SALISBURY, N.C. -- The Railsplitters (12-9, 9-5 SAC) fell victim to a pair of dominant pitching performances and saw their nine-game winning streak end as the Catawba Indians (18-4, 10-3 SAC) took both games of a doubleheader on Saturday in Salisbury, N.C. and assumed sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings.
 
Catawba took game one 6-1 and finished off the twinbill with a 3-2 win in game two.  
 
The reigning Southeast Region Pitcher of the Year Craig Brooks mowed through Lincoln Memorial's potent offense in game one, allowing only five hits and one earned run in eight innings of work. Brooks fanned 12 batters and walked two before giving way to Matt Farmakis, who closed it out in the ninth.
 
Four solo home runs accounted for two-thirds of the Indians' offensive output, and freshman Will Albertson was responsible for three of those dingers. Albertson hammered the first of his three home runs in the bottom of the first, and then went yard again in the third and sixth frames. Albertson came to the plate with a chance for his fourth home run in the bottom of the eighth, but had to settle for a single back up the middle.
 
It was a home run that accounted for the Railsplitters' only run of the game, as Jonathan Lowe (Sidney, Ohio) belted a leadoff homer - his second of the season - in the top of the sixth.
 
Lincoln Memorial had two legitimate shots to put some runs on the board early, but failed to cash in on either of those opportunities. Singles from Kyle Floyd (Windsor, Ill.) and Eric Kalman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) put the Railsplitters in business with one out in the second, but a strikeout and fly out ended the threat. Logan Augustine (Urbandale, Iowa) and Kalman drew back-to-back one-out walks to put two runners on in the fourth, but the same sequence of events kept the Railsplitters scoreless.
 
In between all of the home runs, Catawba pieced together two runs in the bottom of the second on RBI singles from Malachi Hanes and Blake Houston.
 
Brandon Jean (Franklin, Tenn.) gave up seven hits and five runs in his four-inning start, while Jake Watkins (Powder Springs, Ga.) was much more effective in four innings of relief, allowing just four hits and one earned run. Jean fell to 1-2 on the season with the loss.
 
Shaefer Shepard was nearly, if not more dominant for Catawba on the mound in the nightcap. Shepard went the distance, improving to 5-1 on the season after relinquishing just four hits and two earned runs in the complete-game performance. He struck out nine batters without a walk over that span.
 
The Railsplitters did all of their damage in the top of the fourth, where they mustered three of their four hits. Lowe, Floyd and Augustine singled in consecutive plate appearances to put the first run on the board, while a fielder's choice off the bat of Kalman brought Floyd home.
 
That run-scoring rally fell just a bit short, though, as a strikeout left Kalman stranded at third base and kept the Railsplitters in a 3-2 hole. T.J. Wharton had staked the Indians to that 3-2 lead with a three-run blast just the half inning before.
 
Lincoln Memorial would not get another runner on base for the remainder of the game as only two of the Railsplitters' last nine batters got it out of the infield against Shepard.
 
It was a tough loss to swallow for starting pitching Grant Painter (Knoxville, Tenn.), who was one costly pitch away from earning a different result. Instead, Painter fell to 2-3 after allowing eight hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts in six innings of work.
 
Aside from the three-straight base knocks, Kalman accounted for the only other hit for the Railsplitters with a two-out double in the top of the second.
 
The Railsplitters look to salvage the series in the finale at 1 p.m. Sunday.