
- Two walks and a groundout moved two runners into scoring position for Point Loma
- Jack Ryan scored on a wild pitch to cut the Sea Lion lead to two runs
NINTH INNING
- Point Loma recorded two singles up the middle to lead off the top of the ninth, bringing the tying runs aboard
- The Sea Lions bunted the runners into scoring position with one out
- Burleyson struck out PLNU All-American Tristan Moore for the second out, but Josiah Rodriguez laced a two-run single through the left side to tie the game
- Smith followed with the go-ahead RBI triple to give Point Loma the late lead
- Walks loaded the bases as PLNU threatened to add to the lead, but Wilkins entered and struck out the lone batter he faced for the final out
- Logan Dyer walked with one out in the bottom half
- Crabtree shot an opposite-field double the other way to score the pinch runner Parker Styborski from first
- Hunter launched a ball high in the air to right field that died on the warning track for the second out, as Crabtree moved up to third
- Atkins provided the walk-off RBI single to cap the wild win for Catawba in Cary
UP NEXT
- Catawba returns to action tomorrow, facing two-time defending national champion Tampa at 6 p.m.
