May 11, 2002

Final Stats

Johnson City, Tenn. - Western Carolina nearly let a five-run, ninth-inning lead slip away, but managed to hold on for a 7-6 over East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Park.

The Buccaneers (19-20, 11-14) started in bottom of the ninth with consecutive singles by Kirk Keithley and Bryan Crouse. After a ground out, pinch hitter Chad Boruff was hit by Ryan Foster's pitch to load the bases. With two outs, ETSU pushed two runs across on back-to-back infield singles by Matt Traylor and Jeremy Terry. WCU junior Ryan Basner came in with the bases loaded and looked to get the final out. However, a throwing error on a ground ball to third allowed two more runs to score. With the tying run now on third, Basner struck out Michael Giroud to end the game and pick up his second save of the season.

Like last night, Western (31-17, 20-9 SoCon) started the game with a leadoff walk by Rod Goldston. Alex Gary and Ryan Schade followed with free passes to load the basses. ETSU starter Reid Casey avoided a big inning by getting Donovan Minero to hit into a double play, which allowed Goldston to score.

After struggling early, Casey settled down and kept the Catamounts scoreless over the next four innings. While Casey was performing well on the mound, ETSU took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run home run by Crouse.

Western tied the game in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Alan Beck, which was his 10th blast of the season. The Cats regained the lead (3-2) on an RBI single by Gary, scoring Dan Woodley.

In the eighth, Beck drove in his second run of the game, giving WCU a 4-2 advantage. Schade led off with a walk and moved to third on a single by Minero. Beck followed with a sacrifice fly to center. The Beck RBI gives the junior 146 for his career to move him to 10th on the WCU career list. (Last night he moved to 10th on the WCU all-time list for doubles.)

The Catamounts were able to survive the four-run ninth by ETSU by scoring three run in the top of the inning. Todd Buchanan had a leadoff single and advanced to second on a Woodley sac bunt. Roper followed with an infield bunt single to move Buchanan to third. Goldston was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Gary, who had a triple last night, chased Casey with a two-run double to right-center field, moving Goldston to third. Schade, facing new ETSU pitcher Jarrod Hyder, had his 16-gam hit streak snapped in the ninth when he was hit by a pitch to load the bases. (Schade was 0-for-1 with three walks and a hit by pitch in five at bats.) Minero plated WCU's seventh run with a sac fly to right.

WCU starter Dan Foley picked up his second consecutive win, improving to 4-2 on the season. The senior allowed four hits and the two-run homer in six innings pitched. Foley, along with all three WCU pitchers, did not walk a batter and struck out three. Foster was in line for the save, but was the victim of some untimely defense. He retired the side in order in the seventh and got two quick outs in the eighth before Terry reached on a wild pitch despite striking out. He got two outs in the ninth before an error extended the inning, setting up Basner save situation.

Gary led the Cats with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with a career-high three RBIs. Buchanan added two hits and Beck had two RBIs.

Western handed ETSU senior Casey just his second SoCon loss, falling to 8-5 overall. The Bucs were led offensively by Keithley and Crouse, who each had two hits.

The two teams will play the final game of their three-game set on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 pm at Cardinal Park.