Salisbury, N.C. —- The 7th-ranked and second-seeded Catawba College baseball team moved to a win away from its third straight Southeast Super Regional appearance on Friday after a complete team effort in a 17-5 win over sixth-seeded Young Harris at Newman Park.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-hit Young Harris 20-5
- Every starting position player got a hit and scored a run for Catawba
- The Mountain Lions had two of three homers; both teams had four extra-base hits
- YHC committed all three errors in the contest
- Young Harris left two runners on base; Catawba stranded nine
- The Catawba Indians recorded both stolen bases in the game
- Catawba pitchers allowed five runs on five hits and one walk, striking out nine; Young Harris' staff allowed 12 earned runs on 20 hits and four walks, striking out four
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Hunter Atkins was 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and four runs scored
- Brandon Crabtree homered in two hits, driving in four
- Logan Dyer added three hits, driving in a run and scoring twice
- Jake Dunlap doubled among three hits
- Casey Gouge was perfect through five innings, eventually allowing four runs in 6.2 innings of work with eight strikeouts to earn the win
- Seth Sharpe provided a key four outs to stall the Young Harris momentum
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST INNING
- As the designated away team, Catawba batted first and immediately had runners on the corners after singles from Dyer and Sam Hunter
- Atkins drove in the game's first run on a single through the left side
- With the bases loaded, an errant throw home on a fielder's choice scored a second run
- Ty Hubbard's RBI single up the middle kept the scoring going, with Catawba leading 3-0
- Matthew Connolly's sac fly and Malachi Cloud's two-out RBI base knock made it 5-0
- Young Harris' second error of the inning allowed the sixth run of the opening frame to score for Catawba
FOURTH INNING
- Cloud reached on Young Harris' third error of the game in the fourth
- After advancing to second on a wild pitch and third on a tag up, he scored on Crabtree's opposite-field base hit
SEVENTH INNING
- Two singles and a bunt had two runners in scoring position for Catawba in the seventh
- Hubbard's RBI groundout made it 8-0 in the seventh
- Young Harris got on the board on a leadoff homer from Jeo Hernandez in the bottom half
- YHC loaded the bases for Jayden Carbonell-Smith, who cleared them on a double to center field to cut the deficit to four
NINTH INNING
- Atkins led off the ninth on a double and later scored on Hubbard's sac fly
- Connolly's RBI single made it a 10-4 lead for Catawba
- Dyer kept the train moving with an RBI single to lead by seven
- Crabtree's three-run homer pushed the advantage to 14-4
- After a pitching change, Hunter double to right-center and scored on Dunlap's double
- Chrismon singled to bring in two more and put Catawba in front 17-4
- A leadoff homer from Jackson Morgan in the bottom half added Young Harris' fifth run
UP NEXT
- One win away from a Super Regional berth, Catawba faces the Wingate-Young Harris winner tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
