#16 Lenoir-Rhyne downs #4 Baseball to set up winner-take-all game three in Super Regionals

Salisbury, N.C. —- The fourth-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team dropped its first game of their postseason run in Game Two of the Southeast Super Regional versus 16th-ranked and third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne, setting up a winner-take-all game on Saturday.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Lenoir-Rhyne out-hit Catawba 12-7

- The Bears recorded four of six extra-base hits; LR had the lone homer

- The Catawba Indians committed the lone error of the game

- Catawba left six runners on base; Lenoir-Rhyne stranded nine

- The Catawba Indians recorded both stolen bases

- The Bears' staff allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks, striking out four; Catawba's staff allowed five earned runs on 12 hits and three walks, striking out six

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Braeden Major was solid in relief, allowing a run on three hits in 3.1 innings; Seth Sharpe threw a scoreless eighth

- James Dunlap recorded three hits including a double with an RBI

- Matthew Connolly deposited a two-RBI single in four at-bats

- Dylan Driver doubled

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out for the Bears

- A base hit was compounded by a throwing error to allow LR to score two runs

- A double play limited the damage to a two-run deficit

SECOND INNING

- Catawba started the second inning with two walks and a sac bunt to move runners into scoring position

- Connolly sent a two-RBI single to opposite field to tie the game

THIRD INNING

- Sal Carricato's double preceded Cole Stanford's two-run homer as LR took a 4-2 lead in the third

FOURTH INNING

- A two-out, two-strike single sparked a fourth-inning rally that allowed Mackenzie Wainwright to score from second on a ball stopped on the infield, extending the Bears' lead to 5-2

SIXTH INNING

- Carricato's two-out RBI extended the lead to 6-2 in the sixth

SEVENTH INNING

- Ty Hubbard walked and stole second with one out in the seventh

- Driver placed a double right down the right field line to put two runners in scoring position

- Dunlap's sac fly brought the deficit within three runs

GAME NOTES

- Catawba is 10-2 this season following a loss

- The Catawba Indians have now won three of five matchups with the Bears this season

- Catawba is looking for its fifth trip to the DII National Championship; a win for LR would be its first in program history

- Austin Fine will likely take the ball to start, who last took the mound with Catawba's season on the line last season in Cary, posting eight innings with two earned runs in an elimination-game victory over UIndy

UP NEXT

- Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne return to Newman Park for the winner-take-all Game Three of the Southeast Super Regional; first pitch is set for 6 p.m.