March 23, 2007

Final Stats

Charleston, S.C. - Trailing 6-3 entering the ninth inning, the Western Carolina Catamounts rallied with three runs to tie the game and force home standing College of Charleston to play the bottom of the frame. In the home half of the inning, though, Cougar pinch hitter Jedd Cordisco, who led off with a single to right center field, scored the game-winning run on a two-out wild pitch on an attempted intentional walk to give CofC the victory in the Southern Conference opener for both squads.

The loss snapped Western's four-game winning streak and dropped the Catamounts to 14-8 overall, 0-1 in league play. The College of Charleston improved to 16-6 and 1-0 in the SoCon.

Despite loading the bases in the top of the first inning, the Catamounts were only able to plate one run to take an early, 1-0, lead over Cougar starter, Nick Chigges. Three innings later, Western capitalized on Cougar miscues to stretch its lead to three.

Senior transfer Kenny Smith led off the fourth with a routine fly ball to left center that was muffed by CofC's Michael Kohn, leaving the Asheville native standing on second base. Two pitches later, junior Steven Strausbaugh lifted an RBI single to the gap in right center to score Smith, pushing WCU ahead 2-0. After back-to-back strikeouts, an error by Cougar shortstop, Barrett Kleinknecht, kept the inning alive, moving Strausbaugh to second where he scored on a RBI single through the right side by Andy John for the 3-0 advantage.

The Cougars responded in the bottom of the frame, though, with a two-run home run to left center field by catcher Alex Garabedian to pull within one, 3-2.

A four-run College of Charleston bottom of the seventh gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, 6-3. However, in the top of the ninth, WCU erased the deficit using junior Blake Murphy's two-run single, which cut the lead to 6-5, and Kenny Smith's RBI single to center scored Murphy to tie the game at 6-6 despite stranding the bases loaded.

However, WCU freshman reliever Chris Masters gave up a wild pitch on his second offering on an attempted intentional walk to allow the game-winning run to score.

Murphy, Strausbaugh, classmates Barrett Shaft and designated hitter Andy John each tallied multiple hit games for the Catamounts with Strausbaugh tallying a single and a double to finish 2-for-3 with a walk in the loss. Western stranded 12 base runners on the night.

Overshadowed by the loss was the solid pitching effort of WCU junior left-hander, Tyler Sexton, who tossed a solid six and a third innings - including the first three and a third hitless - before giving way to reliever, Greg Holland. Sexton scattered four earned runs on five hits with five walks and six strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision.

Game two of the three-game set is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. The game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5, or online at www.WWCUFM.com or by CLICKING HERE.