Baseball sweeps Tusculum on Senior Day
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tusculum | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
|
Catawba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 10 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tusculum | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
|
Catawba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | X | 6 | 7 | 0 |
Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College baseball team jumped to second in the South Atlantic Conference standings on Saturday, sweeping Tusculum in a doubleheader on Senior Day at Newman Park. The Catawba Indians improve to 25-18 overall and 14-5 in the SAC, while the Pioneers drop to 23-20 and 9-11 in conference play.
Cameron Mills and Drew Robertson went for three hits apiece in game one in a low-scoring matchup. Cooper Bryson, Cole Hales and Carson Yates provided the RBI.
Bryson hit through the right side to score Levi Perrell in the top of the first before Hales followed up later to score Bryson on an RBI base knock. The Pioneers chipped away at the lead, scoring on a wild pitch in the second inning and Tyler Ranel's solo home run tied the game at 2 in the top of the fifth.
Catawba answered in the bottom half of the inning, as Mills scored on a throwing error on a pick-off attempt and Yates' RBI double scored Hales to return the Catawba lead to two. Ranel would homer again in the top of the seventh, but Robbie Cowie held the Pioneer bats scoreless for the final eight outs to earn the save, moving him to second all-time in program history.
Austin Fine got his eighth win of the year in the start, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out four in 6.1 innings of work.
Tusculum got the early lead in game two, as Ben Scartz hit an RBI single in the first and Ranel scored on a wild pitch in the third to give TU the early 2-0 lead.
Hales' sac fly in the fourth inning got Catawba on the board before exploding for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good. Perrell ripped a two-out triple to get the scoring started in the inning and tie the game, while Blake Marsh's three-run homer put Catawba in front and Hales' RBI double added insurance.
Brandon Rodgers got the win on the mound, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out five. Hales closed the game out, recording the final six outs in order to earn his second save of the year.
Now in solo possession of second place in the conference, Catawba looks for the series sweep on Sunday, hosting the Pioneers at 11 a.m.