SALISBURY, NC -- Catawba scored on an error in the ninth inning to rally past 11th-ranked Erskine to claim a wild 15-14 victory in baseball action on Wednesday night at Newman Park. The Catawba Indians snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 20-13. Erskine has a six-game winning streak halted as the Flying Fleet fall to 31-9.
Catawba opened the ninth with a pair of walks and when Zeb Link’s sacrifice attempt was thrown away at third, Corey Parker raced home with the winning run. The Indians rallied back from an 11-4 deficit after four and half innings.
The Indians, which had been shutout over its previous two games, jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after an inning. Criage Lyerly led of with a single and Ryan Query singled him home. It marked a big night for both as each would collect three hits. Josh Hohn hit a two-run homer and Kevin McMillan added a solo shot for the four-run lead.
Erskine battled back and went on top 8-4 in the fourth as it scored seven times after two were out. Keith Hill (Abbeville, SC, Abbeville High School) connected for a grand slam to give the Flying Fleet a 5-4 lead, while Bryan Fogle (Lexington, SC, Lexington High School) and Matt Schneider (Greenville, SC, Greenville High School) also homered in the inning.
Three more Erskine homer started the fifth as Cody McElhaney (Beech Island, SC, Midland Valley HS), Zach McCarthy (Spartanburg, SC, Byrnes HS) and Greg Huff (McDonough, GA, Henry County High School) went back-to-back-to-back for an 11-4 lead. Catawba stormed back in its fifth with a seven-run frame of its own. Chris Ahearn had a three-run homer and Parker tied the game with a two-run single.
Query put the Indians up 12-11 with a solo homer to lead off the sixth, but Erskine tied the game on a two-out single by Schneider in the seventh. A RBI single by Lyerly with two outs in the eighth put the Tribe back on top and the Indians added a second run on an error for a 14-12 edge. Erskine tied the game one last time on Fogle’s second homer, a two-run dinger in the ninth, before Catawba won the game without a hit in its ninth.
Catawba pounded out 16 hits in the win. Cameron White also had three hits for the Indians. Fogle and Schneider each had three hits in a 14-hit attack for Erskine, which hit seven homers. Catawba added four long balls. Blake Ketner got the win for Catawba despite giving up the homer in the ninth and improved to 7-2. Atlee Pearson (Duncan, SC, Byrnes HS), the last of seven Erskine pitchers, took the loss, falling to 5-2.
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