Baseball Loses Double-Header at Catawba

SALISBURY, N.C. – Catawba College finished a sweep of visiting Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference baseball action on Saturday afternoon at Newman Park.  The Catawba Indians improve to 24-13 overall and 17-6 in the SAC.  The Lions fall to 16-22 on the season and 9-12 in the conference.
 
Blake Houston and Keaton Hawks keyed Catawba to the victories. Houston enjoyed a 5-for-5 opener with a double, triple, two RBI and three runs scored.  Hawks drove in five runs in the opener and added another RBI and three runs scored in the nightcap.  Hawks, T.J. Wharton and Jon Wallace each hit two-run homers in the opener. 

After allowing a Mars Hill run in the first inning of the opener, Catawba sent 11 men to the plate in the bottom half of the inning, scoring seven runs to jump out early.  Hawks had his two-run homer in the inning and Houston tripled home the final two of the inning.
 
Dalton Eisenbath homered for the Lions to start the fourth and after RBI from Dustin Jones and Alex Zachary, Mars Hill was within 7-4.  Hawks plated a run in the bottom of the fourth and Wallace's two-run homer in the fifth made it 10-4.
 
Hawks doubled home two runs and Wharton added his two-run homer to push the Catawba lead to 14-4 after six.  Mars Hill scored four in the seventh, one on a RBI from Eisenbath and two more on a double from Adam Daniel, but the Catawba bullpen ended the rally.
 
Catawba pounded out 17 hits in the opener.  Wharton had three hits with three RBI and three runs scored.  John Tuttle improved to 6-2 on the mound. 
 
Eisenbath and Evan Rogers each had three hits for the Lions in the opener.  Phillip Carroll and Jacob Rand both had two hits.
 
Hawks singled home Houston, who had walked, to give Catawba another early lead in the nightcap.  The Indians scored three times in the opening frame with Wharton and Julio Zubillaga also plating runs in that first inning.
 
Catawba blew the game open with five-run fourth.  Wharton capped the inning with a two-run single.
 
Shaefer Shepard picked up the win to up his record to 5-1.  He went five innings, allowing a single run off three hits with five strikeouts. 
 
Rogers had two hits for Mars Hill and drove in the first Lion run in the fifth.  Rand also had two hits and a RBI.