March 15, 2006

Final Stats

Athens, Ga. - Western Carolina pitchers had only allowed six home runs through their first 14 games. However, the 20th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, who scored five runs in the first inning, nearly matched that total with five homers Wednesday night en route to a 11-0 victory over the Catamounts at Foley Field. Georgia improves to 13-2, while Western drops to 6-9.

After Western attempted to take an early lead, with Barrett Shaft being out at the plate on a Trey McDaniel double in the top of the first, Georgia sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs on eight hits. Jonathan Wyatt, who reached on a one-out single, scored on an RBI double by Jason Jacobs. Josh Morris followed with a two-run home run to left. The Bulldogs then loaded the bases on three consecutive singles. Gordon Beckham plated Bobby Felmy with a single and Kyle Keen followed with an RBI fielder's choice.

Georgia padded its advantage in the bottom of the third thanks to a double by Matt Robbins and a two-run home run by Keen.

To start the fourth, Morris hit his second blast of the game and sixth of the season to give Georgia an 8-0 cushion. In the fifth and after a one-out triple by Keen, Joey Side delivered two-run home run. In the sixth, the Bulldogs hit their fifth homer of the game when Felmy started the home half with a blast to right.

Georgia starter Nathan Moreau, high school teammate of Western's Shaft, improved to 2-0 in the season, allowing four hits with no walks and four strikeouts over five complete. Caleb McConnell suffered the loss, falling to 0-2. He allowed 11 hits and seven runs over three innings.

Morris and Robbins led the way for Georgia, each getting three hits. Western's Grey Gregory came through with two of his team's five hits on the evening.

Western Carolina will open a nine-game home stand with a Saturday doubleheader versus Princeton, with first pitch set for 1:00 pm. Game two will be approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. The team will conclude the weekend set with a single game Sunday, starting at 1:00 pm.