Baseball Settles For Split of Doubleheader With Mars Hill

SALISBURY, NC -- Catawba and Mars Hill played to a split of a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Newman Park.  The Catawba Indians won the opener 9-7, while the Lions recorded a 5-4 victory in the nightcap.  Catawba now stands at 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the SAC, while the Lions are 3-8 and 1-2.

 The Indians erased an early 3-0 deficit in the opener on a grand slam by Julio Zubillaga (China Grove, NC/Carson HS) in the third.  Catawba added five more runs in the fourth, three on a home run by Garrett Furr (Gold Hill, NC/Mt. Pleasant HS), to stretch its lead to 9-3.

Down 9-4 in the sixth, the Lions loaded the bases with one out, but Clay Watson (Lexington, NC/N. Davidson HS) got the Indians out of the inning unscathed.  Mars Hill pulled within 9-6 on a two-run homer by Coty Pate (Knoxville, TN) in the seventh and got a solo shot from Joey Belviso (Pembroke Pines, FL) in the ninth, but it was not enough.

Nick Lomascolo (Mooresville, NC/Lake Norman HS) got the win for Catawba to improve to 1-2.  He pitched into the sixth, allowing four runs (two earned) off seven hits.  He walked three and struck out five.  Ross Whitley (Mooresville, NC/Lake Norman HS) pitched the final inning and two-thirds to earn his second save. 

Zubillaga, Keaton Hawks (Lexington, NC/E. Davidson HS) and Cameron Beard (Conover, NC/Bunker Hill HS) each had a pair of hits for the Indians.  Belviso collected three this and had three RBI for Mars Hill.  Tommy Scala (Coram, NY) had a pair of hits.

Mars Hill struck for five runs in the third innings to get the split.  Down 4-0, Belviso capped the frame with a three-run homer that put the Lions on top.  Josh Dean (Nederland, TX) made it stand up, keeping the Indians off the board the final five innings.  He allowed four runs off eight hits with six walks and four strikeouts in moving to 2-1.

Hawks had a pair of RBI singles in the opening two frames to help the Indians to a 4-0 lead.  Mars Hill then erased the deficit, collecting all six of its hits in the inning.  Hawks and Ryan Bostian (Kannapolis, NC/S. Rowan HS/Montreat) had the only multi-hit games with a pair of hits for Catawba.

Game 1 Box

Game 2 Box