April 14, 2007

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Greensboro, N.C. - Western Carolina earned its third Southern Conference series victory of the season, splitting in double-header action Saturday against the UNC Greensboro Spartans. Capitalizing on four UNCG errors, Western plated six runs in the top of the fifth to pull out an 11-1 victory in the opener. Behind solid pitching in game two, the Spartans prevented the three-game sweep, snapping WCU's nine-game winning streak with a 9-4 victory to conclude the series.

Western (23-12, 8-4 SoCon) rode the left arm of red-shirt sophomore Drew Saberhagen in the first game as the Calabasas, Calif., native scattered eight hits over eight scoreless innings with a strikeout to improve to 4-1 on the year. Reliever Bryan Corbett surrendered the lone run on one hit, a solo home run to left while striking out one in an inning of work.

The big inning came in the top of the fifth as the Catamounts pushed across six runs on three hits with four UNCG errors. Junior Steven Strausbaugh opened the frame with a fly to right field that was dropped by the right fielder Sean Snell. After a successful sacrifice bunt by Tyler Kirkpatrick and a one-out walk by Nick Liles, freshman Brent Greer laced an RBI double to center field to score Strausbaugh and move Liles to third. Junior Barrett Shaft emptied the bases with a two-RBI double down the right field line on the first pitch he saw, with an error by the center fielder allowing his classmate, Blake Murphy, to reach and drive in Shaft and chased UNCG starter, Matt Gibbs.

A throwing error by the relief pitcher, Kory Judd, put Jonathan Greene aboard with senior transfer John Ingram driving in the fifth run of the frame. Rounding out the scoring was Kenny Smith, who reached on a fielder's choice to score Greene for the sixth and final run.

Leading 6-0, the Catamounts added a single run in the sixth and four in the top of the ninth before the Spartans spoiled the would-be shutout victory with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to provide the final tally, 11-1.

Shaft led three Catamount hitters with multiple hits in the game by going 4-for-5 outing at the plate with three doubles and three RBI. Murphy finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored while Ingram also recorded a pair of hits, going 2-for-5 in the game one.

In the second game, WCU starter Corey Martin (3-1) got off to a solid start through four and a third innings before running into trouble in the middle of the fifth inning. The sophomore finished with four and a third innings pitched, allowing four earned runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts to suffer his first defeat of the year.

Western took an early lead as Greer legged out the first of his two doubles and scored on opportunistic base running. After Murphy drew a one-out walk, the Waynesville, N.C., native stole second base, drawing a throw from the Spartan catcher. As soon as the ball was thrown down to second, Greer took off for home to score the game's first run.

However, it UNC Greensboro that posted the big inning, tallying seven runs in the home half of the fifth inning as 13 batters came to the plate. All told, the Spartans pushed across seven runs on six hits with one WCU error, a hit batsman and a walk.

The Cats responded with a single run in the top of the sixth only to have UNCG answer with a two-spot in the bottom of the frame to pull out to a seven-run, 9-2, lead. In the ninth, Western tallied a pair of runs with two outs to provide the final tally, 9-4.

Strausbaugh led Western at the plate in the second game, going 3-for-5 with a trio of singles, while Greer finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles as the Catamounts out hit the Spartans with a dozen hits.

Western returns to action this Wednesday, April 18 by hosting East Tennessee State in non-conference action at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm.