#4 Baseball opens SAC Tourney run with win over one of league’s top arms

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 4th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team started postseason play on Friday with a South Atlantic Conference Tournament win over eighth-seeded Newberry at Newman Park in a duel of First Team All-SAC starting pitchers.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Newberry out-hit Catawba 9-8

- The Catawba Indians recorded four of five extra-base hits, while the Wolves had the lone homer

- Newberry committed both errors in the game

- Catawba left six runners on base; the Wolves stranded seven

- Both teams recorded a stolen base

- Catawba's pitchers allowed four runs on nine hits and one walk, striking out 10; Newberry's staff allowed six earned runs on eight hits and four walks, striking out six

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Nathan Chrismon was 2-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored

- Cole Hales added a double and a walk with two RBI and two runs scored

- Sean Shelly doubled to drive in two

- James Dunlap recorded a pair of hits; Sam Hunter stole a base and scored twice

- Payne Stolsworth got the win, allowing four runs in 6.2 innings, striking out six

- Brandon Rodgers picked up the seven-out save, giving up just two hits and punching out four

HOW IT HAPPENED

FOURTH INNING

 - Two batters after a lightning delay that lasted nearly an hour, Chrismon ripped a double down the left field line to score the game's first run in the fourth

SIXTH INNING

- Kade Faircloth singled and stole second to lead off the sixth for Newberry

- Wilson Wages' sac fly tied the game at 1

- A hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out in the sixth

- A potential inning-ending double play turned into a two-base error for Catawba, scoring two and pushing the lead to 3-1

- Shelly followed with a two-run double to take a 5-1 stronghold

SEVENTH INNING

- Parker Mergo's RBI single brought the Wolves within three

- Cooper Gentry's two-run homer took Catawba's lead down to 5-4

- Hales answered with a two-run double to the opposite field in the seventh

- Catawba added insurance on Chrismon's two-out RBI double

UP NEXT

- Catawba takes on Limestone in the winner's bracket game at 11 a.m. on Saturday