Wingate, Catawba Advance To Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship

FOREST CITY, N.C. --- Austin Moyer threw a one-hitter and Catawba College broke a 0-0 tie with five runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat Newberry College 5-0 and advance to the finals of the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Friday night at McNair Field.

The top-seeded Catawba Indians (39-9) will face second-seeded Wingate University (33-20) in Saturday's championship beginning at 1 p.m. If the Indians defeat the Bulldogs, a second game will be needed to determine the SAC champion.

The Indians took advantage of three errors by the Wolves (24-27) in the ninth inning to take the lead, and Moyer (Greensboro, N.C.) took care of the rest on the mound, striking out eight and allowing just a fourth-inning double to Newberry's Jovan Rohena (Trujillo Alto, P.R.). He retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced and threw 127 pitches in the contest.

Newberry's Matt Mege (Levittown, N.Y.), making his first career start, shut down Catawba on five hits through eight innings before allowing a single to John Neese (Summerfield, N.C.) to open the ninth. A throwing error on a bunt by Brett Underwood (Greensboro, N.C.) put runners on first and second, and reliever Chauncey Mattei (Greenville, S.C.) hit the Indians' Greg Lawson (Charlotte, N.C.) with a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

On a 2-2 pitch, Blake Houston (Mt. Ulla, N.C.) singled to right to drive home Neese and give the Indians a 1-0 lead. The Wolves' defense faltered later in the frame, as a pair of force attempts at the plate resulted in errant throws and enabled two runs to score each time for a 5-0 lead.

Catawba threatened twice prior to their ninth-inning rally, leaving two runners on base in the first and two more in the seventh. Meanwhile, the Wolves' only scoring threat came in the fourth when Sanchez Gartman (Newberry, S.C.) was hit by a pitch with one out. After an out, Rohena doubled to left but Gartman stumbled rounding third and was tagged out after a brief rundown to end the inning.

The Indians finished with seven hits in the contest, as Houston, Chris Dula (Troutman, N.C.) and Ryan Bostian (Kannapolis, N.C.) each picked up a pair of hits. Catawba left 10 runners on base in the contest.

Mege worked eight-plus innings for Newberry, allowing two unearned runs on six hits while striking out three and walking three.

Catawba 6, Lincoln Memorial 5

FOREST CITY, N.C. --- Top-seeded Catawba College scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 3-2 deficit and earn a 6-5 victory over Lincoln Memorial University in an elimination game at the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Friday evening at McNair Field.

Garrett Furr (Gold Hill, N.C.) hit a tiebreaking two-run double as part of the four-run seventh for the Catawba Indians (38-9), who will face sixth-seeded Newberry College in an elimination game later Friday evening. The third-seeded Railsplitters (29-22) finished with 13 hits, but were knocked out of the tournament as they left 12 runners on base.

With LMU holding a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Bostian (Kannapolis, N.C.) worked a one-out walk from Railsplitter starter Steven Starbird (Rutledge, Tenn.). After a wild pitch, Josh Hohn (Greensboro, N.C.) singled to left to move Bostian to third and bring Starbird's night to an end after 6 1/3 innings. Cody Church (Seymour, Tenn.) relieved for LMU and allowed a single by Chris Dula (Troutman, N.C.) which drove home Bostian with the tying run.

Furr then followed with a sinking liner to left that Cody Baker (Knoxville, Tenn.) dove for but was unable to grab, which enabled Hohn and Duda to score as Furr reached second with a double. After a walk to Austin Moyer (Greensboro, N.C.), John Neese (Summerfield, N.C.) doubled to left-center off reliever Brad Pressley (Knoxville, Tenn.) to knock in Furr for a 6-3 Indian lead.

In the ninth, Wil Huneycutt (Locust, N.C.) allowed a two-run home run to LMU's Eric Kitts (Blaine, Tenn.), his 14th of the season, but came back to retire the final two batters on comebackers for his ninth save of the season.

LMU took a 1-0 lead against Catawba starter John Tuttle (Kannapolis, N.C.) in the top of the first as Juan Alvarez (Carolina, P.R.) doubled with one out, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cody Pack (Andersonville, Tenn.). Catawba answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the first against Starbird as Bostian reached on a throwing error and scored on a double to left-center by Hohn.

The Indians jumped ahead 2-1 in the third as Hohn singled with one out, moved to second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a fly out and scored on a bloop double to right by Furr.

LMU regained a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs. With one out, Baker reached on a bunt single and Alvarez followed with a single to right. Pack singled to left to drive home Baker with the tying run, and John Couch (Bonnyman, Ky.) doubled to left-center to bring home Alvarez for a 3-2 lead.

Starbird worked out of trouble for the Railsplitters in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with two outs but striking out Moyer to end the threat. Tuttle escaped his own jam in the top of the sixth as LMU loaded the bases on a hit, a walk and a hit batsman, but Pack whiffed to end the inning.

