Catawba's Season Comes to a Close with 8-5 Loss to Mercyhurst

CARY, N.C. - The No. 3 seed Catawba Indians were eliminated from the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship Finals after suffering an 8-5 loss to the No. 7 seed Mercyhurst Lakers on Tuesday (June 4). With the loss the Indians close out the 2019 season with a record of 47-14. 

Similarly to Catawba's loss to UC San Diego in the opening game of the finals, one big inning proved to be the Indians' undoing. After giving up a run in the second inning, Catawba plated three runs in the top of third by way of an RBI single by Heath Mitchem and a two-run single by Joe Butts. The Indians held the two-run lead until the bottom of the fifth when the Lakers scored five runs on five hits to take the 6-3 lead. Mercyhurst would not relinquish the lead again for the remainder of the game. 

A solo homer by Jackson Raper in the sixth made it a 6-4 ball game, but Mercy hurst tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to make it 8-4. Catawba would manage to plate one more run in the top of the ninth, as Butts drove in his third run of the game, but they would not be able to complete the comeback, losing 8-5. 

Riley Myers (8-1) suffered the loss on the mound. He went four and a third innings, allowing five runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. 

Butts led the Indians at the plate, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs, while Raper finished the day 1-for-3 with a homer, an RBI and run scored. Mitchem also picked up a pair of hits, drove in a run and scored a run.