23rd-ranked Catawba broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single to earn a 6-5 win over the the 20th-ranked Crusaders in a key region matchup this evening. Catawba moves to 22-7, while the Abbey falls to 24-8. Catawba's Brett Underwood singled home John Neese with one out in the ninth to produce the winning run.

Neese was hit by a pitch with one out in the ninth and stole second a pitch before Underwood lined a single to the wall in right center to give Catawba the victory. Wil Huneycutt got the win in relief for the Indians as he tossed two and two-thirds innings of hitless relief.

Huneycutt (3-0) entered with runners at first and second and one out in the seventh and got out of the jam with two ground balls. The senior allowed just a one-out walk in the eighth the rest of the way and struck out two. Joey Kopp, the fourth and final Abbey pitcher on the night, took the loss after giving up the winning run in the ninth. He worked the final three innings, giving up three hits and striking out three.

Belmont Abbey had rallied from a 4-1 deficit after three innings to tie the game on fielder's choice by Justin Vasquez in the seventh. Vasquez hit a ball up the middle with runners on the corners and one out, but Cameron Beard's glove flip to second was off the mark.

Catawba used a dropped fly ball in the third to take its 4-1 lead. After the one out error and two walks, Garrett Furr and Chris Dula hit back-to-back two-run doubles to put Catawba ahead.

The Crusaders scored single runs over the next three innings to tie the game in the sixth. Joey Frabasile and Danny Brion hit solo home runs and Caleb Shore scored on a single by Kyle Buchanan.

Catawba took the lead right back after Beard's leadoff triple and a ground out by Ryan Bostian. The Crusaders then tied the game in the seventh, and Underwood's single broke the deadlock.

Belmont Abbey's Tim Dye had the only multi-hit game for either team as he went 2-for-3. The Crusaders finished with seven hits and Catawba had eight. The Indians left a dozen men on base has they drew seven walks and was hit three times.