May 15, 2011

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. - Ross Heffley drove in four runs on a third inning grand slam home run that tied the game at five apiece early on Sunday afternoon. However, Furman pushed across runs in all but two of the eight innings it took swings in handing Western Carolina a 14-7 loss in the Southern Conference series finale at Latham Stadium.

WCU (19-29-1, 9-18 SoCon) remains in a tie for eighth-place in the SoCon standings, deadlocked with Wofford (9-18) which dropped 2-of-3 at Samford over the weekend. The Catamounts currently hold the tie-breaker over Wofford by virtue of winning the head-to-head series in Cullowhee. Wofford wraps up the regular season by hosting second-place UNC Greensboro, which swept WCU's next opponent, 10th-place The Citadel.

After the Catamounts had spotted Furman five runs over the opening two frames, Stephen Notaro led off the third inning with a solo homer over the fence in left center to close the gap to four, 5-1. Consecutive one-out singles by Aaron Attaway and Austin Schultz put two aboard with Luke Gragg drawing a four-pitch walk to load the bases ahead of Heffley. The Snellville, Ga., native then drove a 0-1 fastball over the fence in left for the grand slam homer, tying the game at five.

The tie was broken, though, in the bottom of the frame as Furman's Will Muzika - the hero of Saturday night with a walk-off RBI single - homered down the left field line to give the Paladins a lead they would never relinquish, 6-5.

Furman added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning before the Catamounts answered in the top of the fifth to again close back within a run. With Heffley aboard with a bunt single, Matt Johns doubled to right center field with the ball one-hopping the fence for a ground-rule double. Tyler White sharply grounded out along the infield to plate one run, with Johns swiping third for his 20th stolen base of the season before touching home on the RBI single up the middle by Macon Smith.

Unfortunately, the Paladins matched the two-run top of the fifth with two in the bottom of the frame and added distance with four in the home half of the sixth to cruise to the series victory.

In addition to Heffley's 3-for-4, four RBI outing on Sunday, Schultz tallied three base hits by finishing 3-for-5 with a run scored

WCU reliever Preston Hatcher (2-2) suffered the loss after relieving starter Taylor Sandefur after just an inning and two thirds. Sandefur struck out two but a trio of walks proved to be his undoing, allowing five runs on four hits. Hatcher tossed an inning and a third out of the bullpen, allowing two runs on four hits.

Vance Chavis struck out four in two innings of work, allowing five runs - only four of which were earned - on five hits. Adam Curtis and Kyle Stewart combined to throw the final three innings with Stewart working two and two thirds of scoreless relief, scattering two hits, walking one and fanning a pair.

Furman starter Tyler Wood (3-3) scattered 10 WCU hits, allowing seven earned runs with a pair of strikeouts and a walk to earn the victory. Paladin relievers Drake Browne and Dylan Cole tossed the final two and two thirds with just one WCU hit with Cole fanning two.

Offensively for the Paladins, three players recorded three hits in the win with both Will Owens and Reese Wade driving in four on 3-for-6 showings with Owens belting a home run. Will Miller finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored for Furman while Muzika homered twice to account for his 2-for-5 outing.

Western Carolina steps out of conference for the final time of the regular season on Tuesday afternoon as it travels to Boiling Springs, N.C., to face the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at 4 pm. The Catamounts then host The Citadel in the final home SoCon series of the year with games on Thursday (6 pm), Friday (6 pm) and Senior Day on Saturday at 2 pm.