#19 Baseball plates four in 8th to top #8 UMO in key regional clash

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 19th-ranked Catawba College baseball team scored four times in the bottom of the eighth to overcome a late one-run deficit to take down 8th-ranked Mount Olive in a key Southeast region mid-week battle at Newman Park on Tuesday.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Mount Olive 10-5

- The Catawba Indians recorded three of five extra-base hits

- Catawba committed the lone error in the contest

- The Trojans left eight runners on base; the Catawba Indians stranded 11

- Catawba had all three stolen bases in the game

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed two runs on five hits and three walks, striking out nine; UMO's staff allowed five runs on 10 hits and three walks, striking out nine

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Trace Aufderhar III earned the win in relief, striking out two in a scoreless frame; Hayden Simmerson recorded his league-leading seventh save of the season

- Carson Edmiston struck out three in two hitless frames in the start

- Sam Hunter was 2-for-5 with a homer

- Hunter Atkins went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored

- Dylan Driver and Ty Hubbard recorded RBI doubles

HOW IT HAPPENED

FOURTH INNING

- Mount Olive doubled to lead off the fourth

- A two-out RBI single scored the game's first run

FIFTH INNING

- Four consecutive Trojans reached with two outs in the fifth to plate across another run on a bases-loaded walk

SIXTH INNING

- Hunter got Catawba on the board in the sixth on his one-out solo homer to right

EIGHTH INNING

- Cole Hales led off the rally inning with a single up the middle

- Cameron Burleyson's single through the right side put runners on the corners with one out

- Atkins drove in the tying run on a single to left-center

- Hubbard drove in the go-ahead run on a double to left-center

- Driver provided two runs of insurance on a bases-loaded double

GAME NOTES

- Catawba sweeps season series with Mount Olive

- The Catawba Indians are a perfect 5-0 in mid-week games this season

- Catawba is 15-4 against teams above .500 this season; is 4-0 against Conference Carolinas opponents

- Catawba's 28th straight full season with 20-plus wins – each season under Jim Gantt

- Hunter's second homer of the season

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns to South Atlantic Conference play this weekend, hosting Newberry for a three-game set, starting with game one on Friday at 6 p.m.