#17 Baseball strengthens SAC lead, extends SAC series win streak to 17 with DH sweep at Wingate

Wingate, N.C. —-- The 17th-ranked Catawba College baseball team extended its lead atop the South Atlantic Conference Baseball standings on Saturday, sweeping both ends of a doubleheader at Wingate to extend its SAC series win streak to a program-record 17.

GAME ONE | Catawba 4, Wingate 0

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Wingate 7-3

- The Catawba Indians recorded the only extra-base hit of the game

- The Bulldogs had two of three errors in game one

- WU left five runners on base; Catawba stranded 15

- Catawba had three of five stolen bases

- The Catawba Indians starter threw nine shutout innings, allowing three hits and three walks with four strikeouts; Wingate's staff allowed three earned runs on seven hits and eight walks, striking out six

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Payne Stolsworth tossed a gem, throwing a complete-game, three-hit shutout with four strikeouts

- Nathan Chrismon singled twice and drove in three runs

- Dylan Driver doubled; Matthew Connolly added two hits

HOW IT HAPPENED

SECOND INNING

- Parker Styborski reached base on an error to lead off the second

- Connolly's single put runners on the corners with nobody out

- Chrismon brought a run home on a sac fly to center field to start the scoring

NINTH INNING

- Sam Hunter's bunt single and Cole Hales' opposite-field base hit put runners on the corners with no outs once again in the ninth

- Ty Hubbard drove in a critical insurance run on a safety squeeze

- A walk loaded the base with two outs, which allowed Chrismon's single to score two, doubling Catawba's lead to 4-0

GAME TWO | Catawba 7, Wingate 6

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Wingate 10-9

- Both teams recorded an extra-base hit

- Both teams committed an error

- The Catawba Indians left seven runners on base; the Bulldogs stranded eight

- WU had two of three stolen bases

- Wingate's pitchers allowed four earned runs on 10 hits and four walks, striking out six; Catawba's staff allowed six runs on nine hits and three walks, striking out nine

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Connolly doubled, drove in a run and scored twice

- Chrismon singled twice, drove in a run and scored

- Hunter added a pair of hits

- Hayden Simmerson was terrific in relief, allowing one hit and striking out seven in the nine-out save; Seth Sharpe got the win, tossing a shutout inning of relief

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Catawba Indians with no outs in the first

- Hales' sac fly scored Driver from third to open the scoring

SECOND INNING

- Wingate put up a three-spot in the second on an RBI sac bunt, an RBI double and a two-out RBI single

THIRD INNING

- The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 4-1 on another two-out RBI single

FOURTH INNING

- A walk, a single and an error loaded the bases with two outs for Catawba in the fourth

- A wild pitch scored Connolly to cut the deficit to two runs

- James Dunlap's two-out, single to left field scored two more to tie the game at 4

- RBI singles from Breon Ishmael and Cam Harris returned Wingate's lead, 6-4

FIFTH INNING

- Hunter Atkins and Ty Hubbard welcomed a new Wingate reliever with a pair of base hits to open up the fifth

- Connolly doubled down the left field line to score a run, cutting WU's lead to 6-5

- A balk scored the tying run from third base

- Chrismon's one-out sac fly to deep center field scored the go-ahead run

UP NEXT

- Catawba goes for the sweep on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the chance to take a full two-game lead over Carson-Newman for first place in the SAC