Tuttle worked six innings for the Indians, allowing 10 hits and three earned runs while striking out nine over 117 pitches. Nathan Furr (Albemarle, N.C.) improved to 2-0 with two scoreless innings of relief for Catawba, striking out four. Starbird (4-5) allowed four runs (two earned) and struck out four for the Railsplitters, yielding five hits and three walks.

At the plate, Hohn led the Indians by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Furr was 2-for-3 with two doubles and three runs batted in. Alvarez went 3-for-4 and scored twice for LMU, with Couch, Deaun Williams (Beech Grove, Ind.) and Joseph Horsley (Corryton, Tenn.) all adding two hits.

Wingate 8, Newberry 7

FOREST CITY, N.C. -- Jacob Karr singled off the left-field wall with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning to drive home Chris Vazquez with the winning run as Wingate University advanced to Saturday's 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament finals with an 8-7 victory over Newberry College Friday afternoon at McNair Field.

The hit by Karr (Richmond, Va.) capped a see-saw game that saw the second-seeded Bulldogs (33-20) overcome 3-0 and 4-3 deficits, only to see a 7-5 ninth-inning lead disappear at the hands of the sixth-seeded Wolves (24-26). The teams combined for 25 hits and 11 walks in a game that started nearly two hours late due to morning rain and lasted 3 hours, 41 minutes.

Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.) went 2-for-5 with a double, a three-run home run and four runs batted in to lead the Bulldogs, while Evan Darr (North Augusta, S.C.) finished with two hits and three RBI for the Wolves, including the tying single with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.

Vazquez (Tyrone, Ga.) started the decisive rally with a leadoff single off Newberry reliever D.J. Hearsey (Oviedo, Fla.), who recovered to retire Bulldog sluggers Dodson McPherson and Yeung. Casey Allison (Horse Shoe, N.C.) was hit by a pitch to move Vazquez to second, and Karr followed by lining an 0-1 pitch off the wall in left field to bring home the game-winning run.

Newberry jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top off the first off Wingate starter Ben Currie (Clemmons, N.C.), on an RBI single by Andy Vogel (Marietta, Ga.) and a two-run single by Darr. The Bulldogs answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame against Evan Brown (Columbia, S.C.) as Vazquez walked with one out, McPherson (Graham, N.C.) singled and Yeung slammed his 16th home run of the season to deep left field.

The Wolves regained the lead at 4-3 in the top of the second as Chas Goodwin (Greer, S.C.) led off with a walk and eventually scored on a squeeze bunt by John Fogarile (New York, N.Y.). Newberry held the lead until the fourth, as a squeeze bunt by James Tedder (Clemmons, N.C.) produced the tying run and a two-run single by Cale Rogers (Snow Camp, N.C.) gave the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead.

Wingate tallied another run in the fifth as McPherson led off with a single and scored on a double to deep right by Yeung for a 7-4 lead. Hearsey entered the game with runners at first and third and none out and escaped the jam to preserve a three-run deficit for the Wolves.

Currie worked into the sixth inning for the Bulldogs, but departed with two runners on base in favor of reliever Drew Boyer (Millet, Alberta). With two outs, a balk was called on Boyer during a pickoff attempt which allowed Terrence Gray (Newberry, S.C.) to score and cut the deficit to 7-5.

In the ninth, Newberry's Chris Love (Columbia, S.C.) led off with a single and Sanchez Gartman (Newberry, S.C.) followed with a single off the base of the wall in right field to leave runners at the corners. Cameron Falcon (Durham, N.C.) came on in relief and allowed a sacrifice fly to Jovan Rohena (Trujillo Alto, P.R.) to bring the Wolves within 7-6. With two outs and Gartman on second, Darr lined a 2-2 pitch to left-center to drive home the tying run.

Hearsey and Falcon continued on in extra innings, with Falcon escaping a two-on, two-out jam in the 11th by getting Darr on a called strike three. Hearsey tossed 6 1/3 no-hit innings until Cody Shelton (Charlotte, N.C.) reached on an infield single with one out in the bottom of the 11th. Tedder followed with a single to put two runners on base, but Hearsey escaped with a popup and a fly ball to send the game to the 12th inning.

Falcon (2-0) worked four innings of relief to earn the win for the Bulldogs, allowing three hits and striking out two. Hearsey (1-2) tossed 7 2/3 innings for the Wolves, surrendering a run on four hits while striking out five and walking one over 91 pitches.

Currie pitched 5 2/3 innings in his start for Wingate, giving up eight hits and five runs (four earned) with four strikeouts and five walks. Brown threw four-plus innings for the Wolves, allowing seven hits and seven runs (six earned) with two strikeouts and three walks.

For Wingate, McPherson was 2-for-6 with two runs scored, Karr finished 2-for-5 and Shelton was 2-for-5. Kevin Rufus (Andrews, S.C.) led Newberry by going 3-for-6 with a double, while Love, Gartman, Vogel, Rohena and Darr all had two hits as part of a 14-hit attack.