HICKORY, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball Team gave the consensus top-10 Catawba College Indians a run for their money and more on Saturday, as they fell in game one, but forced the second extra inning game of the weekend in a 9-inning, 10-6, loss in the final game of the weekend series.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Finals: No. 8 Catawba 13, Lenoir-Rhyne 2; No. 8 Catawba 10, Lenoir-Rhyne 6 (9 inn.)
Records: No. 8 Catawba (30-8, 15-3 SAC), Lenoir-Rhyne (16-20, 4-11 SAC)
Location: Bears Field | Hickory, N.C.

STATS OF GAME ONE:
•    LR was able to reach double-digits in the hit column, but couldn't find the timely hit as they only scored twice in the contest. Will Jones and Clayton Jeffries had two base hits each while Jeffries and Matthew Freeman added one run batted in for the game.
•    Lenoir-Rhyne saw the ball well, only striking out twice but stranded seven runners on base.
•    Paul Hall continued to bring electric stuff to the mound in his start, as he fanned 10 batters, but he took the loss, recording 4.2 innings of work. The southpaw gave up five hits, six runs (only two were earned) and gave three free passes to Catawba.
•    Sawyer Strickland earned the start and the win for the Indians, pitching seven innings while giving up two runs and scattering nine hits. Strickland improved to 5-1 on the year.
•    Jeremy Simpson was dynamic at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two walks while Jackson Raper was not far behind, doing damage with a 2-for-6 line with three RBIs and two runs scored for the road team.

STATS OF GAME TWO:
•   This game had a completely different feel to it to wrap up the series, as the Bears gave the nationally-ranked Catawba Indians all they could handle. Lenoir-Rhyne strung together consecutive base hits to take the early 4-2 lead, but it was a back-and-forth battle as it took two extra innings to decide this one.
•   Lenoir-Rhyne was led at the plate by Freeman, Jeffries and Alex Reynolds, who each had two base knocks. Reynolds and Hunter Jackson came up big in the clutch, driving in four of the six Bears' runs in the game.  
•    Seven pitchers saw time on the mound for the home team in this one, as Jake Conroy got the start, giving up five runs in four innings, but it was Brett Fulk who took his second loss of the season, giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits in one inning of work.
•    Peyton Williams earned the win for the Indians after working the eighth inning prior to the four-run explosion of offense started by an RBI double from the pinch hitter Cameron Morrison.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    Hall has now struck out 64 this season, ranking third in the conference and has fanned at least nine batters in the past four outings.
•    The Bears and Indians had a combined seven extra innings this weekend with Catawba scoring nine combined in the final inning of both games.
•    Kain Kiser worked a season and career-high 3.0 innings against the Indians.
•    Lenoir-Rhyne is 1-3 in extra-inning games this season.
 
UP NEXT:
LR will get set to be the visiting team in the exhibition game across town against the Hickory Crawdads on Monday night, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. at LP Frans Stadium.