Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College baseball turned a slim 4-3 advantage at the seventh-inning stretch into a comfortable 11-3 lead with seven runs in the bottom half of the inning in Saturday's 12-3 win over Shippensburg on First Pitch Saturday at Newman Park.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba out-hit Shippensburg 13-10
- The Raiders had four of six extra-base hits in the game
- SU committed all four errors on the afternoon
- Catawba had two of three stolen bases
- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed three earned runs on 10 hits and two walks, striking out five; Shippensburg's staff allowed 11 earned runs on 13 hits and eight walks, also striking out five
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Sam Hunter went 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored
- Bo Rusher had a 3-for-5 day with two RBI and a run scored
- Cole Hales was 2-or-3 with a double, a walk, three RBI and a run scored
- Cooper Bryson scored twice and drove in another on a single, two walks and a steal
- Payne Stolsworth got the win on the mound, allowing three runs in 6.1 innings; Casey Gouge and Trace Aufderhar combined to allow just one hit and two walks in 2.2 innings of shutout relief
HOW IT HAPPENED
THIRD INNING
- Justin Byler's big weekend continued for Shippensburg in the third inning with an RBI double down the left field line
- Austin Baal followed it up with another RBI double, as the Raiders took an early 2-0 lead
- Perrell singled and stole second to lead off the bottom half
- Hunter's bunt single loaded the bases with nobody out
- The Raiders threw home to cut down the run, but Hales came through with the two-RBI double to tie the game
FOURTH INNING
- The Catawba Indians once again loaded up the bases with one out in the fourth
- Rusher's two-RBI single put Catawba ahead 4-2
FIFTH INNING
- Shippensburg hit back-to-back singles to start the fifth
- Byler recorded another RBI with a single to left
- With the tying run 90 feet away with one out, Ty Hubbard caught a flyball in foul territory and threw out the runner at home to get out of the inning
SEVENTH INNING
- Hales deposited an RBI single to left field
- Hubbard's walk loaded the bases again; Colby Taylor drove in two with a single to center with still nobody out to take a 7-3 lead
- Jackson Price drove in the runner from third on a sac fly
- Bryson's RBI single scored Taylor before Hunter's two-out, two-RBI single made it an 11-3 Catawba lead
EIGHTH INNING
- Andrew Chronister's double gave the Raiders runners with second on third with one out
- Drew Robertson caught the flyball to right and threw out the runner at home on the inning-ending double play
- Parker Styborski doubled in his first Catawba at-bat; he later scored on a Shippensburg error
UP NEXT
- Catawba looks to make the sweep on Sunday, hosting the Raiders in the series finale at Newman Park at noon
