SALISBURY, N.C. – The Emory & Henry University Baseball Team (13-33, 6-25 SAC) fell in both ends of a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader to No. 1 nationally-ranked Catawba College (38-9, 29-4 SAC) to wrap up the 2026 season Saturday afternoon. The Catawba Indians took game one by an 11-8 margin, before winning the second half of the doubleheader by a 9-0 final.
The Basics
GAME ONE – No. 1 Catawba 11, Emory & Henry 8
GAME TWO – No. 1 Catawba 9, Emory & Henry 0 (Seven Innings)
LOCATION – Salisbury, North Carolina
VENUE – Newman Park
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (13-35, 6-27 SAC); Catawba (38-9, 29-4 SAC)
Game One - Catawba 11, Emory & Henry 8
The Wasps were first on the board in the top of the second inning when senior third baseman Drew Park (Mooresville, N.C.) walked, junior first baseman J.D. James (China Grove, N.C.) reached on an error and junior second baseman Ryan Paynton (Walnut Creek, Calif.) walked to load the bases. Sophomore outfielder Stuart Callahan, III (Stuart, Va.) recorded a sacrifice fly to score Park and make it 1-0. Catawba would answer with two runs in the home half to jump ahead 2-1.
E&H retook the lead in the visitors' half of the fourth inning when James singled and Callahan clubbed a ball over the fence in right for a two-run home run, his ninth of the season, to make it 3-2. The Catawba Indians pushed across one run in the bottom of the frame to tie the game 3-3. The back-and-forth affair continued in the fifth when sophomore shortstop Jaret Hoppes (Taylorsville, N.C.) led off with a single and junior outfielder Jadden Rodriguez (Thomasville, N.C.) brought him home with an RBI double down the line in left to nudge ahead 4-3. The home team tallied two more runs in their half of the inning to run their lead out to 5-4.
The Wasps bounced back in the top of the sixth as Callahan walked, stole second and touched home on an RBI base knock from senior outfielder Clay Caldwell (Salem, Va.). Caldwell then swiped second base and Hoppes and Rodriguez drew walks to load the bases once more. Junior designated hitter Kyle Fields (Lynchburg, Va.) delivered a sacrifice fly to give Emory & Henry the lead once more at 6-5. Catawba had another response with five runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the bottom of the seventh to run the score to 11-6. E&H put up two runs in the top of the eighth on a two-run bomb from Fields, his eighth of the season, but it was not enough as Catawba earned the 11-8 victory.
Calvin Douglas picked up the win on the mound for Catawba as he threw a scoreless inning, striking out one batter. Sam Alessi earned his first save of the year, throwing a perfect ninth inning, fanning a pair of hitters. Senior righty Avery Salyer (Thaxton, Va.) took the loss for Emory & Henry after allowing three earned runs without recording an out. Fields and Callahan paced the offense with three RBIs each.
Game Two - Catawba 9, Emory & Henry 0 (Seven Innings)
Game two of the doubleheader was all Catawba, as the home team scored one run in the first, two in the second, five in the fourth and one in the sixth. The Wasps were limited to just three hits and were kept out of the run column as the Catawba Indians took the nightcap by a 9-0 shutout.
Casey Gouge was the winning pitcher for Catawba, surrendering just two hits while striking out seven hitters over 5.1 innings of work. Sophomore righty Cole Gillis (Charlotte, N.C.) was saddled with the loss after he allowed eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits in 3.1 innings on the hill. Caldwell, Rodriguez and Fields registered the three hits for the Wasps.
--E&H--