#11 Baseball earns 12th straight SAC series win with split at Mars Hill

Mars Hill, N.C. —- The 11th-ranked Catawba College baseball team extended its active streak of winning series in South Atlantic Conference play to 12 on Saturday, taking the opening game of a doubleheader via run-rule to take the series at Mars Hill, moving to 7-2 in league play.

GAME ONE | Catawba 17, Mars Hill 5 - 7 innings

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Mars Hill 11-9

- The Catawba Indians recorded three of four extra-base hits in the game

- The Lions committed two of three errors

- Catawba left four runners on base; MHU stranded 10

- Both teams stole a base in game one

- Catawba's pitchers allowed four earned runs on nine hits and six walks, striking out five; MHU's staff allowed 14 earned runs on 11 hits and eight walks, striking out three

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Parker Styborski singled, drove in three and stole twice

- Ty Hubbard homered with four RBI

- Dylan Driver also homered, driving in two and scoring two himself

- James Dunlap doubled, drove in two and scored twice

- Payne Stolsworth picked up the win in the start, tossing six innings with four earned runs allowed and four strikeouts

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- A single and two walks loaded the bases for Catawba in the top of the first with one out; two more walks brought home the game's first two runs

- Styborski sent a two-RBI single to left field to double the lead before Matthew Connolly added an RBI single up the middle and Hubbard drove another home on a sac fly, leading 6-0

SECOND INNING

- Sean Shelly got the scoring going once more in the second with a two-out RBI single

- Connolly recorded his second RBI base hit in as many innings before Shelly raced home on a wild pitch to go on top 9-0

- Hubbard's three-run homer put Catawba ahead 12-0

- MHU got a run back in the bottom half, trailing 12-1

THIRD INNING

- Dunlap kept the party going with a two-RBI double in the third

- Styborski drove in another to give Catawba a 15-1 stronghold on the lead

- Mars Hill scored in the bottom half to cut Catawba's lead to 13 runs

FIFTH INNING

- A sac fly and an RBI single brought Catawba's lead to 15-4 in the fifth

SEVENTH INNING

- Driver sent his third homer of the weekend to center field in the seventh, scoring two

- MHU added one more in the final frame, but Catawba held on for the early mercy-rule win, 17-5

GAME TWO | Mars Hill 3, Catawba 2

TEAM STATISTICS

- Mars Hill out-hit Catawba 9-4

- Both teams had two extra-base hits, including one homer

- The Catawba Indians committed the lone error in the game

- Catawba left four runners on base; MHU stranded seven

- Mars Hill's starting pitcher went the distance, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk, striking out eight; Catawba's staff allowed two earned runs on nine hits and a walk, striking out six

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Casey Gouge earned the tough-luck loss, allowing two earned runs in 5.2 innings of work

- Driver homered once again in game two

- Cole Hales brought a runner home on an RBI triple

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Driver mashed his fourth homer of the weekend to center field with one out in the top of the first to take the early 1-0 lead

FOURTH INNING

- Dunlap's two-out single extended the inning for Hales' RBI triple to push the lead to 2-0

FIFTH INNING

- MHU got a run back in the fifth on Peyton Starkey's leadoff home run

SIXTH INNING

- Catawba struck out the first two Lions in the sixth, but a double, two singles and an error allowed two runs to score to give up the lead late

UP NEXT

- Catawba wraps up its nine-game road trip on Tuesday, traveling to Georgia College in a rematch of the 2024 Southeast Super Regional; first pitch is set for 4 p.m.