SALISBURY, N.C. --- The Catawba Indians swept visiting Tusculum in a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Newman Park.
Catawba (25-18, 14-5 SAC) won by scores of 4-3 in the first game and 6-3 in the night-cap to move into sole possession of second place in the league standings. Tusculum (23-20, 9-11 SAC) drops into a tie for eighth place in the conference.
The two teams will wrap up the weekend series on Sunday with an 11 a.m. contest, which was moved up two hours due to the threat of inclement weather.
Tusculum's Tyler Ranel went 6-for-8 on Saturday scoring four runs including a pair of on solo homers in Saturday's first game. TU's Zane Keener went 2-for-5 in the first game, but went 0-for-2 in the night-cap to end his streak of reaching base safely at 43 consecutive games, the fifth-longest in school history.
Game 1: Catawba 4, Tusculum 3
Catawba's Cameron Mills and Drew Robertson each had three-hit performances in the Indians' 4-3 win in the opener.
Catawba starter Austin Fine improved to 8-1 on the season as he went 6.1 innings, allowed three runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Robbie Cowie tossed 2.2 shutout innings and left the tying run stranded at second base in the ninth to record his fourth save of 2023.
Ranel led the Pioneers at the plate going 3-for-4 including a pair of solo home runs for this second 2-homer game of the season. He also belted two homers against UVA Wise on Feb. 24 at Pioneer Park.
Catawba led 2-0 after the first inning thanks to a Cooper Bryson RBI single and Cole Hales also had a RBI hit. TU answered with a run in the second as Darien Farley led off with a bunt single, moved to third on Will Samuelson's single and then scored on a wild pitch to make it a 2-1 contest.
The Pioneers tied the game in the fifth when Ranel led off with a solo blast to left field to level the score at 2-2. Catawba answered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.
Ranel hit his second homer of the game and team-leading seventh of the season with his solo blast to center field to trim the score to 4-3. Catawba reliever Kenny Dollenger took over for Fine, but was greeted by a Keener double and walked Ben Scartz to put the tying and go-ahead runs aboard. Cowie took over and ended the inning with a double play.
In the ninth, Ranel drew a two-out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. But Cowie got a ground out to end the game and seal the victory for the Indians.
Tusculum starter Luke Absher (3-2) went five innings, where he allowed four runs, two earned, nine hits, no walks and three strikeouts. TU reliever Drew Sliwinski tossed three shutout innings where he allowed one hit, one walk and posted a strikeout in his 34-pitch outing.
Game 2: Catawba 6, Tusculum 3
Catawba overcame a 2-0 deficit and scored five runs in the fifth inning including Blake Marsh's three-run homer in a 6-3 win over the Pioneers.
Cole Hales drove in a pair of runs for the Indians including his RBI double in the fifth.
Ranel posted another 3-for-4 performance while scoring twice and recorded a double for the Pioneers.
Ranel led off the game with a single, moved to second on a Keener bunt and scored on Scartz's RBI single. TU added another run in the third as Ranel singled, moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a ground and scored on a two-out wild pitch to make it a 2-0 game.
Catawba cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Levi Perrell hit a two-out triple down the left field line to drive in JR Lingerfelt with tying run. Jacob Willett took over for starter Seth Willis and issued a walk to Dylan Driver to put runners on the corners. Marsh stepped up and hit a three-run blast to right field to give the Indians the lead at 5-2. Mills was hit by a pitch and scored on Hales' double to a 6-2 Catawba advantage.
Tusculum made some noise in the top of the sixth when Scartz led off with a walk and moved to third on Christian Ortega's double. Hales, who started the game at third base, moved to the mound to pitch. Scartz would come into score on a wild pitch to make it 6-3. But a strikeout, an infield pop-up and a fly out would end the inning.
Hales would retire the Tusculum seventh in order to end the game.
Willis (6-3) suffered the loss for the Pioneers as he went 4.2 innings, allowed five hits, three runs, one walk and two strikeouts.
TU reliever Jonathan Nelson worked around two walks in the sixth inning to keep it a 6-3 game. Nelson was making his first appearance since being hit in the mouth with a line drive on March 18 at Mars Hill.
