Columbus State Blanks Catawba In NCAA Baseball Tournament
FLORENCE, SC -- Columbus State's Thomas Campbell tossed a three-hit shutout as the fourth-ranked Cougars defeated #25 Catawba 5-0 in an opening round game of the 2010 NCAA II Southeast Region Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon. Francis Marion is serving as the host at Cormell Field. With the win, the second-seeded Cougars improve to 43-10, while the Catawba Indians, seeded fifth, fall to 40-12.
Catawba managed just five baserunners on the day, while Campbell posted a dozen strikeouts. Brett Underwood had a double in the third, Corey Parker singled in the sixth and John Neese had a single in the seventh for the three Indian hits. Wade Moore drew a walk in ninth and Craige Lyerly was hit by a pitch in the fourth. Reaching on the hit by pitch extended Lyerly's streak of reaching base safely to 87 games.
Columbus State scored the lone run it needed in the first. Ryan Lewis had a two-out, RBI double. The Cougars extended the lead in the third on a RBI groundout by Mitch Rider then Lewis scored on an error for a 3-0 edge.
The Catawba relievers did a good job of keeping Catawba close, working out of several jams as the Cougars stranded 12 runners. Clay Watson had an inning and a third of hitless relief, while Travis McSweeney surrendered no runs on two hits in two and two-thirds innings.
Lewis went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI to pace the Columbus State offense. Alex Montes and Jason Rogers each had three hits. Campbell improved to 10-2 with the win. Trevor Mullins (8-3) took the loss for the Tribe as he allowed two earned runs off seven hits in three innings.