NEWBERRY, S.C. – Brian Hatley pitched a complete game victory at No. 3 seeded Catawba College knocked off No. 4 seed Tusculum College 6-2 in the winners’ bracket final of the 2002 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Saturday afternoon.

The double elimination tournament is being held at Kirkland Field in conjunction with the Food Lion SAC Spring Sports Festival.

Catawba (29-21) advances to Sunday’s championship game, while Tusculum (29-23) will have a rematch with top-seeded Carson-Newman College (No. 21 in NCAA Division II) in the elimination bracket final Saturday night.

Hatley records his third complete game of the season, scattering seven hits, walked four and struck out four to improve his record to 6-5 on the year. TC starter Jason Burleson drops to 3-4 as he went 6 1/3 innings as he allowed five runs, seven hits, walked three and fanned three batters.

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third inning when David McMahon doubled down the right field line and later scored on Michael Holt’s RBI single for a 1-0 TC lead. The Tribe answered in the top of the fourth as they plated two runs on Mike Robbins’ two-out single to score Curt Motsinger and Spence Southard.

Tusculum tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth on Trevor Adams’ two-out single driving in Vince Stonesifer from second base. In the top of the sixth, Catawba took the lead for good on Matt Baker’s two-out single. Motsinger led off with a single, stole second and scored on one of three hits recorded by Baker on the day.

The Pioneers were in good shape to tie the game in the bottom of the frame as Casey Taylor led off with a ground rule double to left. But Hatley got three consecutive fly balls to end the TC threat. The Indians added a pair of runs in the seventh inning on a two-run triple by Chad Hill.

Hatley closed out the game limiting the Pioneers to one hit in the final three innings. Baker finished going 3-for-5 while Motsinger went 2-for-4 and stole a pair of bases. TC was led by Michael Holt’s 2-for-4 effort.

2002 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament
Catawba College vs Tusculum College
Apr 27, 2002 at Newberry, S.C. (Kirkland Field)

Catawba College 6 (29-21) Tusculum College 2 (29-23)

Player                     AB R H BI    Player                     AB R H BI
——————————————————— ———————————————————-
Israel Morrow lf........... 3 1 1 1     David McMahon cf........... 4 1 1 0
Blair Reynolds 3b.......... 4 1 0 0     Michael Holt lf............ 4 0 2 1
Chad Hill ss............... 5 0 1 2     Jose’ Martinez 3b.......... 3 0 1 0
Curt Motsinger rf.......... 4 2 2 0     George Hanger dh........... 4 0 0 0
Spence Southard cf......... 5 1 1 0     Casey Taylor 1b............ 4 0 1 0
Matt Smith 1b.............. 3 0 0 0     Vince Stonesifer rf........ 4 1 1 0
Matt Baker dh.............. 5 1 3 1     Doug Hering c.............. 3 0 0 0
Mike Robbins c............. 3 0 1 2     Robbie Bouman ss........... 3 0 0 0
Josh Jordan 2b............. 1 0 0 0       Mike Klossner ph......... 1 0 0 0
Brian Hatley p............. 0 0 0 0     Trevor Adams 2b............ 4 0 1 1
                                        Jason Burleson p........... 0 0 0 0
                                          Chap Morris p............ 0 0 0 0
                                          Eli Rose p............... 0 0 0 0
                                          Justin Aldridge p........ 0 0 0 0

Totals.................... 33 6 9 6     Totals.................... 34 2 7 2

Score by Innings                   R H E
—————————————————————-
Catawba College..... 000 201 210 - 6 9 0
Tusculum College.... 001 100 000 - 2 7 0
—————————————————————-
LOB - Indians 10; Pioneers 9. 2B - Dave McMahon(8); Casey Taylor(11). 3B - Hill(5).
HBP - Robbins. SH - Morrow(3); Matt Smith(8). SF - Morrow(3). SB - Motsinger 2(9).


Catawba College             IP  H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
——————————————————————————————————————
Brian Hatley W,6-5........ 9.0  7 2  2  4  4  2  0  0  0  34 38 12 11


Tusculum College            IP H  R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
——————————————————————————————————————
Jason Burleson L,3-4...... 6.1  7 5  5  3  3  0  0  0  0  24 29  7  9
Chap Morris ...............1.0  2 1  1  0  0  0  0  1  0   5  6  1  2
Eli Rose ..................0.1  0 0  0  2  0  0  0  0  0   0  3  1  0
Justin Aldridge ...........1.1  0 0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0   4  5  4  0

WP - Brian Hatley 2(2). HB - Chap Morris. PB - Doug Hering(9).
Strikeouts - Motsinger; Baker; Jordan; Dave McMahon; G. Hanger; Stonesifer; Rob
Bouman. Walks - Reynolds; Motsinger; Matt Smith; Jordan 3; Dave McMahon; Michael
Holt; J. Martinez; Doug Hering.

Start: 2:00 pm Time: 2:44 Attendance: 200