Saturday, February 9, 2008

COTTEN HOMER PACES NO. 11 TUSCULUM TO 6-5 WIN OVER CATAWBA IN NON-SAC BASEBALL TILT

KANNAPOLIS, NC -- Tusculum got an eighth-inning home run from Sean Cotten (Mooresville, NC) and defeated Catawba 6-5 in baseball action at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium on Saturday night as the 11th-ranked Pioneers (4-2) post their fourth straight win.

Tusculum had rallied with three runs in the seventh for a 5-3 advantage. A pair of walks put runners on the corners and Carlos Rivera (Leesburg, VA) plated the tying run with a two-out single. Maikol Gonzalez (Maracaibo, VENEZUELA) followed with a two-run double. Catawba struck right back in the eighth and tied the score on Ryan Query’s (Kannapolis, NC/Brown HS) two-run homer before Cotten’s winning blast in the eighth.

Catawba did not go quietly in the ninth as Rob Currie (St. Charles, IL) got Jerry Sands (Clayton, NC) on a fly out with the bases loaded to end the game. Weston Church (Salisbury, NC) had led off the inning with a single and runner David Thomas (Winston-Salem, NC) was sacrificed to second. Nathan Furr (Albemarle, NC/W. Stanly HS) singled to left, but Thomas was thrown out at the plate by Andrew Winslow (Ashburn, VA). Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, NC) would single and Andrew O’Neal walked to set the table for Sands.

The Indians drew first blood in the top of the first as Andrew O’Neal (King, NC/W. Stokes HS) homered with one out. Tusculum grabbed the lead in the fourth as Christian Rosa (Toa Baja, PUERTO RICO) swatted a two-run home run to give the Pioneers a 2-1 edge.

Catawba (5-2) got back even in the sixth as Lyerly led off with a single and stole second with one out. Sands drove home the run with a single to left. The Indians mounted another threat in the seventh after Chad Baker (Jamestown, NC) drew a leadoff walk. A Matt Kepley (Greensboro, NC) single put runners on the corners and Church lifted a sacrifice fly to right that had given the Indians a 3-2 lead.

Mat Galens (Lousiville, KY), now 2-0, earned the win relief after giving up the game-tying home run to Query. Currie picked up his first save. Gonzales, Rosa and Dustin Morrow (Lexington, KY) each had two hits for the Pioneers. Lyerly had a pair of hits for Catawba.

Tusculum closes out its four-game Kannapolis stay with Sunday’s 10 a.m. rematch with the College of St. Rose.

- TC -