Catawba Captures 2019 SAC Pilot Flying J Baseball Championship
KODAK, TENN. – The Catawba College Indians scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning and held the Newberry College Wolves at bay to capture the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Pilot Flying J Baseball Championship on Monday (April 29). With the win, the Indians earn an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship.
The Wolves were first to strike, plating two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to RBIs from Tyler Ackard and Luke Orr. The next four innings were a pitcher's dual as neither team scored. Then the Indians broke things open in the top of the sixth. They plated three runs on three hits and an error, including RBI singles by Hunter Shepherd and Jackson Raper.
The rest of the game belonged to the Catawba pitching staff. They held Newberry off, allowing just three hits over the next three and a half innings to capture the 2019 championship.
Catawba's Sawyer Strickland (8-2) picked up the win after going five and two-thirds innings, allowing one earned run on five hits. Peyton Williams (10) earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning. He allowed just one hit with a strikeout.
For the Wolves, Josh Bookbinder (9-2) took the loss. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
Leading the way at the plate for the Indians were Shepherd and Raper with a pair of hits and an RBI each, while Newberry's Ackard finished the day 1-for-2 with a an RBI and a run scored.
The 2019 SAC Pilot Flying J Baseball Championship All-Tournament team will be announced on Tuesday (April 30) following a vote from the tournament's head coaches.
