HICKORY, N.C. — Behind a strong pitching performance from Ian Asken and 12 hits at the plate, the fourth-ranked Catawba Valley Community College baseball team defeated rival Caldwell 11-2 in seven innings on Wednesday afternoon during the second "Battle of the Bridge" meeting on the diamond this season — this time held at L.P. Frans Stadium.
With the win, Catawba Valley improves to 34-8 overall on the season.
Scoreless through the game's first two innings, the Red Hawks scored all 11 of their runs from the third through sixth innings.
Designated hitter Will Samuelson's RBI double broke open the game's scoring in the third inning, and third baseman Jordan Montgomery added two more runs on an RBI double of his own during the inning. Right fielder Brett Eurey added the fourth and final run of the third inning on an RBI single to make it a 4-0 lead for CVCC.
Asken allowed no hits through the game's first 3.1 innings, and he finished Wednesday's Region game with a career-high nine strikeouts, earning his third win of the season.
Red Hawk first baseman James Hinson continued the string of run-scoring doubles for Catawba Valley in the fourth inning, scoring two on his double to left field. Samuelson added his second RBI of the game on a single in the inning, making it a 7-0 lead for CVCC through 3.5 innings.
The Cobras (20-8) broke up the shutout bid with an RBI single by Hayden Setzer in the bottom of the fourth inning, but CVCC answered with two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings, extending its lead to 11-1.
Center fielder Malik Stephens brought home a run on a sac fly to center field in the top of the fifth, while Eurey drove in two runs on a double in the top of the sixth. Of CVCC's 12 hits on Wednesday, half of them were doubles.
Caldwell scored one run in the bottom of the sixth inning to avoid the 10-run rule after five innings, but it was unable to score a run in the bottom of the seventh to get within the eight-run rule threshold through seven innings.
The CVCC baseball team returns to action this weekend for a three-game series against Guilford Tech in Jamestown, N.C. The Red Hawks and Titans play a Saturday doubleheader consisting of one nine-inning and one seven-inning game before finishing the series on Sunday with a single nine-inning contest.
