April 29, 2009

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Jason Sullivan highlighted three Catamount pitchers that combined for a three-hit shutout Wednesday night as Western Carolina blanked Tennessee Tech, 11-0, in mid-week, non-conference action at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.

Sullivan (1-0) worked through the first four and a third of his first WCU career start without allowing a Golden Eagle hit, finishing with six and a third innings of three-hit action in the quality start to earn his first career victory. Sophomore Matt Benedict and freshman Tyler Brownlow combined to close the final two and two-thirds innings in hitless, scoreless relief in the win.

The shutout was WCU's third this season, coupled with a 4-0 victory over Appalachian State on March 6 and an 11-0 blanking at mountain-rival UNC Asheville back on April first. The win also gave WCU a 12-3 all-time record against Tennessee Tech.

Sullivan, a junior, worked around three walks with three of WCU's eight strikeouts on the night, facing just four batters over the minimum. Benedict fanned four against a pair of strikeouts, with Brownlow striking out one against a pair of walks in his inning of relief work.

Western Carolina (27-17) pounded out the 11 runs on 14 hits, with six going for extra bases including a grand slam home run by J.C. Lyons in the seventh inning that pushed the game further out of reach for the Golden Eagles.

The Catamounts pushed across what proved to be the game-winning run in the home half of the first inning as Trevor Collias doubled to right center field to open the frame and later scored the first of his game-high three runs on the second of consecutive infield ground outs.

The 1-0 score remained until the fourth inning when the Catamounts erupted for four manufactured runs. Rembert Rollison opened the scoring, leading off with a walk and touching home on a RBI single up the middle by Matt Johns who later came home on a run-scoring triple by Mitchell Hatley. A failed pick-off attempt with Collias at first allowed Hatley to scamper home from third, with Nick Liles driving him home with a double to right field for the 5-0 advantage.

With the bases loaded in the eighth, Lyons belted his fifth homer of the season to push the lead to nine, 9-0. Andy John singled and scored on an RBI single by Ross Heffley in the eighth, and Heffley later scored on a RBI double to right by Brent Greer to close the scoring at 11-0.

Johns finished a team-best 3-for-5, with Liles also rapping out three hits including a double in a 3-for-5, two-run showing at the plate. Heffley drove in two runs on his two-hit night, while Greer also legged out a two-bagger in his 2-for-4 night.

Three different players for Tennessee Tech (22-18) registered the base hits as Casanova Donaldson doubled, with Tate McMillan and Evan Webb recording a single apiece. Starting pitcher Matthew Shepherd (3-2) suffered the loss after surrendering an earned run in the bottom of the first inning. Shepherd allowed three hits with a strikeout in two innings of work in the loss.

Western Carolina opens a three-game Southern Conference road series at UNC Greensboro on Friday night at 7:00 pm. The series will continue with a 2:00 pm game on Saturday with the finale at 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon. All three games will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Cullowhee on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or online at www.WWCUFM.com.