May 13, 2003

Final Stats

Cookeville, Tenn. - After trailing 5-0 through two and a half, Tennessee Tech scored three in the bottom of the third and four in the bottom of the sixth to defeat 28th-ranked Western Carolina Tuesday night at Bush Stadium. The Eagles, who will look to remain atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings this weekend, improve to 26-21, while the Catamounts fall to 36-16.

The Catamounts took an early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Todd Roper, Wayne Kilmer and Alan Beck had consecutive singles, the last being of the two-run variety. Western added three in the third to make the score 5-0. Beck had a leadoff single, stole second and moved to third on an Alex Gary infield hit. Matt Nelson followed with a two-out double to left to plate Beck. Brett Kasten, getting the start at third, made it back-to-back doubles, driving in Gary and Nelson.

The Golden Eagles got on the board in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on three hits. Ben Shannon delivered a one-out double and Cole Helms followed with a single. Casey Benjamin was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Ryan Hay was walked to force in a run. Two batters later, Chris McLain had a two-run single to center.

Tennessee Tech took its first lead of the game with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 7-5. McLain doubled to start the inning and scored one batter later on Scott Terry's sixth home run of the season. Back-to-back doubles by Grant French and Phillip Hatch pushed another run across, chasing WCU starter Brad Josey. After relief pitcher Brian Barnes got an out, Helms fisted a double down the line to score Hatch. Western escaped further damage when Nelson snagged a fly ball and threw out Helms at the plate for a double play.

McLain led the way for TTU, going 3-for-3 with two RBI, while Helms and Hay each added two hits. Collins Hughes came out of the pen to improve to 3-5 on the season. He pitched 2.1 innings and only allowed one hit with no walks and four strikeouts. Doug Vincent pitched the ninth to earn his second save of the season. He loaded the bases with only one out, but got back-to-back fly outs to end the game.

The Cats were led by Kilmer and Beck, who each had two hits. Beck added two RBI, as did Kasten. WCU senior Rod Goldston had his 21-game hit streak haulted with an 0-for-5 performance. Josey suffered his second loss of the season (5-2), allowing eight hits and seven runs over five-plus innings of work.

Western Carolina will return to action wrap up the 2003 regular season with a three-game set at the College of Charleston this weekend. The Catamounts and Cougars will play at Patroits Point on Friday (May 16) at 6 pm, Saturday at 6 pm and Sunday at 1 pm. Western will remain in Charleston, moving to Riley Park on Wednesday (May 21) to play in the firrst round of the Southern Conference Championship.