From staff reports

Catawba’s baseball team got strong starts from freshman left-handers Hunter Shepherd (Greater Cabarrus Stallions) and Bryan Ketchie (West Rowan) on Saturday and beat Tusculum in a road doubleheader to complete a three-game sweep.

The Indians (30-12, 16-5) won 7-3 and 5-3 and stayed tied for first in the South Atlantic Conference with Lincoln Memorial.

Shepherd (6-0) allowed three runs (one earned) over six innings with a pair of strikeouts. Then Ketchie upped his record to 6-1, giving up two runs with three strikeouts in five innings.

Ben Bomberger had three RBIs, including a two-run double in the first game. Luke Setzer (East Rowan) had three hits. Nick Coble had two hits and finished the game on the mound.

Cameron Morrison had a two-out, two-run single in the second game, and Chance Bowden (Salisbury) went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Bryan Blanton got the last five outs for his 12th save.   Morrison and Kyle Smith had two hits.

Catawba hosts Winston-Salem State at Newman Park on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Spring Break Classic

Olen Stamper pitched a five-hit shutout as West Rowan won against West Iredell, 7-0, in Saturday’s first round of the East Rowan Spring Break Classic at Staton Field.

Stamper struck out five and walked one for the Falcons (15-4).

West Iredell is 4-15.

Catawba commit Trevor Atwood boosted his batting average to .394 with four hits, including two doubles. He drove in two.

Pearce Wilhelm, another Catawba commit, hit his second homer of the season and had three RBIs.

Brandon Walton had two hits and drove in a run. Logan Sproul had two hits and scored a run.

West Rowan will play the Greater Cabarrus Stallions at 1 p.m. at Staton Field on Monday in a semifinal.

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  The Stallions (19-6) defeated the Charlotte Stampede, 5-4, in the first round.

Jeremy Whitehead had two hits and two RBIs for the Stallions. Seth Cauble had two hits, including a double. Thaddeus Lankford doubled. Cauble was the winning  pitcher, allowing one run in six innings. Trent Berry earned a save.

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South Iredell (11-6) won against Central Cabarrus, 5-2, in the first round and will take on East Rowan at 7 p.m. on Monday in a semifinal.

Hunter Dula had three hits for South Iredell. Tanner Orr had two hits and two RBIs. Keegan Nimblett had two hits. Brady Pope homered.

Central’s Jacob Allred struck out five batters.

F&M Bank Classic

In the F&M Bank Classic at Intimidators Stadium, Robinson rolled against South Rowan, 9-1, in a morning consolation bracket game.

Jason White had three RBIs and Luke Nelson had three hits for the Bulldogs (11-7).  Jacob Moore was the winning pitcher and struck out four.

Walker Joyce drove in the only run for South (13-7) in the first inning, but Robinson got five in the first two innings to take charge.

Jaxon Miller pitched 3 1/3 innings for the Raiders.

South will play Northwest Cabarrus for seventh place in the 11 a.m. game on Monday. Robinson takes on Salisbury at 1:30 p.m. for fifth place.

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Salisbury (11-6) got a strong two-way effort from Joe Steinman and beat Northwest Cabarrus, 8-0.

Steinman pitched five shutout innings and got relief help from Will Taylor and Jack Fisher.

Steinman had two hits, including a triple, and three RBIs. Taylor had three hits and two RBIs. Bo Rusher had three hits,  including a double, and is batting .420.

Blaine Shellhorn knocked in two runs.

Salisbury scored five runs in the second inning and breezed from there.

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Lake Norman (16-30  beat Mount Pleasant, 7-3, and moved into Monday’s championship game at 6:30 p.m. against Carson.

Mount Pleasant is 14-4.

Sam Zayicek went 4-for-4 for the Wildcats. Freshman Cameron Arnold was the winning pitcher.

MP will take on A.L. Brown for third on Monday at 4 p.m.

Intimidators

Joel Booker drove in two runs in support of Jimmy Lambert’s first career complete game as the Intimidators topped the Hickory Crawdads, 3-1, in a seven-inning game on Saturday  at L.P. Frans Stadium in the first game of a  doubleheader.

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  Yosmer Solorzano tossed a complete game, but the Intimidators   came up empty-handed in a 1-0 loss in Hickory in Saturday’s nightcap.

The Intimidators (3-8) split the four-game series.

College track

In the SAC Track and Field Championships, Carson-Newman’s Marshall Shank (East Rowan) cleared 14 feet, 5.5 inches for first place.

C-N’s Tori Gaul (East Rowan) was second in the women’s pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 10 inches.