May 15, 2010

Box Score

Birmingham, Ala. - Western Carolina scored seven unanswered runs over the final six innings while Matt Benedict limited Samford to a single run over seven innings of work as the Catamounts upended the Bulldogs, 8-1, Saturday afternoon at J.L. Griffin Field.

Matt Johns and Trevor Collias both homered as the Catamounts out-hit the Bulldogs, 12-to-8, and evened the three-game series at one game apiece entering Sunday's rubber match. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm CT / 2:00 pm ET.

Benedict (8-1) picked up his team-leading eighth victory of the season, striking out six against three walks over seven innings on the afternoon. With WCU up 4-1, Benedict worked out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the fourth which represented Samford's biggest threat in the contest.

Jeremy Sluder tossed an inning of hitless, scoreless relief, striking out two with Adam Curtis and Andrew Chilcoat combining to record the final inning. Chilcoat struck out one and induced a game-ending double-play ground ball to end the game in the home half of the ninth.

Western Carolina (31-17-1, 13-12-1 SoCon) broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth inning with three-consecutive base hits as Tyler Kirkpatrick doubled to right center ahead of Collias who's single through the left side put runners at the corners. Ollie Goulder then drove in the go-ahead run on a double to right centerfield to put the Catamounts ahead, 2-1. Collias was driven home on a successful RBI sacrifice bunt by Cameron Dullnig with the third run plated on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Tyler White.

Collias expanded the WCU lead with a lead-off home run to left field in the sixth giving the senior his team-leading 13th round-tripper of the season and the squad a 5-1 advantage. Johns' two-run homer in the seventh stretched the Catamount advantage to six, 7-1, with Ross Heffley doubling home Johns in the top of the ninth to provide the final tally, 8-1.

Johns finished with a team-high three hits on a 3-for-5 showing including his ninth homer of the season while Collias scored three runs on a 2-for-4 outing with the home run, adding a walk to pace the Catamounts. White additionally finished 2-for-3 with two RBI in the win.

Eight different Bulldogs combined for the eight Samford (28-21, 15-10 SoCon) hits with Michael Johnson legging out a double and catcher Brad Moss tallying the lone run on a solo home run to left field in the third inning which knotted the game at one at the time.

Kyle Putkonen (3-6) suffered his fifth-straight defeat on the mound for the Bulldogs after surrendering seven of the eight Catamount runs in seven innings, working around a walk with five strikeouts.

Sunday's game will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard online through Stretch Internet at CatamountSports.com.