Wingate Wins 2011 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship With 7-1 Victory Over Catawba

FOREST CITY, N.C. -- Wingate University claimed the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament championship with a 7-1 victory over Catawba College in Saturday's title game at McNair Field.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Chris Nelson (Greenville, N.C.) allowed one hit over five innings to earn the victory, and Dodson McPherson (Graham, N.C.) hit a three-run home run in the third to break a 1-1 tie as the second-seeded Bulldogs (34-20) earned their first SAC tournament crown since 1998 and fifth overall.

Nelson finished 2-0 with a 0.69 earned run average in the tournament for the Bulldogs, allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out seven in 13 innings of work. The lefty improved to 6-3 overall this season with the victory.

With the victory, Wingate earns the SAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament, which begins May 19. The Bulldogs, who finished as the lone unbeaten team in the SAC Tournament, will be making their first appearance in the NCAA playoffs since 2001. The Catawba Indians (39-10), who won the SAC regular-season championship with a 23-4 record, will await a possible at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Chris Vazquez (Tyrone, Ga.) led a 12-hit attack by the Bulldogs with three hits, all doubles, while Cale Rogers (Snow Camp, N.C.), McPherson and James Tedder (Clemmons, N.C.) each had a pair of hits. Meanwhile, Nelson and three relievers combined to hold the Indians to just four hits in the game..

Catawba, which entered the day needing to defeat Wingate twice in order to win the championship, got off to a good start with a run in the second inning. Brett Underwood (Greensboro, N.C.) was hit by a pitch with one out and moved all the way to third on a sacrifice by Blake Houston (Mt. Ulla, N.C.). Julio Zubillaga (China Grove, N.C.) then hit a grounder that was misplayed for an error, allowing Underwood to score with the game's first run.

After being blanked in each of the first two innings by Catawba starter Joe Kase (Palm Harbor, Fla.), Wingate started what proved to be the decisive rally in the third with one out. Taylor Honeycutt (Indian Trail, N.C.) singled with one out, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Rogers.. After a double to left by Vazquez put runners on second and third, McPherson clubbed a 2-2 pitch over the right-field wall for his 17th home run of the season and a 4-1 Bulldog lead.

The Bulldogs added a run in the fourth as Jacob Karr (Richmond, Va.) doubled down the line in left, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single through the drawn-in Indian infield by Tedder for a 5-1 advantage.

Catawba threatened in the seventh against Wingate reliever Drew Boyer (Millet, Alberta), putting runners on first and second with two outs on singles by Houston and Zubillaga. However, Boyer delivered a called third strike to escape unscathed from the jam.

Wingate tacked on insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, scoring in the eighth on an RBI single by Casey Allison (Horse Shoe, N.C.) which plated McPherson and in the ninth on a double by Rogers that drove home Tedder.

In the ninth, Joshua Karr (Richmond, Va.) came on to close the victory for the Bulldogs, and got the game's final two outs as second baseman Vazquez started a double play that brought the Bulldog bench onto the field for a celebratory dogpile behind second base.

Kase (2-2) pitched three-plus innings for the Indians, allowing six hits and five earned runs while striking out one. Reliever Clay Watson (Lexington, N.C.) had a strong showing out of the Catawba bullpen, giving up just one run on four hits in 4 1/3 innings while adding four strikeouts.

Championship Photo Gallery

2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball All-Tournament Team
Chris Nelson, Wingate (Most Valuable Player)
Brian Yeung, Wingate
Justin Somers, Wingate
Jacob Karr, Wingate
Cameron Falcon, Wingate
Dodson McPherson, Wingate
Austin Moyer, Catawba
JJ Jankowski, Catawba
Josh Hohn, Catawba
Chris Dula, Catawba
Mario Rojas, Newberry
Tyler Sturkie, Newberry
Juan Alvarez, Lincoln Memorial
Steven Starbird, Lincoln Memorial
Sean Cotten, Tusculum