#9 Baseball plates two in the 8th to stave off elimination, move one win away from Supers

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 9th-ranked and top-seeded Catawba College baseball team overcame a late deficit with two runs scored in the bottom of the eighth inning in a thrilling 5-4 win over 13th-ranked and fourth-seed UNC Pembroke at Newman Park on Friday night. The Catawba Indians move to a win away from a Southeast Super Regional berth.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-hit UNC Pembroke 9-8

- The Braves had all three extra-base hits, each a home run

- UNCP left four runners on base; Catawba stranded 11

- UNC Pembroke had both errors in the contest, while Catawba recorded both stolen bases

- The Catawba Indian pitchers allowed four earned runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out six; Pembroke's staff allowed four earned runs on nine hits and eight walks, striking out seven

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Mason Gwyn earned the win on the mound to improve to 9-1 on the season, allowing one run on one hit and one walk with one strikeout in three innings; Hayden Simmerson picked up his seventh save of the year with a shutout ninth

- Levi Perrell and Dylan Driver both singled, walked, stole a base and drove in a run

- Sam Hunter laid down two bunt singles and scored

- Cooper Bryson led the team with three base hits on the night

- Boo Rusher drove in a run on a single and walked twice

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST INNING

- Perrell walked and stole second to lead off the bottom half of the first

- Hunter's bunt single loaded the bases with nobody out

- Rusher dropped an RBI single into short left field to move everyone 90 feet and plate the game's first run

- Hunter held up on a fly ball to the outfield, but scored when the throw sailed over the catcher's head to take a 2-0 lead

FOURTH INNING

- Payne Stolsworth had retired 10 Braves in a row when Kody O'Connor lifted a two-out solo homer the other way to cut Catawba's lead in half

FIFTH INNING

- Ashton Donathan lifted a two-run home run to left field in the fifth, as UNCP took its first lead of the game, 3-2

SEVENTH INNING

- Driver led off the seventh with an infield single and stole second

- A double play seemed to take the wind out of Catawba's sails, but it moved Driver up to third, who scored on a two-out wild pitch to tie the game at 3

EIGHTH INNING

- Michael Dolberry II returned the lead to the Braves' favor with a one-out solo blast to center field

- Logan Rogers' walk and another infield single from Bryson put runners on first and second with no one out in the bottom half

- Perrell cued a single just inside the right field line to score Rogers to tie the game

- Driver drove in the go-ahead run with a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a throwing error

- With runners on second and third with one out, Pembroke struck out two batters to keep the deficit to a single run

NINTH INNING

- UNC Pembroke drew a hit-by-pitch to lead off the ninth

- On a 3-2 count, Simmerson struck out the batter and Rusher threw out the runner heading for a second for a quick double play

- After a two-out base hit, Simmerson struck out the final Brave batter to snap Pembroke's 10-game winning streak and send the Catawba Indians to within a win of the Southeast Super Regional

UP NEXT

- Catawba faces the winner of Young Harris and UNC Pembroke in a winner-take-all game with a Super Regional berth on the line; Catawba's game is roughly scheduled for a 3:45 p.m. first pitch