Baseball

March 23, 2003

Baseball takes final game of weekend series with PC

SALISBURY, NC – Catawba College took the rubber-game of its series with visiting Presbyterian, winning 9-6 in South Atlantic Conference baseball action on Sunday afternoon at Newman Park. The Indians move into second place in the league with the win, improving to 19-12 overall and 6-3 in the SAC. Presbyterian, which entered the weekend with a half-game league lead, falls to 12-15 and 5-3. Catawba opened the scoring in the second on a two-out, RBI triple by Matt Baker (Charlotte, NC). Presbyterian’s Heath McCutcheon (Newberry, SC) continued his stellar weekend with a two-run triple in the third to give the Blue Hose a 2-1 lead. Kevin White (Spartanburg, SC) followed with a single for a 3-1 edge. The Indians would go back on top in its third, scoring four times. Scott Searles (Boston, MA) drove home a run on a bunt single, while Spence Southard (Greensboro, NC) followed with a bases-loaded walk to tie the score. The Indians took the lead on a balk and the final run came on Jimbo Davis’ (Salisbury, NC) RBI groundout. Presbyterian would tie the game in the fifth, scoring a pair of unearned runs, collecting three straight single with two outs. Curtis Bell (Gilbert, SC) drove home the first run on a pinch-hit single, while Dusty New (Abbeville, SC) plated the tying run. The Indians would score the winning runs in the seventh. Chad Hill (Bennett, NC) led off with a home run, while Blair Reynolds (King, NC) later hit a sacrifice fly. Baker would double home a run and Nick Lefko (Faith, NC) capped the scoring with a RBI single. The Blue Hose got a run back in the eighth, but Catawba got out of further damage on an inning-ending double play lineout. Matt Smith (Browns Summitt, NC) earned the win, tossing three innings of relief. He allowed one run on three hits to improve to 2-0. Baker, Hill and Ashaad Yeoman (Wilmington, NC), who entered for the injured Searles in the third, each had two hits for the Tribe. McCutcheon had two hits and two RBI for PC, while White, New and Remington Ross (Frederick, MD) also had two hits. #####