Staff report

SALISBURY — After sweeping a Saturday doubleheader from Limestone, Catawba’s baseball team is back in first place in the South Atlantic Conference.

Catawba beat the Saints 11-2 in nine innings in the opener and 7-4 in the seven-inning nightcap.

The Indians (19-6, 9-3) have won seven in a row. Catawba is 13-1 at Newman Park.

Payne Stolsworth (4-1) got plenty of run support — Catawba scored in six different innings — and breezed on the mound in the opener. Stolsworth allowed four hits and struck out eight. He faced 32 batters in a complete-game effort.

Bo Rusher slugged another homer, his sixth, and drove in three runs. Rusher, a former Salisbury High star who played four seasons at Gardner-Webb, is batting .313 with 27 RBIs and leads the team with 22 walks.

Cole Hales had three hits. Sam Hunter had two hits and two RBIs, giving him a team-leading 30 for the season. Cooper Bryson had two hits. Dylan Driver swatted his third triple.

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In the nightcap, Drew Robertson walked with the bases loaded in the first inning to plate a run, and Logan Rogers followed with a grand slam for a quick 5-0 lead.

The homer was the sixth for the former Carson standout, tying him with Rusher for the team lead.

Catawba used a committee on the mound. Casey Gouge (1-1) was strong in the fifth and sixth, with no runs and four strikeouts, and was credited with the win.

Hales pitched the seventh, held a three-run lead and qualified for his third save.

The Indians. who are averaging 8.4 runs per game, will play at Mount Olive on Tuesday afternoon and will host North Georgia on Wednesday.

The next SAC series will be at Carson-Newman next.