Eagles' SAC Tournament ends with loss to Catawba

Eagles' SAC Tournament ends with loss to Catawba
FOREST CITY, N.C. -- Chris Dula went 5-for-5 and JJ Jankowski scattered two hits over seven shutout innings as top-seeded Catawba College blanked fifth-seeded Carson-Newman College 12-0 in an elimination game at the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday afternoon at McNair Field.
 
Dula (Troutman, N.C.), the SAC Freshman of the Year, singled in the first, doubled in the third, singled in the fifth, doubled home a run in the sixth, was hit by a pitch in the eighth and hit a two-run home run in the ninth. He scored four runs and drove home three to lead a 16-hit attack for the Catawba Indians (37-9).
 
Jankowski (McMurray, Pa.) allowed two baserunners in the first inning, then retired 18 straight batters until Jonathan Dalton (Rutledge, Tenn.) doubled with one out in the seventh. Jankowski (8-1) struck out six and did not walk a batter, throwing 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
 
Austin Moyer (Greensboro, N.C.) and Garrett Furr (Gold Hill, N.C.) also hit home runs for the Indians, while Brett Underwood (Greensboto, N.C.) finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Julio Zubillaga (China Grove, N.C.) added two hits and drove home three runs.
 
The Eagles (20-27), who were eliminated from the tournament with the loss, finished with five hits in the contest and committed four errors to allow the Indians to score four unearned runs.
 
Catawba will play Friday at 3:45 p.m. against an opponent to be determined pending the outcome of Thursday's 3:45 game between Newberry and Tusculum.
 
Catawba was blanked through the first three innings by Eagle starter Robby Thigpen (St. Petersburg, Fla.) but broke through with a pair of runs in the fourth. With one out, John Neese (Summerfield, N.C.) and Underwood reached on back-to-back singles, and a throwing error loaded the bases. Zubillaga followed with a double off the wall in left to drive home Neese and Underwood and give the Indians a 2-0 lead.
 
In the fifth, Dula led off with a single and came home as Moyer slammed a one-out home run over the fence in right-center, his seventh of the season, for a 4-0 Catawba lead.
 
The Indians tacked on three runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Dula and a two-run homer by Furr, his 10th round-tripper of the year. An RBI single by Zubillaga and a sacrifice fly from Ryan Bostian (Kannapolis, N.C.) expanded the Catawba lead to 9-0 in the seventh, and an infield single by Underwood in the eighth drove home Dula for a 10-0 advantage.
 
Dula capped his big afternoon with his ninth home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot to left in the ninth inning to close out the scoring.
 
Thigpen dropped to 6-5 for Carson-Newmna after allowing nine hits and four earned runs over 4 1/3 innings of work, with four strikeouts and a walk. Dalton was the lone Eagle to record more than one hit in the game, finishing 2-for-4 with a double.
 
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