SAC Baseball Championship Day Two Recaps

NOTE: Friday's Carson-Newman vs. Newberry and Tusculum vs. Lincoln Memorial games were postponed due to rain.  They will be played Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m.

No. 1 Catawba 9, No. 4 Newberry 4

FOREST CITY, N.C. - South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Chris Dula had a homer and four RBI Friday night as the top-seeded Catawba College Indians defeated second-seeded Wingate University 9-4 on day two of the 2013 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship at McNair Field. Catawba improves to 35-15 overall, advancing to play Saturday night on day three of the SAC Tournament at 7:30 p.m. Wingate is eliminated from the tournament, falling to 29-20 overall.

Dula went two-for-five on the day, driving in a team-high four runs. Blake Houston was three-for-five with three runs scored, while Danny Parisi went three-for-four with an RBI and two runs scored for the Indians. Keaton Hawks had a double, RBI and run scored for Catawba.

Blake Prince was two-for-four with an RBI to lead the Wingate attack. Jason Hunter added a double, RBI and run scored, while Michael Godinez was two-for-four with an RBI. Josh Clark and Brian Yeung each added a double and a run scored for the Bulldogs.

Catawba got on the board in the third, scoring a pair of runs on a two-run single from Dula.

Wingate answered with three runs in the top of the fourth. Clark doubled to left center, then scored on an RBI double from Hunter. Godinez tied the game at two with an RBI single, while a Catawba error allowed another run to score, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.

Catawba scored four times in the fifth to regain the lead. An RBI single from Parisi tied the game at three, while an RBI double from Hawks put the Indians on top for good. Julio Zubillaga added an RBI infield single, while a wild pitch would give Catawba a 6-3 advantage.

The Indians scored three more runs in the seventh to push the advantage to six. Dula had the big blow of the inning, a towering two-run homer to left, his 14th of the year. An error, groundout and passed ball allowed another run to score, making it 9-3.

Yeung doubled off the top of the 25-foot fence in left in the eighth, then scored on an RBI single from Prince to make the final margin 9-4.

John Tuttle got the win, improving to 10-4. He allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits in 8 1/3 innings, striking out seven. Ben Currie took the loss falling to 6-3. He allowed six runs on six hits in four innings, striking out five.