HICKORY, N.C. --- Junior pitcher Rob
Currie tossed a stellar complete game effort to lead No. 2
seed Tusculum College to a 4-2 over top-seeded Catawba College to
win the 2008 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball
Tournament title, Sunday afternoon at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Tusculum (38-12), ranked No. 29 in NCAA Division II, claims the
league's automatic berth for next month's NCAA II Tournament.
Catawba (37-16, ranked No. 23 in NCAA II), will await word of a
possible at-large berth.
Tusculum scored all its runs in the fourth inning, while parlaying
Currie's solid mound effort to win its sixth straight win and 14 of
its last 15 outings. The St. Charles, Ill. native scattered eight
hits and allowed two runs in going the distance for the first time
this year. He walked three and recorded eight strikeouts to even
his season record at 4-4.
Catawba went on top in the second inning as Ryan
Query (Kannapolis, N.C.) and Craige
Lyerly (Salisbury, N.C.) opened the frame with hits. A
one-out walk loaded the bases and Bubba Morris
(Spencer, N.C.) brought home the initial run with a ground out to
third.
Indian starter Blake Ketner (Davidson, N.C.) shut
out the Pioneers until the fourth when he ran into trouble after a
pair of walks to start the inning. Eric Conley
(Knoxville, Tenn.) hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game and
Sean Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.) followed with a
double to put Tusculum on top 2-1.
The Pioneers would add two more in the fourth. Paul
Finger (Lincolnton, N.C.) got one home on a chopper up the
middle and the final run of the frame scored on an errant thrown on
an infield single by Aaron Hudgins (Kingsport,
Tenn.).
Catawba got a run back in the fifth, when Morris reached on a
one-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch and later took
third on SAC Player of the Year, David Thomas'
(Winston-Salem, N.C.) check-swing single. Chad
Baker (Jamestown, N.C.) looped a double to center to cut
the lead in half, but after an intentional walk to Jerry
Sands (Clayton, N.C.), Query grounded out to end the
frame.
The Indians had one last chance in the ninth as Brett
Hatley (Salisbury, N.C.) led off with a single, but Currie
retired the final three batters to finish off his complete game.
Hatley kept Catawba within striking distance with four and a third
innings of scoreless relief. He allowed one hit and struck out
four.
Tusculum accounted for a season-low six hits, including a 2-for-3
effort by Hudgins. One of those hits came from senior
Maikol Gonzalez (Maracaibo Veneuzela), who extends
his hitting streak to 26 consecutive games.
Tusculum claims is second SAC Tournament trophy and will be making
its fourth NCAA postseason appearance and second one in as many
years.
- SAC -
