March 2, 2007

  Final Stats

Greenville, N.C. - Western starting pitcher Tyler Sexton won his third game of the season as the Catamounts beat 20th-ranked North Carolina State, 6-5, Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Keith LeClair Classic at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Catamounts improve to 6-2 on the year after winning their third game in a row while N.C. State is now 9-2.

Jonathan Greene went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 21-games. Kenny Smith was 3-for-4 while Blake Murphy added a hit, scored twice, and drove in his eighth run of the season as the Catamounts beat a nationally ranked team on the road for the second time this week.

Sexton (3-0) gave up two earned runs on five hits while striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings of work. Greg Holland picked up his second save of the season with an inning and a third in relief.

As the designated home team, Western led off the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back doubles by Steven Strausbaugh and Blake Murphy to take a 1-0 lead. John Ingram collected his seventh RBI on the year on a sacrifice fly to right field to push Western's advantage to two, 2-0.

The Catamounts added to the lead in the third inning on Barrett Shaft's first home run of the season, leading off with a solo shot to right field.

In the top half of the fifth, Sexton struck out the first batter before giving up back-to-back singles and walked one to load the bases. N.C. State took advantage of the situation with a two-run double by shortstop Ramon Corona with a passed ball knotting the game at 3-3.

However, the Catamounts answered back in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run single by Smith which gives him a team-leading 14 RBI on the season. Ingram added another run on a sacrifice fly to center field which scored Nick Liles from third, putting Western back up by three, 6-3.

After a scoreless seventh, Catamount reliever Chris Masters retired the first two batters of the inning before giving up a walk and a single. Holland entered the game in relief and allowed an RBI single to Joe Florio, cutting the Catamount lead, 6-4. After a wild pitch that moved runners to second and third, Holland walked back-to-back batters putting N.C. State within one run. Corona grounded out to second base to the bases-loaded threat.

Holland retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth to preserve the Catamount while collecting his second save.

Western will remain in Greenville to face its third-straight nationally ranked team, facing 13th-ranked Pepperdine Saturday at 11:00 am and East Carolina, the host team, Sunday at 3:00 pm.