Saturday, March 1, 2008

CATAWBA SWEEPS SAC BASEBALL PAIR OVER NO. 23 TUSCULUM

SALISBURY, N.C. --- Catawba swept both ends of a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader from 23rd-ranked Tusculum on Saturday afternoon at Newman Park. The Catawba Indians won by the scores of 7-5 and 10-6 to improve to 13-6 overall and 6-3 in the SAC. Andrew O’Neal (King, NC) singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning of the opener, while Kevin McMillan (Salisbury, NC) homered twice and drove in five runs to pace Catawba in the nightcap. The Pioneers fall to 10-7 overall and 4-5 in the league as the Indians won the weekend series 2-1.

Chad Baker (Jamestown, NC/) wielded the big bat for Catawba in the opener with four RBI on a pair of hits. Home runs were the story of the first game as the Pioneers hit five, all solo shots. Brett Hatley (Salisbury, NC) put the Indians on top in the second with a home run of his own before TC grabbed the lead in the third on back-to-back shots by Carlos Rivera (Leesburg, VA) and Maikol Gonzalez (Maracaibo, Venezuela).

Baker had a two-run homer in the third and a two-run single in the fourth to stake the Indians to a 5-3 lead. Tusculum got homers from Marc Hyndsman (Morristown, NJ) and a second by Gonzalez to tie the score at 5-5 by the seventh. A pair of one-out walks set the stage for O’Neal, who singled through the left side to give Catawba the lead for good.

Tim Holmes (Bay Village, OH) shut down the Pioneers over the final innings, allowing just one hit over two and two-thirds innings. He struck out six in improving to 2-0 on the year. O’Neal and David Thomas (Winston-Salem, NC) joined Baker with two hits, while Gonzalez had three hits for TC.

In game two, Tusculum bolted to a 4-0 lead after a half inning. Christian Rosa (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) singled in two runs, while Sean Cotten (Mooresville, NC) added a sacrifice fly and Dustin Morrow (Lexington, KY) posted a RBI double. The lead was short-lived however, as Catawba answered with five of its own in the first frame. McMillan capped the inning with a two-run homer.

The Pioneers retook the lead in the fourth, scoring a pair of unearned runs on a wild pitch and a ground out, but McMillan hit his second dinger of the game to tie the score in the Catawba fourth. It would be McMillan again delivering in the fifth with the lone hit in a three-run outburst. Baker struck out to open the inning, but reached on a wild pitch. A pair of one-out walks loaded the bases for McMillan, who doubled home two runs.

Matt Seabolt (Asheboro, NC) made those runs stand up as he tossed two hitless innings of relief to earn his second save. Blake Ketner (Davidson, NC) lasted through five innings surrendering eight hits and six runs (four earned) to improve to 3-1. McMillan had three hits for Catawba, while Morrow was 3-for-3 for the Pioneers.

Tusculum is back home this Tuesday when it hosts Pfeiffer for a 4 p.m. contest at Pioneer Park.

- TC -