May 17, 2001
Box Score
Donavan Minero hit 3-for-5 with two rbi in a 7-9 loss to College of Charleston in game five of the 2001 Southern Conference Tournament Thursday at Joe Riley Park.
With the win the Cougars improve to 24-27 overall and will face the either Appalachian State or The Citadel at 1:00 on Friday. The Catamounts end the season with a 30-26 record.
Western Carolina scored first when Ryan Schade struck out swinging but reached on advanced to second on catcher Ronny Marmol's throwing error. He moved to third on a Rod Goldston ground ball to second and scored on Alan Beck's sacrifice fly to center for a 1-0 first innning lead.
Charleston responded in the bottom of the inning as they parlayed an error and three hits, including Mitch Miggenburg's two-out, two-run single to left to score five times and take a four-run lead.
The Cougars added another run in the second when Orlandos singled through the left side, advanced to third on Jasha Balcom's single to right field and scored on a Ronny Marmol ground ball.
In the fourth, Balcom lined his fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot to right field, stretching the Cougar advantage to 8-1.
In the sixth, Balcom had a bunt single to third, stole second, stole third and scored on a throwing error by the Catamount catcher to increase Charleston's lead to 9-1.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Western Carolina's Schade singled, moved to second on a walk and scored on Beck's single into right field. Goldston then scored on Todd Buchanan's single up the middle. Donovan Minero singled into left field, driving in two more Catamounts cutting the Charleston lead to 9-5.
In the ninth, Western Carolina scored twice to cut the margin to 9-7. However, Andy Hutchings picked up his league-leading 12th save when he struck out Doug Myers to end the contest on four pitches.
Ryan Mau (6-5) recorded the win, giving up five runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Mau, who had a career-high seven walks, pitched no-hit ball for five innings and had a one-hitter through the first 20 outs of the game. Seth Foster (5-4) recorded the loss, surrendering eight runs on eight hits in just 3 2/3 innings of work.
For the game the Cougars swiped five bases, including a career-high three for the freshman Balcom.
