Salisbury, N.C.----Wingate University senior right-hander Austin Turgeon tossed eight strong innings Sunday evening, while Tanner Forry hit a pair of homers to lead the Bulldogs to a 6-1 victory over fifth-ranked Catawba College in South Atlantic Conference baseball action. Wingate improves to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the SAC, while the Indians fall to 12-2 overall and 0-1 in league play.

THOUGHTS FROM JEFF GREGORY

"I thought it was a good team win tonight. The weather has been tough and we haven't played in over a week, so to come out tonight and play a solid game against a good team is what we needed to do. Turgeon was in command of all his pitches, worked ahead of hitters and did a good job of limiting their offense. He just didn't allow them to create any momentum."

KEY STATS

- Catawba had a 6-5 advantage in hits
- WU had four extra-base hits; the Indians had just one
- The Indians got the lead-off man on just once on the night; Wingate had four
- The Bulldogs turned the only double play; the Indians committed the only two errors
- WU pitchers struck out 11 and walked on; Catawba had nine strikeouts and three walks
- Each team left four on base

KEY BULLDOGS

- Turgeon allowed a run on six hits in eight innings, striking out nine without walking a batter
- Forry blasted a pair of solo homers
- Andrew Llewellyn had a triple and an RBI
- McCann Mellett registered a double, RBI and run scored
- Tyler Schneider added an RBI and run scored
- Zach Little also drove in a run
- Justin Guy and Jed Bryant each scored a run

NOTES

- Wingate moves to 44-65 all-time against the Indians; 19-31 at Catawba
- The contest featured the first and second-place teams in last year's SAC standings
- The 'Dogs are 8-0 this season when scoring more than three runs
- Fourth straight victory for the Bulldogs
- Snaps an 11-game Catawba winning streak
- Wingate is outscoring opponents 10-0 in the first inning this year
- First win over a ranked team since sweeping #13 Mount Olive last season
- WU wins the series opener against the Indians for the second straight year
- First Wingate victory at Catawba since game one of the 2015 series
- Fourth multi-homer game in two seasons for Forry
- Forry has six homers in five career games against Catawba
- Career high nine strikeouts for Turgeon
- Turgeon has gone six or more innings in all four starts this season
- 17 innings over his last two starts with 17 strikeouts and just one walk
- Turgeon has 29 strikeouts and three walks on the year
- Catawba entered the game leading the SAC with a .329 average, scoring 8.8 runs per game
- Season low in runs; second-fewest hits for the Indians this year
- Catawba had scored eight or more runs in eight of 13 games this season

FIRST INNING

- Guy was hit by a pitch to start the game
- He scored on Mellett's RBI double to left
- An RBI groundout from Schneider put the 'Dogs on top 2-0

THIRD INNING

- Schneider drew a two-out walk
- He scored on Llewellyn's RBI triple to center to put Wingate on top by three

SEVENTH INNING

- Forry led off the frame with his third homer of the year, a solo shot to center

EIGHTH INNING

- Jacob Nester got Catawba on the board with a two-out RBI double to make it 4-1

NINTH INNING

- Forry led off the ninth with his second homer of the day, a solo blast to right
- Bryant drew a walk, stole a base, then scored on Little's sacrifice fly to make it 6-1

WRAP UP

- Turgeon got the win, moving to 3-1 on the year
- He followed up his complete game with eight strong innings and nine strikeouts
- Turgeon retired 11 straight batters starting in the fourth inning
- Hunter Dula worked scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts
- Hunter Shepherd took the loss, allowing four run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one
- Shepherd falls to 1-1 on the season

UP NEXT

- Wingate and Catawba wrap up the series with a doubleheader Monday in Salisbury
- Game one is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start Monday