April 18, 2007

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina pounded out nine hits, including three home runs, on Wednesday night to down former Southern Conference foe, East Tennessee State, 7-3, in non-conference action at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.

The win completes the two-game, seasonal series between the two schools as WCU also sank the Buccaneers, 7-4, in Johnson City, Tenn., back on March 6.

Tossing three innings of relief work, senior Brock Thornburg (2-2) earned his second victory of the season, scattering three base hits while allowing a pair of earned runs while striking out five. Starter Tyler Johnson went three innings giving one earned run on three hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts, but did not factor in on the decision.

Freshman Chris Masters, who struck out a career-best five in the starting role the first time the two teams faced this season, fanned a pair in two innings of work with junior Greg Holland closing out the game in the ninth in a non-save situation, striking out one. All told, Catamount pitchers struck out 13 batters.

Three Catamounts hit home runs for Western Carolina (24-12), including a two-run shot by Asheville, N.C., native Kenny Smith to give the senior 12 on the season - 10 of which have come at home. Junior Steven Strausbaugh finished 1-for-3 with his lone hit coming on a solo home run in the eighth inning, with Jonathan Greene giving WCU the early lead with a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning.

Junior Blake Murphy finished 2-for-4 with two RBI in the win, with classmate Barrett Shaft improving his average to a SoCon-leading .427 by also with a 2-for-4 showing at the dish for the lone WCU hitters with multiple hit games.

Greene's two-out homer to left field gave Western the early, 1-0, lead in the bottom of the first inning. However, the Buccaneers rallied to tie the game on a sacrifice fly in the third inning, knotting the game at one apiece. The Catamounts reclaimed the advantage in the home portion of the same frame as freshman Dylan de Graaf, earning the start as the designated hitter, drew one of his two walks on the day and was moved around and scored on singles by Shaft and Murphy, respectively.

East Tennessee State (24-16) grabbed its first lead of the game in the top of the fourth off of Thornburg, capitalizing on three singles through the first four batters of the inning to load the bases. The tying run touched home on a sacrifice fly to right field, with the go-ahead run coming on a caught stealing where Murphy threw to second, catching the Buc runner in a run-down.

After giving up the lead in the top of the fourth, Western managed five unanswered runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to pull ahead for the win. Following back-to-back strikeouts in the home portion of the sixth, senior John Ingram singled to left field ahead of classmate Smith who launched a two-run home run to left. An inning later, pinch hitter Andy John drew a walk before Shaft and Murphy again combined to move the runner, with the latter garnering the RBI on a single to left field.

Western wrapped up the scoring in the eighth as Strausbaugh launched a two-out, 0-2 pitch over the fence in right field. Freshman Nick Liles singled up the middle then stole second before his classmate, shortstop Brent Greer, bounced one to second that was bobbled, allowing Liles to score the final run for the 7-3 tally.

For ETSU, Drew Story (2-3) matched his career-high with eight strikeouts in six innings pitched, surrendering four earned runs on five hits and a trio of walks. Right fielder Troy Mendez finished 2-for-3 with a sacrifice and a run scored as the Buccaneers managed eight base hits on the night.

Western remains at home for a three-game Southern Conference series this Friday through Sunday, hosting the second-place Elon Phoenix in Cullowhee. Friday's first pitch is set for 7:00 pm, with Saturday slated to start at 4:00 pm and wrapping up on Sunday at 2:00 pm.

Fans can follow all of the action on GameTracker, presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine and West Care Health Systems, by logging onto www.CatamountSports.com.