May 9, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Freshman centerfielder Barrett Shaft went 4-for-4 with four RBI, while Steven Strausbaugh extended his hitting streak to 14 games with his 10th home run of the season, to lead Western Carolina to a 12-10 victory over Elon Monday afternoon at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. With the series sweep, the Catamounts (27-19 overall and 15-12 Southern Conference) pull into a tie for fourth with the Phoenix (28-12, 15-12 SoCon).

Western got on the board first when Strausbaugh sent a 2-2 pitch over The Purple Monster to start the bottom of the second inning. In addition to extending his hit streak to 14 games with his 10th homer of the season, Strausbaugh has a hit in 29 of his last 30 games.

Later in the second, Chris Davis was hit by a pitch and would advance to third after two wild pitches. The second wild pitch was additionally ball four to Nate Hall putting runners on first and third. The Cats would push a second run across on an RBI fielder's choice by Brandon Zollman. A single by Blake Murphy put runners on the corners once again and Shaft plated Zollman with a chopper up the middle, making the score 4-0 through two complete.

Elon used the long ball to get on the board in top of the fourth when Matt Stocco delivered a one out home run over The Purple Monster, his fourth round-tripper of the season.

Western answered back in the bottom of the fourth. Zollman had a leadoff triple and scored on a balk. Two batters later, Shaft sent the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for his third homer of the season and giving the Cats a 6-1 advantage.

The Phoenix cut their deficit in half in the top of the fifth. Adam Weaver had a one-out double and Gary Morris was hit by a pitch. After a balk and a strikeout, Chris Price plated the two runners with a single to right. Elon kept the momentum in the sixth, scoring two runs and making it a -5 game, when Evan Erickson hit a solo home run to start the frame. After back-to-back walks, snapping a WCU streak of 26.1 innings with allowing a free pass, Morris singled to bring home Ryan Radford.

The Cats took advantage of back-to-back walks to score a pair of runs in the home half of the sixth. Murphy and Shaft each walked, moved up on a wild pitch and Murphy scored on a throwing error. Shaft, who moved to third on the error, scored on Hallam's sacrifice fly to left.

Elon knotted the game at 8-8 in the seventh. With one out, Drew Davis walked and Stocco singled. For the second time in as many innings, and the 10th time on the season, Erickson cleared the bases with a three-run home run.

Western took advantage of an Elon error to score four unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, taking a 12-8 lead. Strausbaugh had a leadoff single, but was erased on a failed hit-and-run. Trey McDaniel then reached on an error, advancing to second on the play. After Davis was hit by a pitch, Hall came through with a two-run double down the left field line. Zollman drove in Davis with an RBI ground out and, after a walk to Murphy, Shaft hit a two-run double to center.

With one out in the eighth, Elon would load the bases thanks to three consecutive walks and Davis made it a three-run game (12-9) with a sacrifice fly to right field. The Phoenix got the tying and eventual go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth, scoring once on an RBI single by Weaver, but Clint Ramsey would eventually strikeout out the side, including his last two batters to end the contest.

Luke Miller would get the win in relief, improving to 5-2 on the year. Justin Bors (0-2) suffered the loss. Bors only allowed four hits and one earned run, but he walked three and was saddled with a total of five unearned runs in 2.2 innings.

In addition to Shaft and Strausbaugh, Western was paced offensively by Zollman's two RBI and Murphy's three runs scored. For the Phoenix, Erickson went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI, while Stocco and Weaver each added two hits.

Western Carolina will hit the road for a single game at Georgia on Wednesday (May 11). WCU had published the start time for 6:30 that day, but the game will actually start at 5:30 in Athens.