April 12, 2008

Box Score

Elon, N.C. - Phoenix starting pitcher Steven Hensley tossed his fourth career complete game, scattering eight hits while only surrendering one run Friday night as Elon downed the Western Carolina Catamounts, 16-1, in Southern Conference action at Latham Park.

Western Carolina (15-17, 5-5 SoCon) opened the game with a solo home run on the first pitch thrown by Hensley. Sophomore Nick Liles drilled the fast ball over the fence in right centerfield to give the Catamounts a short-lived, 1-0, advantage.

The Phoenix answered in the home half of the second inning, scoring what would be the first two runs of 16 unanswered on the night. First baseman Chase Austin lined one over the fence in left to knot the game at one before a two-out double to straight-away center by catcher Dallas Tarleton gave Elon (27-8, 11-2 SoCon) a lead it would never relinquish.

Hensley, who threw his second pitch of the night to the backstop following the leadoff homer before settling into a groove, struck out 11 batters with just one walk issued to remain perfect on the season at 7-0.

Catamount senior Jason Haynes finished 3-for-4 with three singles including an infield bunt base hit to lead Western at the plate. Liles was the only other WCU player to record multiple hits, sharply singling up the middle in addition to his third homer of the season, to finish 2-for-4.

Despite perfectly executing a sacrifice bunt early in the game, sophomore Brent Greer saw his 18-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 performance at the plate with one strikeout.

Junior Drew Saberhagen suffered his fourth defeat of the season, allowing nine runs - seven of which were earned - on 11 hits with three strikeouts. Freshman Brandon Johnson tossed two innings of one-hit relief despite allowing five runs - only one of which was earned - with three walks and a strikeout. Classmate Geoff Turner tossed the final third of an inning allowing two earned runs on two hits.

For the game, Western stranded nine base runners and committed four errors in the field.

Game two of the three-game conference set is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Saturday evening at Latham Park. Each game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or online at www.WWCUFM.com.