Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Western Carolina baseball team exploded for eight runs off of six hits and a pair of errors to take a commanding 10-4 lead over The Citadel on Saturday afternoon. WCU would go one to win 12-5 and clinch a series win over the Bulldogs after Friday night's 7-2 victory. The series victory is the eighth-straight for the Catamounts over the Bulldogs. WCU will go for the sweep on Sunday starting at 1 pm.

Redshirt junior Austin Atwell came into the game batting just .153 at the plate but turned in a 3-for-4 performance including a homerun and four RBI. Junior Danny Bermudez also picked up three hits as he went 3-for-5 at the dish with a double and an RBI.

Senior Bradley Strong joined Atwell as the only Catamounts with multiple RBIs as he drove in a pair while going 1-for-4 on the day including a sacrifice fly. Juniors Reece Strong and Kramer Ferrell, sophomore Matt Smith and freshman Brett Pope all added one RBI a piece to the effort. Pope also extended his hit streak to seven games as he went 1-for-4 at the plate.

Sophomore Bryan Sammons got the start on the mound for the Catamounts and pitched 6.0 solid innings with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. He allowed four runs to cross the plate while giving up eight hits.

The Catamounts would go through four pitchers in the seventh as they tried to hold The Citadel to a one-run lead. Sammons, junior Jonathan Waszak, freshman Corey Sikes and junior Colton Davis all saw action during the inning. Sammons gave up a leadoff infield hit and was pulled for Waszak. Waszak lasted just one pitch as he plunked the next batter and was relieved by Sikes. Sikes induced a fly out to right field which advanced the runner on second to third base. He struck out the next batter swinging and was pulled for Davis. Davis had a pitch get away from him which scored the runner on third but he was able to strikeout the batter later in the at bat to end the inning and keep the Bulldogs within reach.

The bottom half of the inning would be WCU's coming out party as they took advantage of two WCU errors and strung together a number of key hits. The Catamounts sent 13 batters to the plate including senior All-American Jacob Hoyle who saw his first action since March 13. Hoyle pinch hit for Matthew Koehler and laced the first pitch he saw to left centerfield for a base hit. Hoyle was immediately pulled for speedster Garrett Brown who later scored in the inning. Atwell (2), Pope, Ferrell, B. Strong, Bermudez, M. Smith and R. Strong all picked up RBIs in the inning.

With the turnaround Davis was credited with the win. He ended up pitching the entire eighth inning as well to finish with 1.1 innings of work including three strikeouts and no hits given up. Freshman Brendan Nail pitched the ninth inning while walking one and striking out a pair. He did not allow a hit as well.

The win was the first for Davis as he improved to 1-2 on the season. The Citadel's Zach Sherrill took the loss despite giving up just one run. He did not record an out and allowed just one hit. Freshman JP Sears started the game for The Citadel and pitched 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts. He scattered six hits and allowed five runs including four earned.

The Catamounts and Bulldogs will return to the diamond tomorrow as WCU looks for the first three-game sweep of The Citadel since 2011.