April 20, 2008

Western Carolina vs. Appalachian State Game One Box Score

Western Carolina vs. Appalachian State Game Two Box Score

Boone, N.C. - Jason Haynes' suicide squeeze in the top of the tenth inning gave Western Carolina (18-20, 7-8 Southern Conference) a 5-4 win over Appalachian State in the final game of a Sunday doubleheader, and allowed the Cats to split the two games of the day at Beaver Field at Jim & Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone, N.C. In the opening game, ASU (20-21, 5-10) escaped Western's comeback attempts and pulled out a 12-8 victory.

In the first game, Appalachian State scored a total of nine runs in two innings to pick up the win and clinch the series victory, 12-8. WCU scored seven of their eight total runs in the last five innings, but were unable to make up the early four-run deficit.

The Cats scratched the board first, plating a run in the top of the second inning when senior Blake Murphy, who reached via the first of four walks on the day, scored when sophomore Dylan de Graaf was caught in a rundown between first and second, allowing Murphy to advance from third unchallenged.

Appalachian State answered in a big way in their half of the second, loading the bases before a two-run double by Rand Smith. The Mountaineers then tacked on three more runs in the frame to stretch their lead to 5-1.

Western began to chip away at the lead in the top of the fourth, when sophomore Nick Liles opened the frame with a hard-hit single up the middle. Murphy then followed with his second walk of the game, and both were advanced on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by sophomore Reid Rollison. Liles then crossed the plate when the Mountaineer catcher allowed the third strike on de Graaf to get past him and roll back to the screen.

Murphy was plated when sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick lined a base hit into the outfield. De Graaf capitalized on the ASU mistake by scoring the Cat's third run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by freshman Matt Johns, pulling WCU back within one, 5-4.

The one-run deficit was short-lived for the Cats, however, as the Mountaineers continued their offensive explosion in the bottom half of the frame, putting up four runs, three of which came in one swing, a three-run homer to center field by Isaac Harrow, pushing the Mountaineers to a 9-4 lead.

WCU took advantage of two straight hit batsmen in the top of the fifth, when Murphy and Shaft both were plunked, and then were brought home on a pair of two-out singles by Rollison and de Graaf, cutting the margin to three, 9-6.

Back-to-back doubles by Kirkpatrick and freshman Ryan Mathews top half of the eighth inning led to a pair of one-out runs for the Cats, with Mathews' 12th double of the season scoring Kirkpatrick. He was then brought home on Shaft's single through the right side of the infield to pull WCU within two at 10-8.

The Mountaineers tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, when Brett Stewart ripped a two-out double off the wall in left field, to give App State their final total.

Murphy ended the first game without an official at-bat, drawing the aforementioned four walks, and adding to that the hit by pitch. Kirkpatrick led the Cats with three hits, going 3-for-4 overall with a run and an RBI. Shaft joined him in the multiple-hit club on the game, with a 2-for-4 effort with the game's lone triple.

Junior Drew Saberhagen was saddled with the loss after allowing eight runs in 3.1 innings in the starting role. Senior Tyler Sexton threw 4.2 innings of relief on the day, giving up four runs on six hits while striking out a pair of batters.

Shaft opened the second game of the day by joining an elite club, lining a double off the left-centerfield wall in the first inning for his 300th career hit. He joins Matt Raleigh and Chris Moore as the only Catamounts in school history to reach the 300-hit mark, and becomes just the seventh player in Southern Conference history to amass 300 or more hits in their careers.

Appalachian jumped out to the early lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, hitting back-to-back home runs to start the inning, before Catamount starter Corey Martin retired the side to keep the score at 2-0.

The Mountaineers added two more the next inning, manufacturing one run on a sacrifice fly that scored David Tawarnicky, who led off the frame with an HBP. They then added another courtesy of a throwing error by WCU that brought home the fourth run of the game, and put ASU up 4-0.

WCU got on the board in the top of the sixth inning, after Liles smacked his 12th double of the season, stole third, then was brought home when the Mountaineer first baseman was unable to handle a Murphy groundball, making the score 4-1.

Sophomore Stephen Notaro connected on his first hit of the weekend in the top of the eighth inning, ripping a double down the left field line to lead off the frame. Liles followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Shaft plated Notaro and moved Liles to third with a single of his own, then Murphy's sixth walk of the day loaded the bases for de Graaf, whose ground ball to the third baseman was bobbled, allowing Liles to score and pulling the Cats within one, 4-3.

Liles again came through in the clutch in the top of the ninth with at two-out triple, his first of the season, bringing home Matt Johns, who was pinch-running for Notaro, with the tying run. Liles built up the drama in his at-bat, taking the count full and fouling off a trio of pitches before driving the ball off the centerfield wall.

The Cats finally broke through in the top of the tenth, on a textbook suicide squeeze by Haynes, scoring Rollison, who had led off the frame with his second hit of the game, a single to left field. WCU then entered the bottom of the tenth with a 5-4 lead, which they would never relinquish

Reliever Chris Masters picked up the win after throwing a perfect four innings of relief, including a 1-2-3 tenth inning to preserve the victory. Masters struck out three out of the minimum 12 batters he faced and improved his season record to 4-3. Martin finished his day after a solid six full innings of work, in which he allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits while recording three strikeouts.

With his team-high four hits, Liles extended his current hitting streak to a season-high eleven games. For the two games, he finished 5-for-9, and was only a home run away from hitting for the cycle in the second game. Shaft and Rollison both chipped in with a pair of hits, in addition to Notaro and Kirkpatrick with one base knock apiece.

The Catamounts will step out of conference this week when they welcome ACC-member Clemson to Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. WCU took down the Tigers a week ago, 6-2, down in Clemson, S.C. for just their third all-time win away from home in the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night in Cullowhee.