No. 2 Gaston College knocks off Catawba Valley Community College on Wednesday

In what was setting up as a trap game in the same week that Gaston College baseball achieved its highest national ranking in school history, the Rhinos got a victory Wednesday to extend their current win streak to seven.

On a wind-swept afternoon at Sims Legion Park, Gaston College eased past rival Catawba Valley Community College 10-6 in a four-hour game that featured frequent pitching changes by both coaches.

In a parade to the mound, Red Hawks mentor Marshall McDonald used 11 hurlers, and Rhinos coach Shohn Doty went seven-deep into his staff.

Shane Thorson (2-0), who replaced Rhinos starter Gabe Hernandez in the top of the third, picked up the win with two innings of relief. And relievers Wagner Morrissette (one inning, two strikeouts) and Landon Carr (two strikeouts in the top of the ninth) pitched effectively in the late innings to help Gaston College (16-2) hold on to the lead.

It was not the crisp performance Doty was hoping for after his team earned a No. 2 ranking Monday in the first National Junior College Athletic Association Division I poll of the regular season.

"We had a somewhat uncharacteristic day," Doty said. "I told the team that we never complain about a win, yet we have a lot of stuff we need to clean up before this weekend if we are going to continue to play at the level we want to play."

The Red Hawks (8-8) took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the third inning before the Rhinos responded with a three-run spurt to go back on top for good.

A four-run uprising in the fourth inning gave the Rhinos a working margin at 9-4.

"I give a lot of credit to them," Doty said. "They had a good game plan to try to bring guys out of the bullpen to match up with our lineup. We have to do a better job with matchup situations. We left a ton of traffic on the bases all day and had several chances to break the game open and couldn't do it."

The Rhinos mound staff combined for 10 strikeouts while allowing 10 hits, but GC pitchers gave up five walks, hit three batters and fell behind consistently in the count.

"It was not a good day from a pitching standpoint," Doty said. "We would get two outs and nobody on, and ended up having to work out of jams."

Seth Christmas went 3-for-3 to lead the Rhinos' 12-hit attack, while Trent Murchison (2-for-5, 2 RRIs), Trevor Lucas (2-for-3, 3 RBIs) and Freddie Oliver (RBI single) delivered clutch hits with runners in scoring position.

As usual, the Rhinos ran the bases aggressively, with Andrew Muraco recording three thefts and Christmas and Justin Smith netting two apiece.

The key hit to give Gaston College the lead for good came in the bottom of the third. After the Rhinos tied the game at 3 on Caleb Estes' sacrifice fly, Trent Murchison slashed an opposite field double to left to drive in two more runs, making it 5-3.

One inning later, Trevor Lucas singled in a pair of runs and Oliver hit an RBI double to the right field wall for an 8-4 spread.

Frontier Community College comes to Sims Legion Park this weekend for a three-game series, with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. and a doubleheader on Sunday at noon and 3 p.m..