Catawba Sends Lynn and Florida Gulf Coast Packing; Indians Advance to Championship Game of Baseball South Regional
May 20, 2006

Courtesy Tampa Sports Information Office

Catawba 14, Lynn 8

Catawba 5, Florida Gulf Coast 3

Catawba 14, Lynn 8
Tampa, Fla. – #3 Catawba (46-13) traded runs with #5 Lynn (34-23) for the first six innings before scoring two in the seventh and six in the eighth for a 14-8 victory. Catawba advances to a matchup with Thursday night opponent Florida Gulf Coast while Lynn’s season comes to an end.

Catawba got off to a quick 4-0 lead, scoring a run in the first and three in the third behind a three-run homer by third baseman Zach Evans. The Indians rattled Lynn starting pitcher Lonnie Patterson, knocking him out of the game in the fifth after pitching 4 1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs while striking out two and walking three.

The Knights nodded the score at 4-4 with a four-run third where they had five hits. Nicolas Boisvert led the inning off with a single and scored on a Jimmy Bacon double. After a pair of ground-out RBI’s for Lynn, Ricky Gerena drove in the final run of the inning with a two-out triple to left-center.

The game stayed close as Catawba added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning and Lynn answered with two of their own in the sixth. Catawba starter Tim Smith, who also started Thursday’s game, was credited with six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings while giving up 11 hits. Smith also struck out four and walked three.

Catawba then took an 8-6 lead in the top of the seventh on a two-run single by Tim Smith and tacked on six runs in the top of the eight to take a commanding 14-6 lead, though Lynn added a pair of runs in the eighth.

All runs were credited to Lynn reliever Cedric Bennett, though just two his eight runs were earned as the Knight defense had a total of five errors on the afternoon. Bennett (5-2) received the loss while Catawba reliever Blake Ketner (8-3) earned the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings, giving up no hits and walking one.

Catawba will now meet #2 Florida Gulf Coast at 7 pm for the right to advance to Sunday’s championship against Tampa, who needs just one victory on Sunday to win the NCAA South Regional.

Catawba 5, Florida Gulf Coast 3
Tampa, Fla. – #3 Catawba (47-13) got revenge on #2 Florida Gulf Coast (41-17), who defeated the Indians last night, with a 5-3 victory to earn a spot in the South Regional championship game.

Catawba scored a run in each of the first three innings, giving the Indians a 3-0 lead. David Thomas doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and scored on a Matt Smith single on the next play. After Thursday’s hero Aaron Rimer led off the second inning with a home run, the Indians benefited from another lead-off homer in the third inning by Jerry Sands.

Florida Gulf Coast got on the board with a pair of runs in the fourth inning when they loaded the bases with just one out. Josh Upchurch singled home one run while the other came via a sacrifice fly by Mike Cleghorn.

Catawba got the runs back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on a two-run home run by slugger Jimbo Davis. The Catawba offense, which scored five runs in the first four innings, knocked out Florida Gulf Coast starter Jason Kiley after 2 2/3 innings. Kiley allowed three earned runs while scattering seven hits, walking two and striking out two.

Alex Fairweather started for Catawba, hurling 4 1/3 innings while giving up nine hits and two earned runs. Fairweather struck out two and walked three. Matt Seabolt, who gave up one run in 3 1/3 innings of relief, earned the victory for the Indians.

Florida Gulf Coast cut the Catawba lead to 5-3 with an eighth inning rally when Upchurch doubled in Graig Smith. Catawba’s Jerry Sands saved a run for his team when he threw out Upchurch at the plate to end the inning.

The losing pitcher for Florida Gulf Coast was Jason Kiley while Zach Evans got the last out and recorded the save for Catawba.

Catawba will now face #1 Tampa for the South Region championship on Sunday at 1 pm. Tampa needs just one victory to secure the South Regional while Catawba would need to win two games for the crown.