April 18, 2008

Box Score

Boone, N.C. - Western Carolina was unable to overcome a four-run fourth inning by Appalachian State, and fell to the Mountaineers, 6-2, in the first game of the weekend series at Beaver Field at Jim & Bettie Smith Statidum in Boone, N.C.

The Mountaineers (19-20, 4-9 Southern Conference) struck first in the game, using a pair of singles by the first two batters, followed by a double by Isaac Harrow scoring one. WCU starter Mike Tavernier was able to induce back-to-back fly outs to end the threat and strand two ASU runners on base.

Western (17-19, 6-7 SoCon) evened the score at one in the top of the third, when sophomore Nick Liles extended his current hitting streak to nine games with a single up the middle, scoring classmate Reid Rollison, who led off the frame with a single.

Appalachian jumped back on top in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases courtesy of a leadoff walk, followed by a double and an infield single, before pushing one run across when a Tavernier pitch slipped under the glove of Catamount catcher Blake Murphy, advancing the runners.

ASU's Wes Hobson then broke the inning open with a bases-clearing triple to right center field, scoring two. Hobson was then brought home on a double by the next batter, pushing the Mountaineer lead to 5-1, a margin they would never relinquish.

Rollison scored his second run of the night on a deep home run to left field in the top of the fifth inning, to bring the Cats back within three, 5-2. It was his second home run of the season, and his second in two games, after putting one over the wall in the win over Clemson on Tuesday.

WCU loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with two outs on three straight walks, but were unable to capitalize, ending the game with all three runners stranded on the base baths.

Murphy and Rollison led the Cats on the night with identical 2-4 efforts, the only WCU batters to record multiple hits. Liles contributed the rest of Western's five hits as a team, going 1-4 overall in the game. One of Murphy's hits was his team-leading 13th double of the season, and the 57th of his career, moving into sole possession of fifth place on the WCU all-time career list.

Tavernier was saddled with the loss on the night after allowing five runs on eight hits in four innings of work, dropping his record to 3-2 on the year. Junior Garrett Ozar pitched very well in relief, only giving up a single run on one hit in 3.1 innings, striking out a team-high two batters. Sophomore Chris Masters threw a perfect 2/3 of an inning for the Cats, striking out one of the two batters he faced.

For ASU, Matt Andress threw eight full innings in the winning effort, scattering five hits and allowing two earned runs. He goes to 5-3 on the year. Garrett Sherrill came on to close the game in the ninth, giving up three walks but striking out two to secure the win.

The Catamounts will hope to recreate their results from last season against Appalachian State, when they took two of three in the season series against the Mountaineers. First pitch for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., with the series finale beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Fans can follow live stats for both games by following the link on the schedule page on CatamountSports.com.