SALISBURY, N.C. --- The Catawba Indians erupted for 12 runs in the fourth inning to spark a 16-1 South Atlantic Conference baseball win over the Tusculum Pioneers Friday night at Newman Park.
Catawba (26-21, 14-8 SAC) batted around twice in the fourth as the hosts totaled seven hits and six walks in the inning. Four of those hits went for extra bases including Dylan Wilkinson's grand slam in his second at-bat of the frame.
The Pioneers (17-28, 5-17 SAC) were held to five hits on the evening including Rudy Fernandez's solo home run, his fourth round-tripper of the season.
Catawba starting pitcher Greg Brown improved to 5-3 on the season as he went 6.1 innings where he allowed one run on four hits, three walks and six strikeouts. TU starter Sam Loew suffered the loss to fall to 2-3 on the year.
Catawba manufactured a run in the first inning as Levi Perrell was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored on Henderson Lentz's grounder for an early 1-0 game.
Both starting pitchers worked out of jams in the second and third innings before Catawba's 12-run outburst in the fourth. The Indians added three unearned runs in the fifth to round out the scoring.
Wilkinson finished the game going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Perrell and Carlos Lara had mult-hit outings.
Tusculum reliever Corey Binion pitched 3.2 shutout innings to close out the game for the Pioneers, while scattering two hits, three walks and posted seven strikeouts. Zane Keener led Tusculum at the plate with a pair of hits including his 10th double of the season.
The two teams will close out the three-game weekend series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
