March 31, 2006

Final Stats

Boone, N.C. - After missing the last eight games with a knee injury, junior left fielder Donnie Wilson returned to the lineup to go 3-for-4 and be one of four Catamounts to hit a home run in Western Carolina's 11-0 victory over rival Appalachian State Friday afternoon at Lackey Field.

Also hitting home runs for the Catamounts, who improve to 16-10 overall and 5-2 in the Southern Conference, were Trey McDaniel (eighth), Blake Murphy (sixth) and Steven Strausbaugh (13th). McDaniel and Murphy each had two hits and two RBI, while Scott Ward added three RBI in the victory.

As impressive as Western's offense was, junior pitcher Brock Thornburg was nearly as impressive on the mound. He scattered five hits over seven innings with two walks and two strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the season. Brian McCullen and Corey Martin worked the final two innings to close out the contest. Also, the Catamount defense made some key plays, leaving seven ASU runners on base.

After both teams went down in order in the first, McDaniel started the second with a home run to right-center field, marking his eighth blast of the season.

The Catamounts used the long ball again to start the fifth to take a 2-0 lead as Murphy lined a ball out of the park just in side the right field foul pole.

In the sixth, Western hit its third and fourth homers of the game to take a 5-0 lead. After Barrett Shaft reached on an error, Wilson delivered his first career home run. Strausbaugh followed with a solo home run to left, giving the sophomore 13 round trippers on the season.

Western scored its first runs without the benefit of a home run in the eighth, pushing five men across the plate to take a 10-0 lead. The Cats loaded the bases thanks to singles by Shaft and Wilson and a walk to Strausbaugh, chasing ASU starter Jonathan Reeder (1-3). The first pitch from relief pitcher Josh Fish was wild, allowing Shaft to score. After a strikeout, Murphy welcomed new pitcher Scott Clark with an RBI infield single to short, plating Wilson. Jonathan Greene drew a walk to load the bases and Ward brought the three home with a three-run double to right.

The Catamounts padded their advantage with a run in the ninth. With the bases loaded, McDaniel's bloop single to center allowed Mitchell Hatley, who led off with a single, to score.

Western and App State will play game two of their three-game set on Saturday with first pitch set for 1 pm.