HICKORY, N.C. — A pair of late-game comebacks by both the Catawba Valley Community College and USC Salkehatchie baseball teams led to a doubleheader split between the two squads on Wednesday at Henkel-Alley Field.
Game one: USC Salkehatchie 10, No. 12 Catawba Valley 9
Down 9-3 heading into the seventh inning, the Indians capitalized on six hits and one CVCC error to score seven runs in the final frame and stun the Red Hawks by one run in the first game of the doubleheader.
Catawba Valley gained a quick 4-0 lead in game one during the bottom of the first inning when first baseman Kyran Russ hit a three-run home run — his team-leading ninth home run of the season — and teammate Graham Mitchell also drove in a run on an RBI single.
The Indians responded with two runs in the top of the second inning, including an RBI single by Rod Dobbs and an RBI groundout by Ashton Hawkins, to cut their deficit to 4-2.
The Red Hawks grew their advantage to 8-2 by scoring four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, including a two-run home run by left fielder David Graves — his eighth home run of the spring.
A solo home run by Andrew Livingston in the top of the sixth inning cut USC Salkehatchie's deficit to 9-3, setting up the comeback charge.
The Indians' Hunter Coleman, Asher Smith and Cody Adams helped lead the late-game rally in the seventh inning.
Adams hit an RBI single before both Smith and Coleman connected on three-run home runs. Coleman's blast with no outs in the inning put the Indians ahead for good in the contest.
The Red Hawks were able to get the tying run — Cory Watt — to third base with just one out, but a strikeout and fly out to left field ended the game.
Game two: No. 12 Catawba Valley 8, USC Salkehatchie 4
Scoring eight runs on six hits and taking advantage of two Indian errors in the sixth inning, the Red Hawks rallied for a four-run victory in nightcap of the doubleheader on Wednesday.
Feeling the effects of the game one collapse, CVCC's offense struggled through five innings, mustering no runs and just three hits. The Red Hawk defense also struggled, committing six errors.
The Indians powered ahead with a pair of RBI singles from Morgan Melendez in the third and fifth innings, which scored three runs total.
Andrew Livingston also drove in a run on a bases loaded walk in the top of the sixth inning to make it a 4-0 lead for USC Salkehatchie.
Left fielder David Graves helped start the comeback for Catawba Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI double, scoring teammate Jimmy Marcelli.
A pair of Indian errors on the next two at bats helped plate three more Red Hawk runs in the inning before catcher Willie Gordon's two-run home run completed the comeback to give CVCC a 6-4 lead.
Adding some late insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning, Marcelli drove in a run on a double and Mitchell also plated a run on a single to left field to make it an 8-4 lead for Catawba Valley.
Freshman pitcher Nic Messina helped closed out the Red Hawk win on the mound in the seventh inning by retiring two of the five batters he faced via strikeout.
The CVCC baseball team returns to action this weekend for three pivotal conference games against visiting Brunswick Community College.
The Red Hawks and Dolphins play a doubleheader consisting on one nine-inning game and one seven-inning contest on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. before playing a single nine-inning game on Sunday at noon.
