May 3, 2009

Box Score

Greensboro, N.C. - J.C. Lyons hit the first of three Catamount home runs on Sunday afternoon, a two-run shot in the second inning that gave Western Carolina a lead it would never relinquish as it completed the series sweep of UNC Greensboro with a 9-4 victory at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

Lyons and Stephen Notaro each belted two-run homer, while Nick Liles added a solo shot in the top of the ninth for the trio of round-trippers.

Western Carolina picked up its 30th victory of the season, moving to 30-17 overall and 16-7 in conference play with its sixth-straight victory, a season-long streak. The win also represented WCU's first-ever, three-game series sweep over UNCG since the Spartans joined the SoCon in 1997-98.

Five Catamounts, including the second-through-fifth hitters in the order posted multiple-hit games. Notaro finished 2-for-4 with four RBI, while Liles was also 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Brent Greer finished 2-for-5 with a double and a RBI, while SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate, Ross Heffley, and Matt Johns also recorded a 2-for-5 performance.

Pedro Leon grounded sharply up the middle with two on in the bottom of the first inning to drive in Drew Gehringer as UNCG (16-26, 4-18 SoCon) took an early, 1-0, lead. However, half an inning later, Johns laced a two-out double to left center ahead of Lyons who crushed a two-run home run to left center to give Western the 2-1 lead through two.

Notaro lifted a sacrifice fly down the right field line to score Heffley who singled and Johns drove home Greer from second on a two-out, RBI single to left for a two-run top of the third and a 4-1 Catamount lead in the third. Two innings later, Notaro hit his fourth home run of the series with a two-run shot over the fence in left center for a commanding, 6-1, WCU in the fifth.

The Spartans added three runs with two outs in the home half of the fifth to close the deficit to two, 6-4, but a solo run on an RBI single by Greer in the seventh and two runs in the ninth, including a solo homer by Liles to provide the final tally, 9-4.

Mike Tavernier (5-4) tossed the first five innings in the start, scattering seven hits and four runs - only one of which was earned - to pick up the victory. The Clearwater, Fla., native struck out three with one walk in securing the win. Brandon Johnson fanned two in three innings of two-hit, scoreless relief while Daniel Ottone closed out the ninth with a walk and a strikeout.

UNCG's Alex Shelton (0-6) took the loss after allowing four earned runs on five hits with three walks against one strikeout. Three Spartans recorded multiple hits as Corey Overholtzer, Pedro Leon and Rob Gilliam each finished with 2-for-4 with the latter doubling twice in the loss.

Western Carolina will take the week off for final exams before returning home next Friday to host first-place Elon in the first of a three-game SoCon set. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3:00 pm, with Saturday's game scheduled for a 6:00 pm start and 2:00 pm on Sunday.