#11 Baseball plates two in 8th to steal midweek game over GCSU

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 11th-ranked Catawba College baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning versus Georgia College to earn the comeback win over the Bobcats on Tuesday afternoon at Newman Park.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Georgia College 11-7

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

- The Bobcats committed the lone error in the contest

- Catawba left eight runners on base; GCSU stranded 12

- The Catawba Indians recorded the only two stolen bases in the game

- Catawba pitchers allowed four runs on seven hits and nine walks, striking out nine; GCSU's staff allowed four earned runs on 11 hits and six walks, striking out six

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Brandon Rodgers picked up the win with a shutout eighth inning; Hayden Simmerson earned his league-leading 12th save of the season

- Joe Burleyson tossed two scoreless frames, striking out a team-high three batters

- Matthew Connolly doubled, drove in two and scored

- Ty Hubbard added two hits including a double with a walk and an RBI

- Dylan Driver and Nathan Chrismon recorded a pair of hits apiece

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Two walks sandwiched a single for Georgia College, loading the bases for the Bobcats

- A hit-by-pitch and a two-out walk added the first two runs of the game for GCSU

- Two singles and a wild pitch put runners on second and third for Catawba in the bottom half

- Cole Hales' RBI sac fly cut Catawba's deficit in half

SECOND INNING

- Georgia College responded with another run in the top of the second with a run scored on a wild pitch

FOURTH INNING

- The Bobcats loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning

- GCSU grounded into a double play, scoring a run to push their lead to 4-1

SIXTH INNING

- Catawba put runners on second and third with one out in the sixth

- Chrismon's RBI infield single made it 4-2

- Sean Shelly and Connolly drew back-to-back walks to bring the Catawba Indians within a run

EIGHTH INNING

- Shelly singled with one out in the eighth and Connolly's double off the left-field wall scored the pinch runner from first to tie the game

- Hubbard followed with a double to right-center to score the go-ahead run

UP NEXT

- Catawba looks to claim the outright South Atlantic Conference regular season title with a series win at Lincoln Memorial this weekend; game one is set for 6 p.m. on Friday