May 16, 2009

Box Score

Davidson, N.C. - Mike Tavernier scattered seven base hits and three runs through a nine-inning, complete game as Western Carolina completed the three-game Southern Conference series sweep with a 6-3 victory over the Davidson Wildcats Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.

Tavernier (7-5) limited the Wildcats to three runs, only two of which were earned, working around three walks with six strikeouts to pick up the victory. The Clearwater, Fla.., native worked through the ninth inning in a steady rain, hitting one batter before inducing a fly-ball to right to end the ball game.

The Catamounts finish the regular season at 19-10 in the SoCon with a winning percentage of .655, currently fourth in the standings. WCU can finish no higher than third, however, as The Citadel swept the College of Charleston to finish 20-10, or .667 winning percentage.

Saturday's Georgia Southern-Wofford game in Statesboro, Ga., was suspended in the bottom of the eighth inning due to lightning with the Eagles up 16-8. If Wofford rallies to win the suspended game, which will resume at 11 am on Sunday, and can take game two of the set at 1:30 pm, then Western would finish third as GSU would conclude the regular season at 18-10, or .642 winning percentage. One Eagle victory out of the two remaining decisions would lock the Eagles into the second seed.

If WCU finishes fourth, it will face fifth-seeded Charleston at 9:00 pm in the final game of next Wednesday's first round at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C.

Davidson (18-29, 11-16 SoCon) again jumped on top early on Saturday, manufacturing a run in the home half of the second inning. Tommy Piacenza singled to center before moving to second on a passed ball and scored on an RBI double to center field by Pat Brady, who finished 2-for-3 with a couple RBI including a home run in the fourth inning.

Western answered, though, in the top of the third as Nick Liles legged out his second triple of the season and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Matt Johns before Brady's homer gave the Wildcats a 2-1 edge through four.

The Catamounts rallied to take the lead for good in the fifth inning. Mitchell Hatley lifted his first of two doubles to left center to open the frame before an RBI single to right by Nick Liles plated the first run. On the play, Liles moved to third on an error by the right fielder. The next batter, Matt Johns, singled through the left side to give WCU the edge, 3-2.

Hatley led the Catamounts with a 3-for-4 outing while Johns stretched his career-best, team-leading hitting streak to 20 games with a 1-for-4, two RBI effort while Liles finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and was struck by a pitch twice.

Consecutive two-out doubles in the sixth inning by Dylan de Graaf and Hatley pushed the WCU advantage to two, 4-2.

Zach Kayne homered for Davidson to lead-off the seventh to trim Western's lead to one, 4-3, before de Graaf moved it back to a two-run cushion in the eighth on an RBI single by Rembert Rollison. The Catamounts pushed across an insurance run in the top of the ninth as SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate Ross Heffley doubled down the right field line ahead of Brent Greer who legged out a two-bagger down the left field line to provide the final tally.

Starter Thomas Middour (2-6) suffered the loss for Davidson after allowing three runs on four hits in five innings of work with a pair of walks and four strikeouts. Offensively for the Wildcats, Kayne and Brady homered as a part of 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 outings, respectively.