By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

KODAK, Tenn.  — Catawba sophomore third baseman Jackson Raper had seven hits and drove in nine runs with a memorable performance under pressure in Monday’s doubleheader, but the Indians still fell  short of winning the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

Catawba was three outs from taking the crown, but Lincoln Memorial suddenly tied the second championship game in the ninth inning with a three-run homer and went on to beat Catawba, 9-7, in 11 innings.

The loss means top-seeded Catawba (30-23) failed to win the SAC tournament for the fourth straight time. The difference this time is that Catawba’s regular season wasn’t as good as it usually is and the Indians, unranked in the recent regional poll, won’t be part of the Southeast Regional Tournament for the first time since 2013. Fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (35-19) gets the automatic regional berth that is the grand prize for winning the SAC tournament.

Catawba fell in a hole in the double-elimination tournament by losing Friday to eighth-seeded Anderson. The Indians bounced back to oust Wingate on Saturday and to send Carson-Newman packing on Sunday.

Lincoln Memorial reached Monday’s final day of the tournament still unbeaten, so Catawba had its work cut out. It had to beat the Railsplitters twice.

The opening game, a 9-0 romp, was a perfect storm for Catawba. Hunter Shepherd struck out seven in five scoreless innings for the win. Clay Young took the Indians into the eighth, and Greg Brown got the last four outs to finish the shutout.

At the plate, Catawba banged out 14 hits, with Raper breaking the scoring ice with a two-run double to left-center in the fourth.

Jacob Nester and Lee Poteat had run-scoring singles to push the lead to 4-0. Then Catawba blew it open with a five-run eighth. Raper and Cameron Morrison had two-run singles, and Kyle Smith knocked in the  final run.

 

Game 1

Catawba     000    300    150  — 9   13    0

LMU           000   000    000  — 0    6   0

W — Shepherd (5-2). L — Ben Wiley (2-2).

Leading hitters — Catawba: Jacob Nester 3-for-4; Heath Mitchem 2-for-3; Raper 2-for-4, 4 RBIs; Smith 2-for-5; Morrison 1-for-3, 2 RBIs.

***

When Raper drilled a three-run homer in the fourth inning of the nightcap, Catawba held a 7-2 lead, but the Indians were running out of pitching and couldn’t hang on.

Michael Elwell, Friday’s starter, gave the Indians two gutsy innings on the mound. D.J. Laxton shut out the Railsplitters in the third, fourth and fifth, but LMU got some big, two-out hits in the sixth to cut Catawba’s lead to 7-4.

Connor Johnson, Saturday’s starter, had to be weary but he relieved and courageously maintained Catawba’s 7-4 lead in the seventh and eighth.

In the ninth, Young went to the mound to close it out for the championship, but after two singles and a three-run homer by Tyler Adams, it was suddenly a 7-all game.

LMU carried momentum into extra innings, and struck for the decisive runs in the top of the 11th. Catawba freshman Greg Brown walked a batter and Brown’s errant pickoff throw to first moved the runner to third. Another walk ended Brown’s night. Bryan Ketchie relieved for Catawba, looking for a ground-ball double play, but an infield hit loaded the bases. Then LMU pushed the critical runs across on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.

Nester led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk against winning reliever Ethan Elliott, but when the next three Indians went down quietly, it was all over.

Raper had five hits in the game, while Chance Bowden had three. Raper went 10-for-14 with nine RBIs in Catawba’s last three tournament games.

Catawba has a game scheduled at USC Aiken on May 5. That will be the last one for a Catawba senior class that includes the last two SAC players of the year — Bowden and Luke Setzer.

LMU              002   002    003   02    — 9    13   0

Catawba       301   300    000    00   — 7     14     1

W —Elliott (9-3). L — Brown (1-1).

HR — LMU: Adams (11). Catawba: Raper (9).

Leading hitters — LMU: Seth Hunt 5-for-6; Adams 3-for-6, 4 RBIs. Catawba: Raper 5-for-6, 3 RBIs; Bowden 3-for-5.