Feb. 16, 2007

Final Stats

Kennesaw, Ga. - Western Carolina plated five runs in the top of the third inning to rally from a 2-1 deficit to down the Kennesaw State Owls, 9-6, on Friday afternoon at Stillwell Stadium in the 2007 season opener. Junior Blake Murphy led WCU with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate highlighting a trio of Catamounts with two RBI.

The Owls (0-2) jumped out to a 2-1 lead before the Catamounts responded in the third. Nick Liles led off the frame with a walk and Barrett Shaft moved him to second with a single through the left side. With one out, KSU hurler Bubba Blalock attempted to pick Liles off of second base, but the ball sailed into centerfield allowing Liles to advance to third putting runners at the corners. Liles then came home to tie the game as Jonathan Greene reached on fielder's choice.

Murphy continued the inning by drawing the second base on balls of the frame, with the second Owl error coming on a short toss from first baseman Andrew Martin to Blalock allowing Drew Saberhagen to reach to load the bases for transfer John Ingram. The former Clemson Tiger singled through the right side to score two, Murphy and Greene, for a 4-2 Western lead. The next batter, Kenny Smith, belted the only extra base hit for WCU on the day, doubling to right field to score two for the 6-2 advantage.

Kennesaw State got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth when Martin started the rally with a double to right center and then Ray Redden reached on Western's lone error of the game. Tyler Stubblefield notched his first run batted in when his fielder's choice scored Martin, who had advanced to third on wild pitch. Jacob Robbins, who had five hits in the game and extended his hit streak to 24 straight games, plated Redden to pull the Owls within two at 6-4.

After a scoreless fifth, the Catamounts added two runs in the top of the sixth to pull ahead by four, 8-4. Shaft singled up the middle and then stole second to put a runner in scoring position with one away in the inning. He moved 90 feet away on a single by Steven Strausbaugh and later scored on a wild pitch. Murphy drove in his second run of the game with a single to left field to score Strausbaugh.

Western added a final insurance run in the seventh to help seal the win.

Liles and Shaft joined Murphy with multiple hits with Ingram, Smith and Murphy all tallying two RBI.

Tyler Sexton picked up the win for the Catamounts after going five innings, allowing two earned runs while striking out four. Ryne Nelson and Chris Masters combined for two innings of work and six strikeouts, with Greg Holland earning his first save of the year throwing two innings and striking out five of the nine batters he faced. Blalock suffered the loss for Kennesaw State despite only allowing one earned run and five hits in four innings of work.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm.