#14 Baseball uses long ball to cap sweep of Newberry

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 14th-ranked Catawba College baseball team launched four balls over the fence on Saturday in a doubleheader sweep of Newberry, extending their program-record South Atlantic Conference series win streak to 15.

GAME ONE | Catawba 10, Newberry 1

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Newberry 12-5

- The Catawba Indians recorded six of eight extra-base hits and both homers

- The Wolves committed both errors in the game

- Newberry left five runners on base; Catawba stranded nine

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed one run on five hits and one walk, striking out 12; the Wolves' staff allowed six earned runs on 12 hits and four walks, striking out nine

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Matthew Connolly was 2-for-4 with two homers

- Sean Shelly went 2-for-3 with a triple, three RBI and a run scored

- James Dunlap added two hits with a walk and a run scored

- Nathan Chrismon doubled twice and scored

- Casey Gouge earned the win in 6.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts; Brandon Rodgers and Seth Sharpe combined to strike out six in 2.2 innings of shutout relief

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- A hit-by-pitch and a walk got two runners aboard for Catawba

- A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt scored Catawba's first run

- Catawba grounded into a double play, but scored another run to score twice in the opening frame without recording a hit

SECOND INNING

- A ball lost in the sun turned into an RBI triple for the Wolves with two outs in the second

FOURTH INNING

- Connolly led off the fourth with a high homer to left field

SIXTH INNING

- Connolly detonated again with a one-out, solo homer to left center

SEVENTH INNING

- Shelly came through with a two-out RBI single up the middle to push the lead to 5-1

- An error scored another run before Ty Hubbard's single through the left side added one more to make it a 7-1 Catawba lead

EIGHTH INNING

- Parker Styborski tripled to right center with one out in the eighth

- Cole Hales drove him home on an RBI single to right field

- Shelly drove in two more on a ball hit over the fence, but missed home plate to cause the third out an extend the game to the ninth

GAME TWO | Catawba 5, Newberry 3

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Newberry 11-6

- Both teams recorded three extra-base hits; the Catawba Indians had the lone homer

- Newberry committed the lone error in the game

- The Wolves left seven runners on base; Catawba stranded nine

- Newberry had the lone stolen base of the day

- Catawba's pitchers allowed three runs on six hits and three walks, striking out five; the Wolves' staff allowed four earned runs on 11 hits and three walks, striking out four

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Austin Fine earned the win on the mound, allowing three runs on just three hits in four innings pitched

- Hayden Simmerson picked up his SAC-leading eighth save of the season across nine outs, extending his scoreless inning streak to 12.2

- Dylan Driver homered and scored twice, tying the career program record for hit-by-pitches

- Chrismon drove in two across two base hits; Hales doubled in two hits to score twice

- Sam Hunter, Logan Dyer and Hunter Atkins also provided multi-hit games

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Newberry led off the game with a double, converting the extra-base hit into a run with a sac bunt and a sacrifice fly

SECOND INNING

- Hubbard's two-out, bases-loaded walk drove in the tying run in the second

THIRD INNING

- Driver led off the third with his team-leading eighth homer of the year

- Hunter doubled to right center and scored on Chrismon's RBI single to left

- Hales doubled to center and scored on Dyer's RBI single up the middle to increase the lead to 4-1

FOURTH INNING

- Chrismon scored another on an RBI base hit up the middle in the fifth to add an extra run of insurance

FIFTH INNING

- A walk loaded the bases for Newberry with no outs in the fifth

- The Wolves scored a run on a cue-shot single down the first base line

- A double play scored another, drawing the Wolves to within 5-3

UP NEXT

- Catawba makes its annual trek to Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis on Tuesday, facing Belmont Abbey at 6 p.m.