March 28, 2003

Final Stats

Greenville, S.C. - An RBI triple by Wayne Kilmer in the top of the eighth propelled Western Carolina to a 3-2 win at Furman Friday night in the teams' opening game of a weekend series. The Catamounts win combined with a College of Charleston loss lifts WCU to sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference. Western is now 19-8 overall and 9-1 in the SoCon, while Furman falls to 11-12, 3-7.

After both teams were retired easily through the first three innings, Western Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Todd Roper had a leadoff single, then Kilmer walked. Roper advanced to third on a wild pitch and later scored on Alan Beck's sacrifice fly to center.

Furman threatened in the bottom of the fifth as Dominic Frankey and Sam McLain had consecutive hits to start the inning and breakup Ryan Basner's no-hitter. After a sacrifice bunt, Basner got Cole Hubka to line out to right and WCU right fielder Rod Goldston threw out Frankey at home to end the inning.

The Cats took a 2-0 lead with a single run in the top of the sixth. Kilmer drew a one-out walk and came all the way home one batter later on Beck's double down the left field line.

Furman tied the game in the bottom of the seventh Craig Caudill started the home half with a leadoff double, moving to third on Derek Norman's ground out. Then, Frankey deposited a 1-2 Basner pitch over the left-center field fence to knot the game at 2-2.

Western regained the advantage in the top of the eighth. Roper came through with a two-out single to center for his third hit of the game. Kilmer then drilled a Jon Stallsmith pitch to right center for an RBI triple, which proved to be the game winner.

Sylva's Derrick Hawk pitched 1.2 innings in relief to earn the win, improving to 4-0 on the season. He entered the game in teh seventh with one one and one out. Hawk promptly struck out the first two batters he faced to get out of the inning. The right hander wored a realatively quiet eighth inning to get the win. Ryan Foster pitched the ninth to record his fourth save of the season. Furman threatened in the ninth as leadoff hitter Norman reached on an error. Norman moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but was left stranded after Foster struck out McLain and got Matthew Betstill to ground out to end the game.

Basner was impressive although he did not factor in the decision. He pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five hits and two runs, Frankey's two-run homer, with one walk and five strikeouts. Offensively, Roper led the way by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Beck drove in two of WCU's three runs.

Frankey and McLain each collected two hits for Furman. Stallsmith fell to 0-3 on the season, allowing five hits, three runs in eight innings pitched. He only walked two, while fanning seven.

Western Carolina and Furman will play the second of their three-game set on Saturday (Mar. 29). First pitch at Furman Baseball Stadium is set for 6 pm.