April 25, 2008

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Five pitchers combined for 25 strikeouts Friday night as the Furman Paladins capitalized early on four Western Carolina errors to down the Catamounts, 4-2, Friday night at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.

Furman starter Jay Jackson (9-1) worked eight innings in the win, fanning a career-high 11 to tally his ninth victory of the season. He scattered four base hits and worked around three walks. Nick Karow tallied his sixth save of the year, striking out two of the four batters he faced in the ninth to preserve the win for the Paladins.

Junior Mike Tavernier (3-3) was the tough-luck loser for WCU, working seven innings while allowing four runs - only one of which was earned - pitching around a pair of walks with seven strikeouts. Sophomore left-hander Chris Masters struck out all three batters he faced in an inning of work, while junior Garrett Ozar retired two of the three outs he worked via the strikeout as the two combined to toss two hitless, scoreless innings.

Western Carolina (19-22, 7-9 SoCon) worked around an error in the top of the first inning as sophomore Nick Liles made a sliding stop deep in the hole at second and prevented the game's first run from crossing the plate from third with a laser throw to first just in time.

However, a defensive dandy could not prevent Furman from scratching the board first as the Paladins tallied three unearned runs in the visitor half of the second inning. With runners at second and third following a single, hit batsman and a sacrifice bunt, centerfielder Joey Rodgers grounded one to third which was bobbled, allowing the batter to reach and a run to score. Again with two runners in scoring position, a second Catamount error in the inning plated the eventual game-winning run as two touched home for a 3-0 Paladin lead.

The Catamounts fought back, however, as sophomore Reid Rollison belted his third career home run over the fence in left field, parking a full-count pitch with senior Blake Murphy aboard to trim the deficit to one, 3-2.

Two innings later, Western advanced Murphy to second base after the second of his two walks on the night, but he was gunned down at third on an attempted steal. Western would only have two base runners the remainder of the game, neither advancing past first base.

Furman plated an insurance run in the fifth as left-fielder Bobby Hubbard doubled down the right field line and was scored on a sacrifice fly by Reese Wade to provide the final tally, 4-2.

Five different Catamounts produced one-hit apiece on the night with Rollison finishing 1-for-3 with the two-run homer. Murphy was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and 12 putouts behind the dish. Liles extended his current hitting streak to a season-high 14 games with a double in the eighth, but was cut down trying to stretch it into a triple.

Senior Barrett Shaft inched closer to the school's career-hit record with a single up the middle in the sixth on a 1-for-4 outing. The Lilburn, Ga., native currently has 307 base hits, four shy of tying Chris Moore (1996-99) for the all-time career record.

For the Paladins (24-15, 10-6 SoCon), Wade finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Hubbard finished 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Connor Lind was 1-for-3 with a walk and a single.

Game two of the three-game Southern Conference set is scheduled for 6:00 pm on Saturday afternoon in Cullowhee. Fans can follow all of the action online at CatamountSports.com with GameTracker, presented by Carolina West and the WestCare Health System.