#18 Baseball walks off in extras to complete Valentines' Day sweep of Anderson

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 18th-ranked Catawba College baseball team needed two extra innings in the second game of its doubleheader against Anderson on Friday at Newman Park to complete the sweep to open South Atlantic Conference play 2-0.

GAME ONE | Catawba 8, Anderson 4

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Anderson 13-11

- Both teams recorded two extra-base hits; Anderson hit the lone homer

- AU committed all four errors in the opener

- Catawba left seven runners on base; the Trojans stranded 10

- The Catawba Indians recorded six of seven stolen bases in the game

- Catawba's pitchers allowed four runs on 11 hits and four walks, striking out five; Anderson's staff allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits and three walks, striking out six

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- James Dunlap went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored

- Dylan Driver and Sam Hunter were 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored

- Cole Hales added two more hits with two runs scored and the final three outs on the mound

- Hunter Atkins singled and drove three runs in

- Austin Fine earned his second straight win on the bump, tossing six innings with one run allowed on five hits and three walks, striking out four

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Nathan Chrismon was hit by a pitch and stole second in the first

- Dunlap's RBI double to right center opened the scoring for Catawba

THIRD INNING

- Hunter got aboard on a bunt base hit with two outs

- Hunter and Dunlap executed a double steal, with the former scoring on an Anderson error

- Atkins' two-out, two-run single up the middle allowed Catawba to double its advantage, leading 4-0 through three frames

FIFTH INNING

- A single and a double in the fifth allowed the Trojans to get two in scoring position with nobody out in the fifth

- The Trojans' sac fly allowed their first runner to score, but a strikeout with less than two outs and a runner at third allowed Catawba to limit the damage to a single run

- A single, an Anderson error and a bunt base hit allowed Catawba to load the bases with nobody out in the fifth

- Atkins' sac fly scored Dunlap from third and Hales scored on another error on a stolen base as Catawba grew the lead to 6-1

SIXTH INNING

- Chrismon singled, advanced to second on a balk and stole third to start the sixth

- Driver's ripped single to left field scored him

- Driver wheeled around from first on Hunter's RBI double to make it 8-1 Catawba

SEVENTH INNING

- Anderson's infield single and two-run home run to start the seventh cut Catawba's lead to 8-3

EIGHTH INNING

- The Trojans scratched across another run in the eighth on three base hits, but were cut down on a ground ball double play to kill another scoring chance

GAME TWO | Catawba 2, Anderson 1 - F/9

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Anderson 10-2

- The Catawba Indians recorded two of three extra-base hits in the ballgame

- AU committed the lone error in the second game

- Anderson left four runners on base, while Catawba stranded nine

- The Catawba Indians recorded two of three stolen bases

- Catawba's pitchers allowed a run on just two hits and three walks, striking out 14; Anderson's staff allowed one earned run on 10 hits and two walks, striking out four

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Payne Stolsworth allowed a run on just one hit and three walks in six innings of work, striking out seven in the no-decision

- Hayden Simmerson earned the win in relief, throwing three shutout innings with just one hit allowed and seven more strikeouts

- Chrismon was 3-for-5 with a triple and an RBI

- Hales also had three hits in the game

- Matthew Connolly went 2-for-4 and scored the game-winning run

HOW IT HAPPENED

SECOND INNING

- A one-out walk and a double that nearly hit the left-field foul line scored Anderson's lone run of the night all the way back in the second

THIRD INNING

- Cooper Bryson hit a double with one out in the third before Chrismon's triple lined off the wall, scoring the tying run

NINTH INNING

- Connolly's sharp liner to third base to lead off the ninth got the go-ahead run on base

- Bryson's sacrifice bunt moved him over to scoring position

- Chrismon's placed a ball softly to the middle of the field and Anderson's throwing error allowed Connolly to score, breaking the nearly six-inning scoreless drought between the two teams

GAME NOTES

- Catawba starts conference play 2-0 for the eighth time in nine years

- Career wins 995 and 996 for Jim Gantt

UP NEXT

- Catawba and Anderson return to Newman Park on Sunday for the series finale; first pitch is set for 4 p.m.