Catawba, Tusculum, Newberry Advance In Food Lion SAC Baseball Tournament

WINGATE, NC -- Senior Tim Holmes (Bay Village, OH/Bay HS) tossed a seven-hit shutout as Catawba remained undefeated at the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament with a 9-0 win over Mars Hill on Friday night at Ron Christopher Stadium on the campus of Wingate University. The second-seeded Catawba Indians improve to 32-15 and move on to play Tusculum on Saturday at noon as the only two unbeaten teams remaining. Mars Hill, the third seed, falls to 27-19 and will face Newberry in an elimination game on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.

The Indians went on top in the first inning, scoring the only run Holmes would need. Ryan Query (Kannapolis, NC/Brown HS) singled with two outs, Chris Ahearn (Charlotte, NC/Providence HS) was hit by a pitch and Kevin McMillan (Salisbury, NC/N. Rowan HS) delivered a single to put Catawba on top for good.

Catawba went back to work in the third. Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, NC/E. Rowan HS) singled to extend his hitting streak to 28 games and Query connected on his 17th home run of the season for a 3-0 lead. Lyerly singled again in the fifth and scored on a single by McMillan. The hit helped Lyerly tie a school record with his eighth straight multi-hit effort.

McMillan added to his RBI total with a two-run single as the Indians used a four-run ninth to grab a comfortable lead. Holmes posted his second straight shutout in improving to 6-2. He walked three and fanned 10.

Five Indians enjoyed multi-hit games led by Query, who was 4-for-5. McMillan added three hits with Lyerly, Ahearn and Brett Hatley (Salisbury, NC/W. Rowan HS) all adding a pair of hits. Mars Hill was the last team to hold Lyerly hitless this season back on March 17.

Devin Presnell and Corry DiBiase each had two hits for Mars Hill. Alex Britt made the start and allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings. The Lions left nine men on base with Catawba stranding 10.

Tusculum 4, Wingate 0

WINGATE, N.C. --- Max Keleher pitched a six-hit shut out as top-seeded Tusculum College blanked No. 4 Wingate University 4-0 Friday afternoon in day two action of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament. The six-team, double-elimination tournament is being held at Ron Christopher Stadium and Plyler Field on the Wingate campus.

The Pioneers (35-14) advance to Saturday's winner's bracket final at noon against the winner of Friday's final game between No. 2 seed Catawba College and third-seeded Mars Hill College. The Bulldogs are eliminated from the tournament as they fall to 23-29.

Keleher (7-2) tosses his second straight shut out in as many weeks as he walked none and struck out nine. Keleher (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Pioneers didn't allow a runner to reach third base until Dodson McPherson's (Graham, N.C.) two-out triple in the ninth inning.

Tusculum's Max Keleher pitched a six-hit shutout to lead the Pioneers over Wingate in the Food Lion SAC Baseball Tournament.

Tusculum's Paul Finger (Lincolnton, N.C.) went 3-for-4 including two-run homer that highlighted a three-run seventh inning for the Pioneers.

TC got on the scoreboard in the third inning when Aaron Hudgins (Kingsport, Tenn.) led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Sean Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.)..

Keleher threw 126 pitches on the day as he has extended his consecutive shut out innings streak to 18 in a row.

Wingate starter Dusty White (4-5, Charlotte, N.C.) suffered the loss as he went four innings, allowed four hits, one run, walked four and posted three strikeouts.

The Pioneers tallied nine hits, including a 2-for-3 effort by Hudgins. Finger's performance included his fifth home run of the season, along with his seventh double of the year.

Newberry 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 6

WINGATE, N.C. --- Casio Grider went 4-for-5 and Chris Roman pitched seven strong innings of relief to lead fifth-seed Newberry College to a 10-7 win over No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne University Friday afternoon in an elimination game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament. The six-team, double-elimination tournament is being held at Ron Christopher Stadium and Plyler Field on the campus of Wingate University.

Newberry (18-22) stays alive in the tournament and will play Saturday against an opponent yet to be determined. Lenoir-Rhyne is eliminated from the tournament as the Bears drop their record to 24-21 on the season.

Newberry pounded out 18 hits as eight of the nine starters for the Scarlet and Gray recorded a hit. Jovan Rohena went 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Jose Rosa posted a 3-for-5 effort with three RBI.

Newberry jumped out of the gate, plating four runs in the first inning. Thomas Berryhill (Aynor, S.C.) led off the game with a triple and Rohena (Trujillo Alt, Puerto Rico), Rosa (Keystone Heights, Fla.) and Jim Pollack (Homer, Alaska) followed with RBI singles. Pollack scored the final run of the frame as Rosa was caught stealing, but in a rundown, Pollack came into score and a 4-0 Newberry lead.

Lenoir-Rhyne shortstop Alex Cooks is tagged out at the plate by Newberry catcher Jose Rosa during Friday's Food Lion SAC Tournament game in Wingate, N.C. Newberry won 10-7.

But that lead would not last as the Bears scored five times in their half of the first as L-R capitalized on three hits and a pair of Newberry errors to take a 5-4 advantage. Zach Glass (Salisbury, N.C.) and Michael Pleau (Vero Beach, Fla.) came through with RBI singles and Brian Dice (Hickory, N.C.) drove in a run with his sacrifice fly.

The Bears added another run in the third inning when Max Loveland led off the stanza with a solo shot to left center, his seventh home run of the year. The home run brought in Roman to relieve Newberry starter Ernest Catellano (Homestead, Fla.).

Newberry tied the game with a pair of runs in the fourth frame and four more in the fifth to take a 10-6 lead. In the fourth, Rohena drove in both scores with his two-out, two-run single. In the fifth, the Scarlet Gray took advantage of a pair of L-R miscues, while getting a two-run single by Rosa and Derek Bley (Upper Arlington, Ohio) orchestrated a perfect suicide squeeze, driving Rosa on his bunt.

While the Newberry bats came alive, Roman settled in and held the Bears at bay as he tossed seven innings of relief, allowed two hits, walked five and posted eight strikeouts. The only run he gave up was a solo blast off the bat of Stephen Andrews (Winston-Salem, N.C.) in the ninth inning. Roman moves his record to 3-5, while L-R reliever Ben Goldston (Cary, N.C.) suffered the loss.

The Bears finished with seven hits, including a 3-for-4 day by Andrews, while Loveland scored two runs in the loss.