Catawba Edges GCSU 7-5 in NCAA Regional

AIKEN, S.C. – Fourth-seeded and 21st-ranked Catawba stayed perfect in NCAA Division II Tournament first round games with a 7-5 victory over third-seeded and No. 20 Georgia College & State in the first round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.

The Indians are now 4-0 in first round games. The victory over the Bobcats improves the South Atlantic Conference Tournament champions to 36-16 on the 2009 season. GCSU falls to 37-18 on the year with the loss.

Catawba led from start to finish in the contest, opening the game by posting two runs in the first inning. The 2009 SAC Tournament MVP, Ryan Query obtained the first run of the game for the Indians when he brought in 2009 SAC Co-Player of the Year Craige Lyerly on a single through the left side. The leadoff hitter for the Indians, Lyerly had reached base on a single to center field to kick off the game.

Catawba added one more in the stanza before attaching two more runs in the top of the second and the fourth to take an early 4-0 lead.

GCSU was able to get back in the contest with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.

The two teams would battle back and forth over the rest of the game before GCSU was able to pull within one run at 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. GCSU third baseman Steve Muoio acquired the two runs when he singled to left field to bring in the two runs.

The score 6-5, Catawba put the game out of reach with a single run in the top of the ninth to take a two-run lead. Cameron White obtained the run by doubling to left centerfield to bring in Josh Hohn, who had walked to kick off the inning.

Nathan Furr was able to retire the side in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the game and pick up his eighth save of the year. Furr pitched one and a third of an inning, striking out two.

Catawba starter Tim Holmes pitched 6.1 innings to commandeer the victory from the hill. Holmes is now 7-2 on the year. He struck out two batters in the game.

GCSU starter Dylan Lightell took the loss for the Bobcats. Lightell dealt just the first two innings for GCSU, allowing three earned runs on six hits.

Three Catawba players finished the game with three hits. Lyerly led the way with a 3-for-6 performance that saw him scored three runs. Brett Hatley was 3-for-4 in the game with one run scored, while Chris Ahearn was 3-for-3 with a run scored an RBI.

Muio led the Bobcats with a 2-for-5 contest that included two RBIs.

Catawba now moves on to face the winner of the No. 2 Francis Marion and No. 5 Tusculum game. The Bobcats will play the winner of the No. 1 USC Aiken-No. 6 Belmont Abbey game.

Boxscore

GCSU Head Coach Tom Carty – “To win playoff games, you have to pitch and play defense well, and they came out and hit us in the mouth. Our starter didn’t start very well, and we didn’t have an answer.”

“Offensively I thought we did well.”

“You have to play defense and pitch well.”

Why Pirkle? - “I just felt Pete had a bad at bat and didn’t seem to have energy the next inning, and I wasn’t going to watch it.”

Looking forward to tomorrow – “We’ve seen Aiken a bunch this season, and they’re the best team in the league, certainly we’ll have our hands full if they come out tonight wining. Belmont Abbey, I don’t know a bunch about and we’ll see them tonight and learn a little about them just from watching.”

Catawba Head Coach Jim Gantt – “I thought Tim (starting pitcher) did a good job, he didn’t have the best stuff I’ve seen him have, but he had a tough battle and can compete with anyone. He did that today without the best stuff.”

“Georgia College did a good job battling back, and it came down to the wire, and fortunately we came out on top.”

“We did well in our conference tournament and that carried over to today.”

“Scoring early helped us relax early on, and we got hits early

Starting Catawba Pitcher Tim Holmes – “I felt pretty good, felt little nervous being the first pitcher for the first game, after the first I felt a lot more comfortable but didn’t have my best, obviously, wasn’t as sharp.

“My change up started working good later, and that helped out a lot there, plus had a couple key plays in the field that helped me out.”