SALISBURY, N.C. --- Catawba College's Dylan Driver went 5-for-8 on the day as the ninth-ranked Catawba Indians swept a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader against visiting Tusculum University Saturday afternoon at Newman Park.
Catawba won the first game 14-6 and edged the Pioneers in the second, 7-5 to complete the weekend sweep. The Indians (26-10, 17-4 SAC) move into sole possession of first place in the conference standings while Tusculum slips to 14-23 overall and 8-13 in league play.
Game 1: No. 9 Catawba 14, Tusculum 6
Catawba overcame a 3-0 deficit for a second straight game and got a go-ahead three-run homer from Cole Hales as the Indians prevailed 14-6.
Catawba finished with 14 hits including Matthew Connolly who went 2-for-4 with four RBI including his three-run double in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Tusculum scored a run in the first and got solo homers from Caleb Webster and Ben Scartz in the third to take a 3-0 lead.
The Indians answered with sixth runs in the bottom of third as 11 batters went to the plate and racked up six hits including Connolly's solo homer to get the frame started.
Trailing 6-3, Tusculum chipped away at the deficit as Caleb Mulcahy homered in the fourth and Max Schmarder came through with a two-out RBI single in the fifth to trim the Catawba lead to one (6-5).
In the top of the sixth, Tusculum tied the game when Mulcahy reached on a one-out single, moved to third on Jack Gagen's base hit and scored on Webster's two-out RBI single to knot the score at 6-6.
In the bottom of the sixth, Driver reached on a double and James Dunlap was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Hales stepped up and homered to center field for a three-run shot and a 9-6 Catawba lead.
Parker Styborski led off the seventh with a solo blast to left field and Connolly's three-run double in the eighth capped a four-run frame to all but seal the win.
Reliever Hayden Simmerson pitched four masterful innings as he blanked the Pioneers in the final three frames. Simmerson moves to 3-2 on the season as he allowed three hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Tusculum reliever Mason Huffstickler (2-1) suffered his first loss of the year as he went 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits, one walk and two strikeouts.
The Pioneers finished with nine hits in the game including two hits apiece by Webster and Mulcahy.
Game 2: No. 9 Catawba 7, Tusculum 5
Driver went 3-for-3 while Dunlap had a pair of base hits including his go-ahead two-run double in the fourth as Catawba won the series finale, 7-5.
Tusculum out-hit Catawba 10-9 as Sawyer Pace and Omar Carreras has two-hit performances in the loss.
Pace gave the Pioneers a 1-0 lead in the third with his two-out single to five in Ryan Ortega.
The Catawba Indians responded with three runs in the bottom of the third including Hunter Atkins two-out, two-run double as the hosts led 3-1.
Tusculum tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the fourth sparked by a RBI double from Ortega and Pace was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Catawba regained the lead with two scores in its half of the fourth on Dunlap's two run double, his second of the game and ninth of the year.
The Tribe tacked on two critical insurance runs in the sixth as Sam Hunter hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 7-3.
Tusculum mounted a rally in the seventh as Jayden Singleton led off with a single. After a pair of fly outs, Jude Morton homered to right field as TU trailed 7-5.
Catawba went to reliever Brandon Rogers who needed two pitches to get a fly out to end the game and secure his first save of 2025.
Reliever Seth Sharpe (2-0) picked up the win as he was the pitcher of record when Catawba regained the lead for good in the fourth.
Tusculum starter Brice Anders (2-7) suffered the loss as he went 3.2 innings, allowed seven hits, five runs, two walks and a strikeout.
Schmarder, who only played in the first game, finished the day with a single and extend his personal hitting streak to 26 consecutive games, which puts him in a three-way tie for the second longest streak in school history. He matches the 26-game hitting streak by Chad Busch during the 1996 season and Cody Coffman's 26-game run in 2012. Schmarder is two games shy of the record 28 held by Maikol Gonzalez during the 2008 season.
Schmarder has also reached base in 31 straight outings which is the eighth-longest by a Pioneer. The school record for most consecutive games reaching base is 83 in a row by Christian Rosa during the 2007 and 2008 campaigns.
Tusculum will wrap up its five-game road swing on Tuesday when they travel to Cleveland, Tennessee to face Lee University for a 6 p.m. contest. Lee defeated Tusculum last month in Greeneville.
