April 25, 2006

Final Stats

Athens, Ga. - Playing a game that was just added to the schedule on Sunday, Western Carolina got home runs from both Jonathan Greene and Blake Murphy, and Tyler Johnson pitched a career-high 5.1 innings to hand Georgia a 7-5 loss Tuesday night at Foley Field. The Catamounts improve to 23-18, while the Bulldogs fall to 24-16.

With both teams having games rained out earlier this season, the two decided to add Tuesday night's contest as both had openings this week.

Western Carolina drew first blood, scoring four runs in the fourth. Barrett Shaft, who had two hits, had a leadoff single and moved to second on Steven Strausbaugh's second walk of the game. Trey McDaniel singled to right, plating Shaft and putting runners on the corners. Greene cleared the bases with a monster three-run blast to left-center field, his sixth homer of the season.

The Bulldogs answered with a run in the home half of the fourth. With two outs, Josh Morris, who had a home run robbed by Shaft in the second, reached on an error. Matt Robbins then got Georgia's first hit of the game, a slow roller to third. Matt Olsen then plated Morris with a single to right.

The Catamounts got that run back and added another in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead. Blake Murphy lined a home run, his ninth of the year, over the left-center field wall, just beyond the reach of UGA left fielder Jonathan Wyatt. Greene drew a one-out walk and moved to third on Scott Ward's hit-and-run single through the left side of the infield. With out outs, Mitchell Hatley lined a single to left, driving in Greene.

Once again, Georgia was able to answer in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs to make the score 6-5. After a leadoff double by Joey Side, Morris hit a two-run blast to straight away center field. After pinch hitter Bobby Felmy doubled, Brian McCullen came out of the WCU bullpen and nearly got out of the jam. McCullen got one out, but Brad Peisel beat out an infield hit to score Felmy. After a walk, Matthew Dunn delivered an RBI single to center for UGA's final run of the frame.

Johnson improves to 3-1 on the season, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned) with a walk and two strikeouts.

In the ninth, Tim Hallam and Shaft had one-out singles. With the runners going, Strausbaugh looped a single to left, driving in Hallam for a 7-5 Catamount lead.

Catamount closer Greg Holland worked the ninth, allowing two hits and no runs, to earn his fifth save of the season.

For the Bulldogs, Side had two hits, while Morris had two RBI. Iain Sebastian suffered the loss, allowing four hits and four runs in one inning.

Western Carolina is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, playing at Gardner-Webb. First pitch is set for 3:00 pm.