SALISBURY, N.C. | No. 12 Catawba College scored twice in the eighth inning to pull out a 5-4 non-conference baseball victory over Georgia College & State University Tuesday (April 22) afternoon at Newman Park.

The Bobcats, who scored all four of their runs in the first four innings,  fell to 27-20, while the Catawba Indians climbed to 33-12. GCSU wraps up the season with a three-game Peach Belt Conference set at home against No. 14 University of North Georgia, with the opener Friday (April 25) at 6 p.m. at John Kurtz Field.  

The Bobcats drove in a pair of runs to open the ball game in the first inning, as Ben Hamacher, Braeden Smith, and Evan Cowan loaded the bases quickly on two walks and a base hit, while Mitch Cowan followed up with a hit-by-pitch to plate the first run. Carson Phillips continued the rally with a walk to score the second run.  

Catawba cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first, plating a run of its own as Cole Hales scored Dylan Driver on a sacrifice fly. However, GCSU drove in a pair between the second and fourth innings, as Matthew Mebane doubled and scored from a single from Hamacher in the second, and Evan Cowan drove in Gabe Wuerth on an RBI double play in the fourth.  

Nevertheless, Catawba answered back with two of its own in the bottom of the sixth, as Parker Styborski reached on an error to open the inning, and back-to-back hits from Hunter Atkins and Nathan Chrismon made it 4-3. 

The Catawba Indians saw their first lead in the bottom of the eighth, as a one-out rally, storming from three consecutive hits from Sean Shelly, Matthew Connolly, and Ty Hubbard ripped the lead away from the Bobcats, and Catawba's Hayden Simmerson sealed the contest with a three-out save in the ninth. 

Brandon Rodgers (4-1) picked up the win in the eighth, pitching a solid inning out of the pen, only allowing one walk while also collecting a strikeout.  Simmerson's save was his 12th of the year.  

Mebane's double in the second was the Bobcats' only extra-base hit. Smith led the offense with two hits for GCSU.

About GCSU Athletics 
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among all public colleges and universities in Division II for four consecutive academic years, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won five consecutive Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and four-time winners of the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports or subscribe to the GSCU Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with GCSU Athletics.