Feb. 25, 2007

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina sophomore Drew Saberhagen scattered four hits, allowing just one run to score, while his teammates pounded out a season-high 17 hits as the Catamounts defeated Connecticut, 12-1, in the rubber match of the three-game set Sunday afternoon at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. WCU won the first-ever series over the Huskies, 2-1, including Friday's victory in the home opener.

Saberhagen, who leads the team with a 0.66 earned run average (ERA) in a team-high 13.2 innings pitched, earned his first victory for the purple and gold in 7.0 innings of work. His lone mistake was a first-pitch lead off home run by Connecticut's Josh Farkes in the top of the fifth inning. A red-shirt sophomore from Calabasas, Calif., Saberhagen struck out three with a pair of walks.

After two scoreless frames, Western (4-2) was first to break through in the bottom of the third inning. Freshman Brent Greer, who reached after recording his first collegiate base hit, was driven home by junior left fielder Jason Haynes on a single to left to put the Catamounts ahead, 1-0. Junior utility player Jonathan Greene poked a one-out single into the left field gap, extending his team-best hitting streak to 19 games and advancing Haynes to third. Waynesville native, Blake Murphy, then belted a double to the gap in right field, driving in classmates Greene and Haynes, giving Western a 3-0 advantage.

An inning later, WCU added to its advantage as second baseman Kenny Smith belted his fourth round tripper of the season - and the weekend - with a solo shot over the left field wall to give him his team-leading eleventh RBI of the year. Connecticut answered with a home run of its own in the top of the fifth as Farkes led off the top half of the frame to cut the Catamount lead, 4-1. The Huskies managed to put runners at second and third in the inning, but Saberhagen got Dale Brannon to line out to short and Larry Day to pop up to second, both on 1-0 counts, to end the threat.

Western responded with three of its own in the bottom half of five as Haynes led off with a first pitch single followed by Greene belting a two-run homer to right field, his second of the season. The Catamounts added another run as Murphy, who reached base on a walk, came home on an infield double-play by UConn.

In the seventh, WCU added to its lead as Steven Strausbaugh delivered an RBI single to push Greene across the plate for the third time on the afternoon. Murphy also scored on the play as Huskies catcher, Day, sailed a ball over the third baseman's head attempting to tag out Murphy, who trotted home putting the Catamounts up by eight. Freshman Nick Liles got his first hit of the day to drive in Strausbaugh, extending the lead to 10-1, with the Cats tallying two additional runs in the eighth as pinch-hitter Mitchell Hatley scored on a passed ball followed by a Chris Ahearn double down the left field line to score senior Donnie Wilson.

Five Catamounts recorded multiple hit games, with both Greene and Haynes going 2-for-3, and Smith and first-baseman John Ingram going 2-for-4. Greene and Murphy led the way with a pair of RBI apiece. Junior right handers Ryne Nelson and Greg Holland each tossed an inning of hitless and scoreless relief on Sunday, both recording one strikeout.

Connecticut (1-2) only managed four hits on the afternoon with Farkes going 1-for-4 with the lone RBI and run scored. Shortstop Dennis Donovan and first baseman Matt Untiet both finished 1-for-4, with third baseman Erik Turgeon going 1-for-3 on the afternoon. Huskies starting pitcher, Brendan McGinn, suffered the loss after allowing seven earned runs on nine hits in just four innings of work.

Western hits the road for five-straight contests away from Cullowhee, beginning Tuesday afternoon in Atlanta against the nationally-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The new start time for Tuesday's game is 1:00 pm. The Catamounts will then travel to Greenville, N.C., to participate in the Keith LeClair Classic, named in honor of the former WCU player and WCU/ECU head coach. WCU will face North Carolina State on Friday (March 2) at 1:00 pm, Pepperdine on Saturday (March 3) at 11:00 am and the host East Carolina Pirates at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, March 4.