April 2, 2005

Final Stats

Davidson, N.C. - Two WCU freshmen, Jonathan Greene and Barrett Shaft, each had four hits and three RBI and the Catamounts scored six runs in the top of the ninth to pull out a 13-11 come-from-behind victory over Davidson Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field. Greene was 4-for-5 with two home runs and three runs scored, while Shaft, who had two hits in the ninth, was 4-for-6 with two runs scored.

The Catamounts (17-10, 6-5 SoCon) sent 11 men to the plate and scored their six runs on five hits. Shaft started the frame with a leadoff double and scored on Tim Hallam's double. Jared Greenwood got a wind-aided single as the pop up fell between the third baseman and catcher midway down the third base line. Davidson (12-13, 3-8) went to the bullpen and new Wildcat pitcher Bill Riggs walked Steven Strausbaugh and allowed an RBI single by Trey McDaniel, who now has a nine-game hitting streak. Chris Davis flirted with a grand slam, but Davidson's Michael Muniz caught the hard-hit ball inches short of going over the center field fence for a sacrifice fly, driving in Greenwood. After Greene reached on a fielder's choice, Riggs walked Nate Hall and defensive replacement Jason Haynes, the second being an RBI for the freshman. Shaft capped the scoring with a two-run single.

After Western took the lead, senior Clint Ramsey (Weaverville, N.C.) allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, but retired the next three batters to record his first career save. The second out of the inning came when Strausbaugh covered good ground to catch a fly ball well in foul territory. Franklin native Brandon McDowell, who earned a save on Thursday versus Brown, was credited with the win Saturday to improve to 2-0 on the season, despite allowing four hits, three runs and two walks over a 1.1 innings.

Riggs (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing two hits, three runs and three walks in 0.2 innings.

As it did last night, Davidson, who finished with six doubles, a triple and a home run, took an early lead in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Ronnie Shore tripled to right-center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Musashe. Jay Heafner then hit a double to right-center field and scored on an RBI double by Eli Benefield.

And, as Western did last night, the Catamounts tied the game in the top of the second. Davis ended a streak of five straight ground ball outs with a single to center. Greene followed with a two-run home run to center, his third blast of the season.

After getting a double play to escape a bases loaded jam in the top of the third, the Wildcats exploded for five runs with two outs in the bottom half to go up 7-2. Musashe had a leadoff double. With two outs, Benefield singled off WCU pitcher Jeremy Ellenburg's glove to put runners on the corners. Alex Entrekin doubled to right-center to pate both Wildcats base runners. Alden Crissy then plated Entrekin with a single to right-center with Sam Navarro clearing the bases with a home run.

Western cut its deficit to two (7-5) with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Greenwood had a leadoff single and scored one batter later on Strausbaugh's two-run home run to right, his team-leading sixth homer of the season and his 11th-straight game with a hit. Davis doubled, moved to third on an infield single by Greene and scored on an RBI ground out by Nate Hall.

Davidson bounced back to score one in the bottom of the sixth. Musashe came through with a two-out single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Heafner.

In the top of the seventh, Shaft started the frame with a solo home run for his first collegiate blast to make the score 8-6. Another solo home run in the eighth, this time by Greene, cut WCU's deficit to one (8-7).

Davidson wrestled the momentum back in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs to take what looked to be a comfortable 11-7 lead. After a quick out, McDowell allowed a walk to Musashe, Heafner singled to left. On an attempted play at third, where Musashe was safe, Heafner advanced to second. Musashe would score on a wild pitch and Gregory Zage plated Heafner with an RBI single to right. Entrekin capped the Wildcats; scoring with an RBI double.

In addition to Greene and Shaft, Western got two hits each from Hallam, Greenwood and Davis. Davidson got at least one hit from eight of its nine batters, including four from Heafner, Benefield and Entrekin.

The two teams will play the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday. First pitch, which will mark the sixth game in six days for the Catamounts, is set for 1:00 pm at Davidson's Wilson Field.