College baseball: Catawba Indians survive opener

Staff report

SALISBURY — James Dunlap singled home Dylan Driver (Carson) in the bottom of the 10th to give Catawba’s baseball team a chaotic and dramatic 9-8 win against Lander in the Indians’ opening game in the Southeast Regional.

It was chaotic in the sense that Catawba’s ace pitcher Payne Stolsworth (West Rowan) who rarely gives up anything, gave up six runs in the first four innings.

Lander is the No. 8 seed in the regional but has a 43-13 record and scored three runs in the top of the first to demonstrate that it had serious intentions of stopping a Catawba winning streak that now has reached 13 games.

Catawba got homers from Driver and Matthew Connolly (West Rowan) and three RBIs from Cole Hales (Carson) and was able to tie the game at 6-all.

Brandon Rodgers gave the Indians (43-12) a chance, allowing one run in three innings of strong relief work. It was 7-all heading to the ninth. That’s when Lander scored against Catawba’s all-world closer Hayden Simmerson (Carson) to take an 8-7 lead.

Driver tied the game with a double that plated Parker Styborski, then scored the winning run on Dunlap’s walk-off hit.

Catawba will play again on Friday at Newman Park at 6 p.m.

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