Baseball Falls To Catawba 19-7

Baseball Falls To Catawba 19-7

University of Mount Olive fell to Catawba College 19-7 in non-conference baseball Tuesday night in Salisbury, N.C. Three Trojans had home runs in the game including Joe Koehler who contributed two RBI to the team's performance.

Mount Olive (18-15) fell behind early as Catawba (21-11) put two runs across in the bottom of the first. Luke Setzer picked up an two-run home run following a lead-off walk to give the Indians the 2-0 lead. 

The Trojans fought back in the top of the third. Zak Orrison came up with one away and picked up Mount Olive's only hit of the inning with a solo home run. 

Catawba did not allow Mount Olive to keep the momentum as the Indians put together a five run bottom of the third. Zach Almond capped off the inning with a three run home run to push Catawba further ahead 7-1.

The Top of the fourth allowed Mount Olive to gain some ground on the deficit. Stephen Wallace drew a lead-off walk. Koehler singled through the left side and Wallace took second. Derek Deler came in to pinch hit and drew a walk to load the bases. Following a line out, Brandon Day came through with a two RBI base hit through the left side and the Trojans trailed 7-3. The two runs were all Mount Olive could manage as the final two outs were recorded to end the inning. 

Another solo run came across for Catawba off an RBI-double to right center by Will Albertson in the bottom of the fourth.

Wallace was able to gain a run back in the top of the fifth, as he took a pitch over the outfield wall for a solo home run.

The Indians put together another big inning as five runs came across in the bottom of the fifth. A wild pitch allowed one run to score in the inning and more trouble was brewing for the Trojans. Dylan Richardson came up to the plate with the bases loaded and quickly unloaded them with a grand slam and the Catawba lead was extended to 13-4.

Mount Olive made some noise however in the top of the seventh. Orrison led off the inning by being hit with a pitch. He then moved into scoring position on a groundout. Brett Lang singled past the Indians' shortstop for an RBI base hit as Orrison scored from second. A fly out set the table for Koehler to try and score a run. He did just that as he cleared the outfield wall for a two-run home run.

The final blow however came in the bottom of the seventh as Catawba put the game out of reach by scoring six runs in the inning with four of the six runs coming in off home runs by Richardson and Albertson.

The Trojans were unable to plate any runs for the remainder of the ball game and Mount Olive took the loss.

Mount Olive returns home to Scarborough Field Friday as the Trojans welcome in the Tornado of King University for a three game Conference Carolinas series. Friday's single game is set for a 6 p.m. start and the series finale doubleheader is scheduled for a noon start on Saturday.