#4 Baseball captures ninth SAC Tournament title behind explosive offense in win over #17 LR

Asheboro, N.C. —- The 4th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team utilized a six-run sixth inning to push them to a 10-4 victory over 17th-ranked and second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne to claim its ninth South Atlantic Conference Tournament title in program history and first since 2019 at McCrary Park in Asheboro on Saturday. Graduate student Payne Stolsworth earned SAC Tournament MVP honors.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Lenoir-Rhyne 13-8

- The Catawba Indians recorded six of seven extra-base hits

- The Bears committed the lone error of the contest

- LR left eight runners on base; Catawba stranded nine

- Catawba recorded both stolen bases

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed four runs on eight hits and five walks, striking out six; Lenoir-Rhyne's staff allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits and four walks, striking out nine

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Dylan Driver was 3-for-5 and a homer shy of the cycle with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored

- Hunter Atkins added three hits including a double with two RBI and a run scored

- Sean Shelly launched a two-run homer in a momentum-shifting spot

- Ty Hubbard singled twice and scored three times

- Casey Gouge earned the win, tossing five innings with two runs allowed on four hits with four strikeouts

- Hayden Simmerson closed the door with the final eight outs with no hits allowed

HOW IT HAPPENED

SECOND INNING

- Lenoir-Rhyne struck first with a two-run homer from Hogan Stallings in the second

THIRD INNING

- James Dunlap doubled off the wall in deep left field, scoring a run but the tying run was cut down at the plate to maintain the lead for LR

FIFTH INNING

- Driver ripped a two-out triple down the first base line to score Shelly, tying the game at 2

- Dunlap sent an RBI single the other way to score Driver and give Catawba its first lead of the day

SIXTH INNING

- Atkins singled and advanced to second to lead off the sixth; he scored when Nathan Chrismon shot an opposite-field double to push the lead to 4-2

- Shelly's no-doubt blast to left field made it a 6-2 Catawba lead

- A two-out error scored another run for Catawba before a walk loaded the bases and chased another LR reliever

- Atkins scored two more on a double to left field as Catawba all of a sudden held a 9-2 stronghold after six

SEVENTH INNING

- Driver's RBI single scored Hubbard from second base as Catawba led 10-2

- An RBI base hit and an RBI groundout added two runs for the Bears, but Simmerson stepped up to retire eight of nine batters face to give the Catawba Indians the conference tournament crown

GAME NOTES

- Catawba's ninth SAC Tournament title in program history – each coming since 2002 – and the first since 2019

- The Catawba Indians would go on to claim the Southeast Region title in 2019, the program's third trip to Cary

- After dropping a midweek contest in Hickory, Catawba has taken the last three matchups with Lenoir-Rhyne this season

- Stolsworth earns SAC Tourney MVP honors after his seven-inning victory in the start on Friday; three of the last four Catawba SAC Tournament MVP earners have pitched (Craig Brooks, Hunter Shepherd)

UP NEXT

- Catawba expects to be the top seed and host next week's Southeast Regional Tournament; the Catawba Indians learn their four-team pod with the NCAA Division II Baseball Selection Show on Sunday at 10:30 p.m.