#4 Baseball moves to a win away from SAC Tournament title with decisive win over LR

Asheboro, N.C. —- The 4th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team earned a key win in its quest for a South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament championship with a 10-3 win over 17th-ranked and second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday at McCrary Park in Asheboro, N.C.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit Lenoir-Rhyne 12-9

- The Bears recorded four of seven extra-base hits and two of three homers

- LR committed both errors in the contest

- Lenoir-Rhyne left seven runners on base; the Catawba Indians stranded 10

- Catawba had the lone stolen base in the game

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed three runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out eight; the Bears' staff allowed nine earned runs on 12 hits and six walks, striking out five

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Sam Hunter was 3-for-4 with a walk, three RBI and two runs scored

- Dylan Driver added three hits including a double, scoring three times

- Cole Hales went 2-for-3 with a homer, a double and three RBI

- James Dunlap singled and scored three times

- Payne Stolsworth earned his 11th win of the year, allowing two runs across seven innings with five strikeouts

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Hales got the scoring started with a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom half of the first

THIRD INNING

- LR got a run back in the top of the third with Mackenzie Wainwright's RBI groundout

- A two-out error from the Bears allowed Catawba to answer in the bottom half, leading 3-1

FIFTH INNING

- Dunlap's walk loaded the bases with one out in the fifth

- Hunter's RBI single pushed Catawba's lead to 4-1

- Hales drew a walk to score another before Hunter Atkins' RBI sac fly gave the Catawba Indians a 6-1 advantage

SEVENTH INNING

- Lenoir-Rhyne's Eli Willen led off the seventh with a solo homer

- A Hales double set up another Atkins sac fly to answer the score and return the lead to five

EIGHTH INNING

- Sal Carricato's one-out homer cut the Catawba lead to 7-3

- Hunter's bunt single scored another run in the bottom half

- A wild pitch and Nathan Chrismon's RBI infield single brought Catawba to its 10-3 final margin

GAME NOTES

- Catawba is looking for its ninth SAC Tournament title on Saturday, all coming since 2002

- The Catawba Indians last took home the tournament crown in 2019

- Matchup of the top two ranked teams in the latest NCAA Southeast Region rankings

- Driver's 59th career double, one shy of fifth all-time

- Hales up to 22 extra-base hits and 48 RBI this season – hitting .406 at the plate

UP NEXT

- Catawba looks to take home the SAC Tournament title on Saturday, facing the Bears at noon with an if-necessary game to follow at 4 p.m.