#23 Baseball takes sole possession of SAC lead after closing sweep of TU

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 23rd-ranked Catawba College baseball team took sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic Conference on Saturday, coming from behind in both ends of a doubleheader with Tusculum to complete the three-game sweep at Newman Park.

GAME ONE | Catawba 14, Tusculum 6

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Tusculum 14-9

- The Catawba Indians recorded five of eight extra-base hits; both teams hit three homers

- The Pioneers committed the lone error in the game

- Tusculum left six runners on base; Catawba stranded nine

- Catawba recorded six of seven stolen bases in the game

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed six runs on nine hits and three walks, striking out 10; Tusculum's staff allowed 14 runs on 14 hits and six walks, striking out seven

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Matthew Connolly was 2-for-4 with a homer and a double, four RBI and two runs scored

- Parker Styborski added his second homer of the weekend in two hits, driving in three and scoring two more

- Cole Hales provided the breakthrough three-run home run in the sixth and scored twice

- Hunter Atkins singled twice, driving in two and scoring another; Ty Hubbard added a pair of base hits

- Hayden Simmerson earned the win on the mound, allowing a run in the final four innings on just three hits, punching out five

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Tusculum got runners on with nobody out in the first, scoring on a double play to take the early lead

THIRD INNING

- Like they did on Friday night, the Pioneers took a 3-0 lead after homering twice in the first three batters

- Connolly got Catawba on the board with a solo shot to left to lead off the bottom half

- Two singles and a walk with two outs loaded the bases for Catawba

- Atkins sent a single the other way, scoring two to tie the game

- Hubbard followed with another two-out RBI up the middle to take a 4-3 lead

- Styborski's single to center field brought home two more, as Catawba put up six in the third

FOURTH INNING

- TU got a run back in the fourth on Caleb Mulcahy's one-out homer

FIFTH INNING

- A two-out RBI brought the Pioneers to within one in the fifth

SIXTH INNING

- Back-to-back two-out singles tied the game for Tusculum in the sixth

- Facing the Tusculum closer with two on and two out, Hales launched a three-run homer to center field to take the lead, 9-6

SEVENTH INNING

- Stybroski added insurance with a leadoff blast to left center, pushing the lead to 10-6

EIGHTH INNING

- A two-out single and a walk loaded the bases again for Catawba in the eighth

- Connolly's bases-clearing double off the left field wall pushed the advantage to 13-6

- Driver followed up with another RBI single for Catawba's eighth run in the final three home halves

GAME TWO | Catawba 7, Tusculum 5

TEAM STATISTICS

- Tusculum out-hit Catawba 10-9

- The Catawba Indians recorded six of eight extra-base hits; TU had the lone homer

- Catawba committed the lone error of game two

- The Catawba Indians left seven runners on base; the Pioneers stranded nine

- Both teams recorded a stolen base

- Catawba's pitchers allowed five runs on 10 hits and four walks, striking out four; TU's staff allowed seven runs on nine hits and three walks, striking out five

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Dylan Driver was 3-for-3 with three runs scored; Driver also became the program's all-time hit-by-pitches leader

- James Dunlap doubled twice, driving in three runs and scoring another himself

- Sam Hunter and Hunter Atkins both doubled and drove in two

- Seth Sharpe picked up the win on the mound, helping Catawba get out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth; Brandon Rodgers earned the one-out save in the seventh

HOW IT HAPPENED

THIRD INNING

- For the third straight time in the series, Tusculum got on the board first with a two-out single through the right side

- Dunlap's one-out double split the gap in left-center to score Driver from first to tie the game in the bottom half

- Atkins' two-out, two-run double gave Catawba the 3-1 lead

FOURTH INNING

- TU's Ryan Ortega drove in a run on a double to cut their deficit to a single run

- Hubbard threw out a runner at home on a broken-bat ground ball for a crucial second out

- A hit-by-pitch brought home the tying run in the fourth

- Dunlap sent a double the other way to score two with two outs to regain the lead, 5-3

SIXTH INNING

- Two hit-by-pitches allowed Hunter to score both on a double for what turned out to be much-needed insurance in the bottom of the sixth, leading 7-3

SEVENTH INNING

- TU's Jude Morton lifted a two-out, two-run homer the other way, but Rodgers came in to finish the win

UP NEXT

- Catawba heads to Hickory on Tuesday for a showdown with 16th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne in a non-conference tilt on Tuesday at 6 p.m.