Preview: #6 Baseball aims to capture SAC title at Lincoln Memorial

Harrogate, Tenn. —- The 6th-ranked Catawba College baseball team stands two wins away from another South Atlantic Conference regular season championship heading into its final weekend series of the regular season, as they travel to Lincoln Memorial for games Saturday and Sunday.

THE MATCHUP

- Who: #6 Catawba (33-12, 22-5 SAC) at Lincoln Memorial (24-20, 13-14 SAC)

- Where: Lamar Hennon Field, Harrogate, Tenn.

- When: Game One | Saturday, Apr. 26, 6 p.m.; Game Two | Sunday, Apr. 27, 1 p.m., Game Three to follow

- How to follow: Game One | FloSports ($) | Live stats

Game Two | FloSports ($) | Live stats

Game Three | FloSports ($) | Live stats

THE HISTORY

- Catawba leads the all-time series over LMU 49-19

- The Catawba Indians are 18-9 in Harrogate; they won two of three in their last trip in 2023

- LMU took two over Catawba in the teams' last meeting in the Opening Round of the 2024 SAC Tournament at Newman Park

CATAWBA'S DOMINANCE IN THE SAC

- Catawba is searching for its 16th SAC regular season in championship history with at least one win on the weekend

- A win would clinch Catawba's ninth SAC regular season title in the last 13 seasons

- Jim Gantt would earn his 14th regular season SAC title, more than any other coach in league history

THE GOUGE IS LOOSE

- Casey Gouge turned in one of his best outings of the season on Saturday, tossing six shutout innings with just two hits allowed and five strikeouts in a win over Carson-Newman

- Gouge earned WePlayed Sports SAC and NCBWA Southeast Region Pitcher of the Week honors for the effort

- Gouge has recorded a career-low 3.70 ERA to this point in his career, earning five wins with a career-best 46 strikeouts

CHRISMON'S HOT BAT

- Nathan Chrismon enters the series at Lincoln Memorial on a nine-game hitting streak

- The junior has recorded multi-hit games in six of those games on this streak, hitting .552 since April 8

- The streak has raised his season-total batting average to .302, one of eight Catawba Indians with at least 17 games played and a batting average .300 or better

SCOUTING THE RAILSPLITTERS

- Lincoln Memorial finds itself in a logjam in the SAC Baseball standings, with eight teams vying for five available spots in next week's conference tournament field

- LMU would likely find themselves on the outside looking in if Catawba were to sweep the Railsplitters on the road

- The Railsplitters pose a dangerous offense, ranking second in the league in home runs and stolen bases; Kasten Harvey ranks second in the SAC with 18 homers and tops in the league with six triples

UP NEXT

- Catawba wraps up regular season play on Tuesday, hosting 20th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne in a non-conference contest; first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.