Railsplitters Split Saturday Double-Header With Catawba

SALISBURY, NC - Catawba and Lincoln Memorial battled to a split of a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Newman Park. The Railsplitters took the opener 6-4, while Catawba rallied for a 13-12 win in the nightcap. The Catawba Indians now stand at 9-5 overall and 4-1 in the SAC, while LMU is 13-10 and 3-6.

Catawba salvaged the split on Kevin McMillan’s grand slam with one out in the sixth. With one out, Ryan Query and Josh Hohn singled and Brett Hatley drew a walk. That set the table for McMillan who hit a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall to give Catawba its 13-12 edge.

LMU came back in the seventh and loaded the bases with one out. Nathan Furr, who did not allow a run in his three and two-thirds innings of relief, got an infield pop up and a strike out to end the game.

The Railsplitters took a 4-0 lead after a half inning, keyed by a two-run single by John Couch. Catawba battled back to take a 7-5 lead after two innings, scoring four times in the second on solo home runs by Jake Faggart and Craige Lyerly and a two-run homer by Query.

Lincoln Memorial went back on top in the third following a three-run homer from Ralph Rosas. Joseph Horsley’s three-run homer in the fifth pushed the LMU lead to 12-8, but Furr shut down the Railsplitters from their and the Indians rallied.

Rosas had four hits for LMU in the nightcap after collecting three hits in the opener. Shane Kaufman had three hits in the first game and a pair in game two. Query had three hits in each game for Catawba. Lyerly had three hits in the opener and two in the nightcap.

Cody Pack staked Lincoln Memorial to a lead in the opener with a two-run homer in the second then the Railsplitters held on to grab the win. Catawba would strand 14 runners, including six in the final three innings.

LMU led 4-1 entering the bottom of the seventh when Catawba loaded the bases with one out. Hatley got a run home on a sacrifice fly and a single by McMillan loaded the bases again. Zeb Link was hit by a pitch to force home a run to make it 4-3, but reliever Jeff Ludlow got a comebacker to end the frame.

Pack had a RBI double in the eight and Tommy Casto singled home a run in the ninth as LMU stretched the lead to 6-3. Link would double with one out in the ninth to put a pair of runners on and Joe Manser got one run in on a groundout, but Ludlow got a strikeout to end the game.

Game One:  Lincoln Memorial 6, Catawba 4
Mar 07, 2009 at Salisbury, NC
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Lincoln Memorial.... 020 100 111  -  6 14  2      (13-9, 3-5 SAC)
Catawba............. 001 000 201  -  4 12  2      (8-5, 3-1 SAC)
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Pitchers: Lincoln Memorial - Josh Strawn; Jeff Ludlow(7). Catawba - T.Mullins; A.Bain(7); T.McSweeney(7); T.Holmes(8).
Win-Josh Strawn(4-0)  Save-Jeff Ludlow(1)  Loss-T.Mullins(1-1)  T-2:39  A-0
HR LMU - Cody Pack (3); Eric Kitts (2).
Complete Box Score

Catawba 13, Lincoln Memorial 12
Mar 07, 2009 at Salisbury, NC
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Lincoln Memorial.... 414 300 0 - 12 16  2      (13-10, 3-6 SAC)
Catawba............. 341 014 X - 13 12  1      (9-5, 4-1 SAC)
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Pitchers: Lincoln Memorial - Mitch Kramer; Chris Armstrong(2); Brandon Neff(2); Jeff Ludlow(3); Steven Starbird(6); Ray Burchell(6). Catawba - AFairweather; W.Huneycutt(1); T.Holmes(3); T.McSweeney(3); M.Trombino(4); N.Furr(4).
Win-N.Furr(1-0)  Loss-Steven Starbird(2-1)  T-2:18  A-231
HR LMU - Ralph Rosas (2); Joseph Horsley (2).
HR CATBB - C.Lyerly (2); R.Query (3); K.McMillan (2); J.Faggart (2).
C. Armstrong faced 2 batters in the 2nd.
W.Huneycutt faced 2 batters in the 3rd.
T.McSweeney faced 2 batters in the 4th.
S. Starbird faced 2 batters in the 6th.
Complete Box Score

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