April 25, 2007

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Thirteen Bulldog batters hit during an eight-run eighth inning as Georgia rallied from a 6-4 deficit to down Western Carolina, 12-7, Wednesday night in non-conference action at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. Georgia also used a four-run fifth inning to tie the game at four midway through contest, erasing a 4-0 Catamount lead.

The loss, which was just the fifth at home this season and just the second in the last 16 ball games for WCU, also snapped a streak of 25-straight games won by the Catamounts when leading after the seventh inning.

During the eight-run rally, Western (28-13) used four different pitchers as Corey Martin came on in relief of Chris Masters, allowing two earned runs without recording an out. Junior Tyler Sexton was summoned from the bullpen for the first-time this season and allowed the game-winning run to suffer his first defeat of the year, falling to 6-1. The High Point, N.C., native gave up two earned runs on one hit, officially going two thirds of an inning.

Western Carolina starter, senior Tyler Johnson, went 4.1 innings allowing four runs, just one of which was earned, while walking three and striking out six. Masters tossed two and two thirds effective relief with one walk and two strikeouts.

Lost in the shuffle was a 3-for-5 outing by senior Kenny Smith, which included a double and his 14th home run of the year, a dozen of which have come at home. The Asheville, N.C., native finished with two RBI and a run scored in the loss. Juniors Steven Strausbaugh and Jonathan Greene each finished 2-for-5, with Strausbaugh ripping a double and driving in a pair while Greene scored twice on a pair of singles while striking out three times.

Western opened scoring in the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles from Greene and Smith, with the latter working a hit-and-run to perfection to move Greene to third with no outs. Junior Blake Murphy drove in the game's first run with a one-out sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Greene from third to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.

The lead was stretched to three in the third as freshman Nick Liles led off the frame with a single and was moved to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by classmate Adam Baker. Three batters later, with two on, Strausbaugh laced a two-RBI double to left center field scoring Liles and Barrett Shaft, who got on with a walk.

The fourth run came off the bat of Smith, who led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to give Western a 4-0 advantage. However, Georgia capitalized on four base hits and two Catamount errors to erase the deficit with a four-spot in the top of the fifth, tying the game at four.

WCU responded in the bottom of the frame, though, as freshman Brent Greer reached on one of the five Bulldog errors in the game and came home on a one-out double to left field by Smith. Greene, who also singled ahead of Smith, scored on Murphy's second sacrifice fly of the night, propelling the Cats to a 6-4 lead, which it held until the eighth.

The Catamounts return to Southern Conference action this weekend with a three-game set at Furman. First pitch on Friday is set for 7:00 pm, with Saturday scheduled for 6:00 pm Sunday's finale at 1:00 pm. All three games of the conference set will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee and online at www.WWCUFM.com.