March 1, 2008

Box Score

Conway, S.C. - The Western Carolina baseball team was unable to overcome an early 6-0 lead by George Mason University, falling 16-12 Saturday afternoon in game two of the Baseball at the Beach Tournament. The Catamounts put up four runs in the final two innings to threaten the deficit, but it was too little too late for Western.

The Patriots scored in six of the nine innings, notching a total of 17 hits. WCU connected on 15 hits, but hit into four double plays, two of which ended scoring innings for the Catamounts.

George Mason (1-4) struck first in the game, with a leadoff double by Spencer Wiggins, followed by a two-run homer to deep center field by Chris Henderson, putting the Patriots up, 2-0. But junior lefthander Drew Saberhagen was able to shake off the early deficit and a line drive off his leg to record a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

Junior Corey Martin came in on relief for the injured Saberhagen in the second inning, striking out two and allowing one run in his first inning on the mound. In the third, GMU tacked on three more runs on another homer to center, putting them up 6-0 after two and-a-half innings.

The Catamounts (2-3) got on the board in the bottom of the third on junior J.C. Lyons' two-out single, which plated senior Barrett Shaft. The next pitch, sophomore shortstop Brent Greer homered over the left centerfield wall to cut the GMU lead to three, 6-3. It was Greer's second homer of the season, putting him in a tie for first on the team. WCU tacked on another run on a dropped third strike off a Tyler Kirkpatrick strikeout brought home freshman Ryan Mathews, who had followed Greer's home run with a single.

Leading off the bottom of the fourth, freshman Matt Johns connected on his first hit as a Catamount, a solo home run that carried over the wall left center. Following a single by sophomore Nick Liles and an error by the Patriot left fielder that put on Barrett Shaft, senior catcher Blake Murphy cleared the bases with a line drive shot over the wall in left field for his second home run of the season, knotting the game up at eight. It was Murphy's 32nd homer in his career at Western, moving him into a tie for 12th place on the all-time list.

The Patriots had an offensive explosion in the top of the seventh inning, putting across seven runs on seven hits in the frame to stretch their lead to 16-8, a margin WCU could not erase.

Freshman Geoff Turner made his first career appearance in the eighth inning, throwing a pair of perfect frames to close out the game. Fellow freshman Brandon Johnson was saddled with the loss, after pitching two innings and giving up five runs on four hits, with two strikeouts. Matt Benedict and Mike Tavernier both threw an inning for the Catamounts, who sent a total of six pitchers to the mound on the day.

The loss drops the Catamounts to 0-2 on the weekend, with two games remaining. They will take the field for a double header Sunday, going against familiar foe Marshall in the first game, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at BB&T Coastal Field. WCU will wrap up the tournament when they take on the hometown Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. First pitch for the finale is set for 1:30 p.m., also at BB&T Coastal Field.