Koeneman, Eagles advance with win over Catawba, 7-5

FOREST CITY, N.C.— Carson-Newman led by as many as six runs, but had to stave off a late rally by Catawba to earn a 7-5 victory in the third round of the 2012 Food Lion SAC Baseball Championship.

Carson-Newman led 7-1 through six innings, but Catawba rallied for four runs to keep the outcome in doubt until the end. Carson-Newman was led by SAC Player of the Year Kyle Koeneman with two hits, including a three-run homer. Chris Dula had two hits and two RBI for Catawba. Carson-Newman faces Wingate tonight, with the winner advancing to tomorrow's championship round. Catawba is eliminated from the tournament.

Koeneman's three-run jack gave Carson-Newman an early advantage after an inning of play. An RBI-groundout by Cody Fox made the score 4-0 after three innings.

An RBI-double by Keaton Hawks got Catawba on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth, but Carson-Newman came back to score three unanswered runs. An RBI-single by Lance Rorex in the bottom of the fifth and a two-run single by Lance Reed in the bottom of the sixth gave the Eagles a 7-1 lead.

Catawba's big eighth inning kept the Indians in the game until the end. Dula's two-run triple cut the score to 7-3. Cameron Beard followed with an RBI-groundout to cut the deficit to three, and Hawks came around to score on an error to trim the deficit to 7-5.

The Indians put two runners on base in the final inning, but Brandon Timmerman came in to record the final out and earn the save for Carson-Newman. It was the second save of the tournament for Timmerman.

Chris Armstrong earned the victory for the Eagles with 7.1 innings of work. Armstrong allowed four earned runs on six hits, walked five and struck out six.