Baseball’s offense shines in season-opening win

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College baseball team used a five-run seventh inning to pull away from Shippensburg in their 10-3 season-opening win at Newman Park on Friday afternoon. 

Dylan Driver had a game-high four hits, scored three times, drove in a run and stole a base. Cole Hales and Cooper Bryson each went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored in their Catawba debuts. Hales added three RBI. Justin Byler drove in two runs for the Raiders.

Austin Fine got the win on the mound in a solid outing. The USC Sumter transfer gave up three earned runs on five hits in six innings of work, striking out four. Mason Gwyn earned the save on the mound, tossing three shutout innings while allowing just one hit and fanning three.

Noah Nabholz took the loss for Shippensburg, giving up eight hits and two earned runs.

The Raiders scored early, when an infield pop up hit the ground, but the Catawba Indians got a run back in the bottom of the second. A sac fly in the third returned the lead to Shippensburg, but Catawba answered with two runs in the bottom half on a two-out single from Hales.

Each team scored a run in the sixth before Catawba put up a five-spot in the seventh. JT Walker took all five earned runs for the Raiders, recording just one out.

The teams return to Newman Park on Saturday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.