Salisbury, N.C. — The 7th-ranked and second-seeded Catawba College baseball team scored four runs in both the first and second innings to jump out to a lead that they would hold for the entire game, defeating seventh-seeded Belmont Abbey 10-3 in its NCAA Regional opener at Newman Park on Thursday.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Belmont Abbey 12-10
- The Catawba Indians recorded two of three extra-base hits
- The Crusaders committed all three errors in the game
- Both teams left eight runners on base
- Catawba recorded the lone stolen base in the contest
- The Catawba Indians pitchers allowed three runs on 10 hits and one walk, striking out nine; Belmont Abbey's staff allowed nine earned runs on 12 hits and six walks, striking out five
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Hunter Atkins doubled, drove in two and scored three runs
- Nathan Chrismon added two hits with three RBI and a run scored
- Logan Dyer had a three-hit game with an RBI and a run scored
- Colt Wilkins went seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- Three straight walks loaded the bases for Catawba with one out in the first
- Jake Dunlap's RBI groundout got the first Catawba Indian run on the board
- Chrismon added two more runs on a single through the left side
- Matthew Connolly drove home Chrismon on a single up the middle to put up four runs in the opening frame
SECOND INNING
- Dyer's leadoff single and a walk put two runners aboard with nobody out
- Sam Hunter's bunt single forced the Belmont Abbey pitch to make an errant throw to score a run
- Atkins ripped a two-run double to left field to push the lead to 7-0
- Chrismon scored him on an RBI single to left-center
FIFTH INNING
- Malachi Cloud led off the fifth with a double
- Dyer deposited another single to left-center to score Cloud and take a 9-0 lead
SIXTH INNING
- A hit-by-pitch, a single and a walk loaded the bases for Belmont Abbey with one out in the sixth
- Jake Bidoglio drove in the first two runs for the Crusaders on a single to center field
- Jack Boyles added another with an RBI double to left field
EIGHTH INNING
- An error allowed Atkins to reach second base
- Dunlap drove him home on a two-out single to right-center
UP NEXT
- Catawba will face sixth-seed Young Harris in the winner's bracket game back at Newman Park at 6 p.m. on Friday
