May 24, 2007

Box Score

Charleston, S.C. -

Western Carolina juniors Blake Murphy and Steven Strausbaugh each drove in a run on ninth inning walks and freshman Nick Liles went 3-for-4 at the plate, but it was not enough as The Citadel used a strong starting performance from sophomore hurler Matt Crim to upset the second-seeded Catamounts, 7-2, Wednesday night in the night cap at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship.

The Catamounts will face the No. 6 Georgia Southern Eagles at 1:00 pm on Thursday afternoon, while No. 7 The Citadel will face No. 3 Elon at 7:30 pm at Riley Park.

Crim tossed seven innings of shutout ball and tied a career-best eight strikeouts while freshman catcher Richard Jones belted his third home run in as many games as the Bulldogs held the Catamounts scoreless until two outs in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded, both Murphy and Strausbaugh drew bases loaded walks to get WCU on the board. Bulldog senior hurler Link Saunders came in to record the final out and pick up his sixth save of the year as he caught Kenny Smith looking to end the game.

Jones put the Bulldogs on the board first for the second consecutive night with a solo shot to right in the second inning. Jones has homered in the last three games, belting a round-tripper in his first at bat in the last two. Junior third baseman Matt Arnold was able to race home from third on a passed ball to give the Dogs a 2-0 advantage.

The Citadel struck again in the fourth as senior center fielder Chance Smith ripped a run-scoring double to the gap in left center. Junior left fielder Chris Swauger followed that up with a base hit up the middle to make it 4-0 Bulldogs.

Swauger earned his second RBI of the evening with a solo shot off the batter's eye in the ninth before sophomore Sonny Meade was awarded a free pass. Brown followed that up with a two-bagger off the top of the wall in right to plate freshman Matt Simonelli, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for Meade. Jones then sent Brown across the dish with a single to right, extending The Citadel lead to seven.

Crim (7-3) earned the victory for the Dogs as he tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while fanning eight and walking four. Western starter Tyler Sexton (8-3) suffered the loss as he lasted 3.2 frames, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits while striking out two and walking one.

Liles lead the Catamount offense with three hits, including a triple, as Western stranded 11 base runners on the night which included leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.