March 5, 2006

Final Stats

North Charleston, S.C. - The Western Carolina battery of catcher Blake Murphy and pitcher Brock Thornburg led the Catamounts to an 11-1 victory over Charleston Southern Sunday afternoon at Collins Park. Murphy was 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, while Thornburg, who struck out six with no walks, only allowed two hits and one unearned run over six innings to get the win.

Also, offensively for the Cats, Trey McDaniel was 3-for-4, while Tim Hallam, Grey Gregory, Barrett Shaft and Jonathan Greene each had two hits.

The Catamounts, as they did in the previous two games of the series, took an early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Hallam had a leadoff double and moved to third on Gregory's bunt single. Shaft drove in Hallam with an RBI fielder's choice. Murphy followed with a double to left-center field and Shaft was able to score on the play thanks to a error.

In the second, Anthony Hayes cut the Bucs' deficit to one (2-1) as he scored without the benefit of a hit. After the CSU first baseman reached on an error, he moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch, all while the next batter - designated hitter Keith Stewart - was at bat.

The Catamounts took advantage of three errors to extended their advantage to five (6-1) in the third. Gregory had a leadoff single, stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored on Shaft's single. After Murphy moved Shaft up on a ground out and Shaft advanced to third on a wild pitch, McDaniel delivered an RBI single to right. Scott Ward kept the inning alive by reaching on a fielder's choice and advancing to second due to a throwing error on the play. Greene put runners on the corners with an infield single. Greene stole second and Ward scored on the play when the throw to second went into center field. Even though Andy John struck out swinging, the Cats had runners on first and third once again as John reached on a passed ball. Western capped the inning with a double steal, allowing Greene to score.

In the fifth, Western nearly duplicated CSU's only run, rounding the bases due to defensive miscues. Murphy had an infield single, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and then scored on a passed ball, making the score 7-1.

In the ninth, Shaft welcomed new CSU pitcher Mark Terifaj with a leadoff single. Then, Murphy hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center. McDaniel followed with double, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on an RBI single by Greene. Greene would moved to third on CSU's seventh error of the day and score on Aaron Gabrielian's RBI single, the first hit and RBI for the freshman.

Brandon McDowell, Corey Martin and Greg Holland worked the final three innings, allowing just two hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

For Charleston Southern, D.J. Throneburg (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing nine hits, seven runs (four earned) and three walks with four strikeouts.

Western Carolina will continue its nine-game road swing with games on Tuesday (Mar. 7) and Wednesday (Mar. 8) at UNC Wilmington. Both contests are set for 3:00 pm. To follow the game, click on the following link for UNCW's livestats: UNC Wilmington's Baseball LiveStats.