March 18, 2007

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Kenny Smith was a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI including his ninth home run on the year as Western Carolina (13-7) completed a three-game series sweep over Columbia, 14-6, Sunday afternoon at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.

Western reliever Corey Martin allowed one run in two innings of relief duty to collect his first win of the season.

Smith drove in the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly, scoring Blake Murphy from third. Steven Strausbaugh belted a double to score John Ingram who reached base on a walk, giving the Catamounts a 2-0 lead in the fourth.

Columbia (4-9-1) answered in the fifth with a lead-off double from Mike Roberts followed by a triple down the right-field line off the bat of Mike Malfettone scoring the Lions first run of the game. Jason Banos scored Malfettone on a sacrifice fly knotting the game at 2-2.

Western responded in the bottom half with a two-run homer from Jonathan Greene, his fifth of the season, scoring Nick Liles who extended his hitting streak to 12-games with a lead-off double. Ingram pushed his hitting streak to 10-games on a double followed by Smith's home run over the left field wall to give the Catamounts a 6-2 advantage.

The Lions were quick to respond in the sixth with a three-run homer from Mike Roberts to put them within one, 6-5. Starting pitcher Tyler Johnson struck out eight on the day but failed to record an out in the sixth and was relieved by Martin after five innings of work. Columbia later connected on another triple to be plated on the ensuing batter to tie the game, 6-6.

The Catamounts once again countered as lead-off batter Brent Greer was hit by a pitch, Barrett Shaft singled, and Liles drove in Greer on a chopper to third base. Greene was then hit by a pitch and Murphy followed with an RBI double to give the Catamounts a two-run lead. Greene later scored on a wild pitch from reliever Clay Bartlett for the last run of sixth.

After holding Columbia scoreless, Western tacked on five insurance runs in the eighth on Murphy's solo home run, his fourth of the year. With the bases loaded, reliever John Baumann tossed a wild pitch to score Ingram. Tyler Kirkpatrick pinch-hit three-run homer was his first collegiate home run completed the scoring.

Chris Masters and Greg Holland each tossed an inning of work and preserved the series sweep.

Western Carolina returns to action on Tuesday as they play host to the 6th-ranked Clemson Tigers at 7:00 pm at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.