Box Score by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – For the third time in the last four games, the Barton baseball team fell in extra innings as the Indians of Catawba College handed the Bulldogs a 10-6 loss in a 10-inning game at Nixon Field.
The Bulldogs, who played two 10-inning games over the weekend against Erskine, fell to 17-10 overall and have now lost four straight games. The Indians improved to 16-11 on the season with their third consecutive win.
Catawba went up 1-0 in the second as Bryce Fowler reached home on an error after a single from Simpson. Barton erased the deficit in the fourth inning with a three-run home run by junior Andrew Webster. The home run, Webster's seventh of the season, followed a walk and single to the first two batters of the inning and gave BC a 3-1 lead.
The Indians pushed across single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 3-3, but missed on chances to break the game open by leaving the bases full in the fifth, sixth and seventh.
Barton retook the lead in the seventh as a two-out RBI single by senior Ben Youngblood scored freshman Jacobey Dolesh from first. After Catawba led off the eighth inning with a bunt single, an error opened the way for three runs to score. The Indians scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at four runs apiece before Chance Bowden singled home two runners to put the Indians up 6-4.
Junior Tyler Garrett led off the eighth with a walk and stole second as a triple by Calvin Hawke and a single from Webster, who drove in his 100th career RBI, quickly tied the game once again. Barton was able to get a runner to third in the bottom of the ninth but left the winning run stranded after a groundout to short.
Catawba scored four runs on three hits and one Barton fielding error in the top of the 10th as the Bulldogs left a runner on first and could not overcome the four-run deficit in the bottom half of the inning.
The Barton pitching staff allowed just four earned runs in the game as four fielding errors led to six unearned runs for Catawba.
Freshman Blake Helms went five innings in his second career start and allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits with six strikeouts. Fellow freshman Ryan Pifer pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings of relief but walked five batters before sophomore Andrew Davis allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits with a strikeout in 2/3 of an inning.
Junior left-hander Justin Evans (3-2) was hit with the loss after allowing only one run one hit with a strikeout over 1.2 innings, while freshman Troy Maslowski allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits in 1/3 of an inning. Redshirt-sophomore Benjamin Brann finished off the final 2/3 of inning without allowing a hit and striking out one batter.
Webster led the offense with a 3-for-4 performance, hitting a home run and driving in four RBI, while Hawke was 2-for-5 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Youngblood, freshman Charlie Vaughan and junior Cole Bray also had one hit each in the game for Barton.
Barton will look to rebound when it travels to Central, S.C. for a three-game series with Conference Carolinas opponent Southern Wesleyan University. The first game of the series is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday, March 25 before concluding the series with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
