Box Score by Cory Guinn
SALISBURY, N.C. – The Barton College baseball team was unable to overcome an early deficit leading to a 9-6 non-conference loss to Catawba College on Tuesday night at Newman Park.
Catawba, a South Atlantic Conference member, improved its overall record to 28-16 with its second win of the season over Barton, while BC fell to 28-17 overall.
The Indians used a double and a triple to score three runs in the second inning before a two-run home run from redshirt-junior Chris Davis put Barton on the scoreboard in the top of the third.
Catawba responded with three more runs in the bottom half of the third, scoring six total runs in the third through sixth inning of play. Junior Tyler Garrett drove in a run for Barton in the fourth and fellow junior Andrew Webster hit a solo home run in the fifth as BC trailed 9-4 with three innings remaining.
A two-run home run for senior Ben Youngblood, Barton third long ball of the game, brought the Bulldogs with three of the Catawba lead but could not complete the comeback.
Junior Justin Evans (4-3) suffered the loss after allowing three runs on four hits with a strike out over two innings in his fifth start of the year.
Senior Ricky Jernigan allowed five runs on five hits with two strikeouts in two innings of relief, while freshman Ryan Pifer pitched two innings of his own, allowing one run on three hits. Redshirt-sophomore Benjamin Brann finished the final two innings without allowing a baserunner.
Davis, Webster and Youngblood each hit a home run in the loss, while juniors Calvin Hawke and Blake Spangenberg each had two hits, including one double apiece. Sophomore Hunter Pearre also had two hits and scored two runs.
Barton travels to Misenheimer, N.C. for a three-game Conference Carolinas series with Pfeiffer University to conclude regular season play. The first game of the series is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start time on Friday night.
