May 11, 2007

Box Score

Spartanburg, S.C. - First baseman John Ingram was 4-for-6 at the plate, connecting on three home runs, all two-run shots, as Western Carolina (35-15, 16-6 SoCon) defeated the Wofford Terriers (23-28, 6-16), 26-12, Friday night at Russell C. King Field.

Western started the scoring in the first inning with a lead-off double from Blake Murphy followed by an RBI single from Kenny Smith, extending his hitting streak to 17-games. The following Catamount hitter, Jonathan Greene drove in Smith on a double to put Western up 2-0. Senior transfer, John Ingram belted a two-run shot to extend the lead to 4-0 after one.

The Terriers answered in the second with a solo home run off the bat of first baseman John Brandt to cut the Catamount lead to 4-1 after two innings.

Western led off the third inning with back-to-back home runs from Murphy and Steven Strausbaugh to push the lead to 6-1. Following a Smith single, Ingram blasted his second two-run roundtripper of the game, putting the Catamounts up 8-1.

Wofford bounced back in the bottom half of the third with a lead-off double by Eric Sturkie who advanced to second on a fielding error by starter Tyler Sexton. Designated hitter Shane Kirkley drove in Sturkie with a single followed by a Brandon Waring two-RBI double to cut the Western lead to 8-4 after three innings.

The Catamounts put four runs across in the fourth compliments of back-to-back walks from Murphy and Strausbaugh followed by an RBI double from Smith. Greene drove in his second RBI of the game on a groundout to the shortstop. Ingram followed with his third two-run home run on the evening, his tenth of the year, to extend the lead to 12-4.

Wofford cut the lead to three in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back home runs from Emre Caglayan and Keith Munns. After striking out lead-off batter Mike Gilmartin, starting pitcher Sexton gave up a single to Bradford Eaves and was relieved by Bryan Corbett after three and third innings of work. After Shane Kirkley popped out in foul territory, Southern Conference home run leader Waring belted a three-run homer to left - his 22nd of the year - to cut the lead to 12-9 after four complete.

Western posted five runs of their own in the fifth compliments of five walks allowed by Terrier pitching and a two-RBI single from Nick Liles to give the Catamounts a 17-9 lead.

In the sixth, Strausbaugh lifted his second home run of the evening, a three-run shot to left that scored shortstop Mitchell Hatley and catcher Murphy. Strausbaugh's home run was his seventh in the last eight games, for a total of 10 on the year.

Murphy ended the day 4-for-4 at the plate, hitting two home runs, scoring six times, while collecting four RBI.

Western put four more runs across in the seventh on a towering two-run home run by Murphy, his second of the game, giving him 12 on the season.

Terrier catcher Adam Kearney hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh for the Terriers. The Kearney home run was the 12th home run hit between the two teams on the evening.

The Terriers put another run across in the eighth while the Catamounts posted two of its own in the ninth.

The two teams combined for 38 runs and 36 hits with each team committing one error.

Austin Redwine (4-5) took the loss for the Terriers pitching three innings giving up eight hits and eight earned runs.

Bryan Corbett (3-1) earned the win for the Catamounts going three and two thirds allowing three runs while striking out five.

These two schools will meet again Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm. Live stats are available by logging on to the Western Carolina website www.catamountsports.com and clicking on Wofford Live Stats under the schedule of events.