SAC CHAMPS! #21 Baseball claims SAC regular season crown with 2-1 win over Wingate

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 21st-ranked Catawba College baseball team claimed its 15th South Atlantic Conference regular season title in program history at Newman Park on Friday night, defeating second-place Wingate 2-1 in SAC baseball action.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Wingate 8-6

- The Bulldogs had three of four extra-base hits on the night

- The Catawba Indians recorded four of five stolen bases

- Catawba's pitchers allowed one earned run on six hits and three walks, striking out nine; Wingate's staff allowed two earned runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out five

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Mason Gwyn earned the win in 1.2 shutout innings of relief, allowing just one hit; Brandon Rodgers and Hayden Simmerson closed the final 1.1 innings with Simmerson picking up his sixth save of the season

- Austin Fine threw six innings of 1-run ball, allowing five hits and three walks with five punchouts

- Levi Perrell was 2-for-3 with two steals and a run scored

- Ty Hubbard also recorded a pair of hits and scored a run

- Dylan Driver and Bo Rusher both recorded RBI base hits

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Perrell singled and stole second to lead off the first

- Rusher's two-out RBI single to center plated the first run for Catawba

FOURTH INNING

- Wingate's Breon Ishmael doubled off the left field wall with a runner on first, but Drew Robertson gunned the runner at the plate from left field to keep the Bulldogs scoreless

SIXTH INNING

- Ishmael eventually did drive in the tying run with an RBI single in the sixth

SEVENTH INNING

- Cooper Bryson led off the seventh with a single to center field

- Perrell's opposite-field single put runners on first and third with one out

- Driver's soft single to the right side of the infield scored the go-ahead run

NOTES

- Catawba earns its 15th SAC regular season championship in program history

- The Catawba Indians have claimed eight of the last 12 SAC regular season titles

- Wingate is next in the conference with seven

- Jim Gantt, the winningest baseball coach in SAC history, earns his 13th SAC regular season title, the most of any SAC baseball head coach

- Catawba improves to 23-1 at Newman Park this season

UP NEXT

- Catawba and Wingate wrap up the final regular season weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday; Senior Day will precede game one, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.