May 20, 2006

GM 1 Final Stats: WCU 7 - FUR 5

GM 2 Final Stats: FUR 10 - WCU 6

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to hand Furman a 7-5 setback in game one of a Saturday doubleheader at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. In game two, which was the regular-season finale, Furman scored four times in the eighth to claim a 10-6 victory in a contest which was delayed 51 minutes by rain and lightening. The Catamounts will be the sixth seed in next week's Southern Conference, played at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C., Championship and will face the third seeded Paladins at 10 am on Wednesday.

2006 SoCon Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
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In the doubleheader today, Catamount third baseman Jonathan Greene was 6-for-9, hitting three home runs in the two games, including two in game two. For the Paladins, Will Stembridge was 5-for-8.

Like Furman did last night, Western took advantage of a miscue by the defense to score in the first. With two outs, Barrett Shaft singled. Greene, who was 3-for-4 in game one, followed with a single to left, but an error on the play allowed Shaft to score from first.

Case Cassedy answered for the Paladins in the second, hitting a leadoff home run for his seventh round-tripper of the season.

The Cats took advantage of a second Paladin error to score twice in the second to go up 3-1. Trey McDaniel started the frame reaching on an error. Blake Murphy moved McDaniel to third on a well-executed hit-and-run. Scott Ward plated McDaniel with a single. After a sacrifice bunt, Tim Hallam drove in Murphy with a sacrifice fly.

Furman used the long ball again in the sixth to tie the game. With one out, Ben Terry hit his first home run of the season. Two batters later, A.J. Davidiuk cleared the left field fence for his 11th homer of the season.

Western responded in the home half with two runs of its own. Greene started the inning with a double and scored two batters later on a two-run home run by McDaniel, marking his 11th blast of the season.

The Paladins knotted the game once again in the seventh. Jay Jackson had a leadoff single and moved to third two batters later on Spence Gibbs' double, chasing WCU starter Bryan Tupper. Terry plated Jackson with an RBI ground out and Will Stembridge followed with an RBI single.

However, the Catamounts answered again in the home half of the seventh to go up 7-5. Hallam had a leadoff double, moved to third on a ground ball and scored on Shaft's sac fly to center. Greene followed with a towering home run over The Purple Monster in left, giving the sophomore 12 homers on the season.

Brian McCullen, who allowed two hits, did not allow a run over the final 2.2 innings to pick up the win, improving to 6-1 on the season. Tupper, who pitched a career-high 6.1 innings, allowed eight hits and five runs. For Furman, Patrick Arnett suffered the loss, falling to 3-7. Starter Ryan Hudson worked six innings, allowing seven hits and five runs.

In game two, Furman strung together four straight singles to start the game for a 2-0 lead. Terry got things started with an infield single and Stembridge followed with a bunt single. Davidiuk plated Terry with a single to center and Cassedy singled to right to score Stembridge.

Western tied the game at 2-2 in the third. Jason Haynes and Hallam had leadoff singles. Although Haynes was thrown out stealing, Donnie Wilson plating Hallam with a single to left and, after a wild pitch, Wilson scored on Greene's single down the left field line.

In the third, the Cats pushed a run across to take a 3-2 lead. With one out, Blake Murphy walked, Ward singled and Haynes singled to load the bases and chase Paladin starter Ryan Hodinka. Hallam welcomed new pitcher Jay Jackson with an RBI ground out.

In the top of the fifth with one out and a runner on second, the game was halted for 50 minutes due to lightening and rain. Once play resumed, Andrew Greene, who started the inning with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Terry, tying the game at 3-3. The Paladins would put two runners on and Cassedy nearly gave his team a three-run lead, but Shaft robbed Cassedy of a home run.

In the home half of the fifth, Western answered with two runs for a 5-3 lead. Shaft singled and scored on Greene's second homer of the doubleheader.

However, Furman rallied right back in the sixth to tie the game (5-5) once again, thanks to a two-out, two-run triple by Joey Rodgers. The back-and-forth game continued in the top of the seventh. Stembridge drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single by Joe Daysh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Western's Greene sent the first pitch he saw for a home run, his second of the game, third of the doubleheader and 13th of the season. Later in the inning, Western had runners on first and second. Haynes singled up the middle and Steven Strausbaugh tried to score on the play, but was he was thrown out at home.

The Paladins exploded for four runs in the top of the eighth. Stembridge had a two-run single and Davidiuk followed with an RBI double to right. Cassedy drove in the fourth run of the inning with an RBI ground out.

Jackson got the win for the Paladins, improving to 3-0. He allowed eight hits and four runs over four innings. Nick Hollstegge pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing no hits or walks to earn his 11th save. Greg Holland (4-3) suffered the loss, his first setback since Mar. 8. He allowed six hits and five runs (four earned) over 2.2 innings.

2006 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, May 23
Game 1 -- #7 UNC Greensboro vs. #10 Wofford, Noon
Game 2 -- #8 Appalachian State vs. #9 Davidson, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 24
Game 3 -- #3 Furman vs. #6 Western Carolina, 10 a.m.
Game 4 -- #2 College of Charleston vs. Winner Game 1, 1 p.m.
Game 5 -- #1 Elon vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 6 -- #4 Georgia Southern vs. #5 The Citadel, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 25
Game 7 -- Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 10 a.m.
Game 8 -- Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 1 p.m.
Game 9 -- Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m.
Game 10 -- Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 26
Game 11 -- Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 8, 10 a.m.
Game 12 -- Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 7, 1 p.m.
Game 13 -- Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 4:30 p.m.
Game 14 -- Winner Game 11 vs. Winner game 12, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 27
Game 15 -- Loser Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, Noon
Game 16 -- Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 15, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 28
Game 17 -- Same teams as in Game 16, 2 p.m. (if necessary)