Explosive first inning leads #21 Baseball to 30th win of season

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 21st-ranked Catawba College baseball team earned its 30th win of the season — the Catawba Indians' 23rd in the last 24 full seasons — on Tuesday night at Newman Park, 17-4 over visiting Belmont Abbey, boosted by an 8-run first inning.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Belmont Abbey 16-6

- The Catawba Indians recorded nine of 12 extra-base hits in the contest

- The Crusaders committed both errors in the game

- Catawba recorded both stolen bases

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed six earned runs on six hits and six walks, striking out eight; BAC's staff allowed 16 earned runs on 16 hits and nine walks, also striking out eight

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Logan Rogers was 3-for-5 with three doubles, three RBI and two runs scored

- Bo Rusher went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored

- Drew Robertson had a 2-for-3 day with a double, a walk, three RBI and two runs scored

- Sam Hunter extended his hit streak to 20 games with a 2-for-4 effort with a double, three RBI and a run scored

- Mason Gwyn got the win, tossing five innings and allowing one run on four hits, striking out three; Austin Fine, Casey Gouge and Hayden Simmerson provided scoreless relief

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Belmont Abbey struck first with a two-out RBI single off the wall in left field

- Catawba answered by loading the bases with no one out on a pair of walks and a bunt single; Rusher tied the game early with an RBI single to right

- Cole Hales drew a bases-loaded walk before Robertson emptied the bases with a double down the left field line to give Catawba the early 5-1 lead

- Rogers followed up with another RBI double and Cooper Bryson's RBI single made it eighth straight Catawba batters reaching safely to open the bottom half, leading 6-1

- Ty Hubbard and Levi Perrell kept the scoring going with back-to-back RBI groundouts to extend the advantage to 8-1

SECOND INNING

- Rogers added another double in the second, plating two runs, as Catawba led 10-1 after two innings

FIFTH INNING

- Hunter ripped a two-RBI double to right center to add to the advantage, 12-1

SIXTH INNING

- Bryson tripled to left and scored on a wild pitch with one out in the sixth

- Hunter scored another on his RBI fielder's choice later in the inning

- Rusher drove in another on a double to left, extending the lead to 15-1

SEVENTH INNING

- Connor Tucker's three-run homer marked BAC's first runs scored since the first inning

- Catawba got two of the runs back on Colby Taylor's pinch-hit, two-run double the opposite way

NINTH INNING

- The Crusaders drew two bases-loaded walks, but Catawba had the game well within reach to extend their win streak to eight games

UP NEXT

- Catawba hits the road for the first time in April this weekend, returning to South Atlantic Conference play on Friday, traveling to Anderson for the first game of a three-game set; first pitch is set for 6 p.m.