April 5, 2008

Western Carolina vs. Davidson - Game One Box Score

Western Carolina vs. Davidson - Game Two Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina stretched its current winning streak to five straight by taking both ends of Saturday's Southern Conference double-header, 22-7 and 10-8, from the Davidson Wildcats at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. Western has now won six-straight against the Wildcats over the past three seasons.

The Catamounts will go for the series sweep, while also trying to stretch their current winning streak to six games, in game three on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2:00 pm.

On the day, senior Blake Murphy hit .714 (5-for-7), including a 3-for-4 showing with two home runs and six RBI in game one, and 2-for-3 in the night cap with a double and a run driven in. Freshman Matt Johns finished 3-for-5 (.600) on the afternoon with three RBI and a homer, while sophomore Brent Greer continued his current hitting streak with a 5-for-9 performance with two doubles in game two. The Manassas, Va., native has hit safely in 16-straight games.

Also, senior Jason Haynes added his second homer of the season, a three-run blast over the middle section of fencing in left field in game one.

In game one, Western Carolina scored in all but one frame in which it took swings, pounding out 20 hits en route to a 22-7 victory behind a strong outing from starting pitcher, Drew Saberhagen. The junior left-hander went seven innings, scattering six base hits while only giving up four runs, three of which were earned, while pitching around two walks with five strikeouts. He retired the first eight batters of the game before giving up his first hit.

Freshmen Brandon Johnson and Geoff Turner tossed the final two innings with Johnson striking out all three batters in which he faced with Turner allowing three earned runs on two hits, two walks and two K's.

WCU scored 15 runs in the first five innings, including an eight-run explosion in the third, to break the game open. Murphy opened the barrage in the first with his first of two home runs, blasting a two-run shot to left center for the early advantage. In the second, Haynes lifted an RBI double down the leftfield line with sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick singling to the same location to drive in the game's fourth run.

In the third, freshman Ryan Mathews, who saw his hitting streak stretched to 15 games but snapped in game two, doubled to right center to start the hit parade with one out. Sophomore Dylan de Graaf drove in one of his two runs on the day with a single down the leftfield line to push the Catamount lead to six, 6-0. Johns delivered an RBI single, with Greer (RBI single) and Shaft (sacrifice fly to right) pushing runs across ahead of Murphy. The Waynesville, N.C., native blasted his second bomb of the game, a three-run shot to centerfield, to balloon Western's advantage into double-digits, 12-0.

Johns belted a two-run homer in the fourth, with Murphy lacing an RBI single to right center in the fifth to push WCU's advantage to 15-0.

Davidson (8-17, 1-7 SoCon) answered with a solo run in the sixth and three in the top of the seventh to trim the deficit to, 15-4. Yet, after a 21-minute rain delay, Western responded with one run after the seventh-inning stretch as sophomore Steven Notaro walked and later scored on a wild pitch.

Notaro drove in two of the Catamounts' six runs in the bottom of the eighth to help seal the deal, stretching the lead back out to 22-4. Davidson scored three earned runs off Turner in the ninth to provide the final tally in game one.

In the night cap, Western Carolina (14-15, 4-4 SoCon) had to rally in the late innings, scoring five runs in the home half of the eighth inning to earn the victory and the series win.

Junior Garrett Ozar pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on just four hits with three walks and five strikeouts before being lifted for sophomore Chris Masters. The Marietta, Ga., native tossed the final 3.2 innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts to secure his third win of the year.

Despite leading 3-1, the Catamounts surrendered a two-out, two-run home run to right field by Hugh Eden to knot the game at three. The Wildcats added a single run in the sixth, three in the seventh and a solo run in the eighth to pull out to an 8-5 advantage headed into the bottom of the eighth.

In the decisive frame, WCU batted around, capitalizing on three hits and two costly Davidson errors to surge back in front for good. Haynes opened the frame with a lazy pop-up into shallow right field that was dropped by the Wildcat second baseman, allowing him to reach third. A walk by sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick and a bunt single by Johns loaded the bases ahead of sophomore Nick Liles. The Laurinburg, N.C., native singled to right field to drive in the first run making it 8-6.

Greer laced a single through the right side to plate a second run, with senior Barrett Shaft - who saw his 10-game hitting streak end in game two - grounding out to second to drive in the game-tying run. With first base open, Murphy was intentionally walked to again load the bases with a throwing error on the middle of Davidson's infield allowing the two go-ahead runs to cross home, 10-8.

For Davidson, shortstop Zach Kayne led the way with a 4-for-9 performance in the two games with five runs driven in, while centerfielder Hugh Eden finished 3-for-8 with two home runs and also had five RBI.

Western Carolina and Davidson will wrap-up the three-game SoCon set on Sunday afternoon with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.