April 23, 2002

Final Stats

Athens, Ga. - Western hit three home runs and raced out to a 9-2 lead through four innings, but Georgia used a nine-run eighth inning to storm back for an 18-11 victory over the Catamounts Tuesday at Foley Field.

Western (25-15) jumped on Georgia freshman starter Jason Fellows, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring four runs on five hits in the first inning. Ryan Schade got the Cats going with a one-out single. Alan Beck followed with a walk. Todd Buchanan singled to plate Schade and Donovan Minero double to drive in Beck. Clint Ramsey delivered a two-out single up the middle to score Buchanan and Minero.

In the second, the Catamounts batted around again, this time off sophomore Jarrett Warren, adding five runs on six hits including three home runs. After a Schade single, Beck hit a two-run blast to left-center field. Two batters later, Minero notched his team-leading 13th of the season and Ramsey added a two-run shot that gave the Catamounts a 9-2 advantage.

Georgia (24-14) began its comeback in the fifth on a two-out, two-run double by Ned Yost. He scored after a couple of wild pitches by Rob Hoover to cut the deficit to 9-5. In the sixth, Kris Edge had a one-out double, took third on an infield single and then scored on a error by Beck. The Bulldogs would capitalize on the miscue as Lee Mitchell drew a walk and then Matt Cavender launched a 3-1 offering from Ryan Basner to deep centerfield for his fourth home run of the season and tie the game at 9-all.

In the eighth, Georgia took advantage of two Catamount errors to take its first lead. Chaz Lytle led off with his second home run of the year. After a walk, Western was unable to convert an out on a probable double play. Georgia would go on to bat around in the frame, sending 13 hitters to the plate. Shortstop Jon Armitage added a two-run single, Yost had a run-scoring double and Lytle came up again in the frame and notched his fourth hit of the day, a two-run single. Lee Mitchell's run-scoring single capped the nine-run outburst for an 18-9 lead.

Bulldog senior Max Havel, redshirt freshmen Park Robinson and Williams Sartain kept the Catamounts off the scoreboard through the middle innings, combining to pitch 6.2 scoreless innings.

The Catamounts managed to plate two runs in the top of the ninth off freshman Bo Lanier. Pinch hitters Chris Davis, Dan Woodley and Rod Goldston put together a single and two doubles, respectively, before the Bulldogs got three straight outs to end the threat and the contest.

Schade led the way for WCU offensively, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Ramsey (2-for-4) had one of his best days by driving in four runners, while Minero was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Brian Sigmon also collected two hits and Beck added two RBIs and two runs scored.

Lytle (4-for-6), David Coffey (1-5), Cavender (2-for-3) and Yost (2-for-4) drove in three runs apiece while Kris Edge went 3-for-4 with two RBI to pace Georgia's 17-hit attack. Sartain (2-0), Georgia's fifth pitcher of the afternoon, pitched a scoreless eighth inning to pick up the win while Catamount relief pitcher Ryan Foster dropped to 1-2. He allowed six runs on four hits in the Bulldogs' big inning.

Western Carolina will return to action in a key Southern Conference match-up this weekend, playing at Georgia Southern on Friday (7 pm), Saturday (1:30 pm) and Sunday (1:30 pm). Western is currently in second place in the SoCon, two games behind league leader The Citadel, percentage points ahead of UNC Greensboro and one game ahead of the Eagles. Friday's game will be the only one broadcast on Sylva's WRGC (680 AM), using a feed from the Georgia Southern Radio Network.