Saturday,
March 24,
2001
Catawba moves back into tie for first in SAC
SALISBURY,
NC -- Catawba College got excellent pitching performances
from senior Brad Esarey (Mt. Pleasant, NC) and freshman
Zach Snyder (Lexington, NC) as the Indians swept
visiting Presbyterian in a South Atlantic Conference baseball
doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Newman Park.
Catawba won by the scores of 8-3 and 2-1 to improve to 22-10
overall and 7-3 in the SAC. The Indians are currently
tied with Lenoir-Rhyne. Presbyterian fell to 18-18 and
4-6.
Esarey, now 6-2, scattered seven hits and allowed just two
runs in eight innings of work for Catawba in the opener.
He made only one mistake. After hitting Brian
Grimm (Spartanburg, SC) with a pitch he surrendered a
two-run home run to Matt Warren
(Lexington, SC) to give Presbyterian a 2-1 edge in the fourth.
The Indians would strike right back in their fourth. Chad
Hill
(Bennett, NC) led off the inning with a single and scored on Travis
Goins' (Salisbury, NC) double. Curt Motsinger
(Kernersville, NC) followed with a two-run homer to put
Catawba ahead 4-2. That would be all Esarey would need,
but the Indians tackled on a run in the seventh and three more
in the eighth for insurance. Blue Hose starter Kevin
Felts (Winston-Salem, NC) suffered his first loss of
the year, falling to 6-1.
Snyder
was equally impressive in the second game, allowing no earned
runs on seven hits in his eight innings. The only run he
allowed came on
off a two-out error in the fifth. He struck out four and
walked only one.
Catawba would strike first in the fourth as Spence Southard
(Greensboro, NC) singled home Hill with a two-out single.
The Blue Hose would answer in the fifth. After
back-to-back singles to
lead off the inning, a sacrifice and a strike out left runners
at second and third with two outs. Keagan
Broussard (Virginia Beach, VA) grounded to third, but
reached on a bad throw allowing Kevin
White (Spartanburg, SC) to score.
Presbyterian would load the bases with two outs in the eighth,
but Snyder got Davis Rice
(Clinton, SC) on a ground out to end the threat. Blair
Reynolds (King, NC) opened the Catawba eighth with a walk
and moved to third on Todd Smith's (Greensboro, NC)
single. After an intentional walk, Motsinger lined a
single to center to score the winning run with no outs.