Box Score

The Basics
Score: ETSU 8, Western Carolina 7 (nine innings)
Records: Western Carolina 21-11, 2-1 SoCon, ETSU 9-11, 1-2 SoCon
Location: Betty Basler Field -- Johnson City, Tenn.

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Western Carolina dropped the Southern Conference series finale at ETSU 8-7 on a walk-off homerun by the Buccaneers in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday at Betty Basler Field. WCU did take the conference series after sweeping the Buccaneers on Friday.

Western Carolina overcame a five run deficit to take a 7-5 lead heading to bottom of the seventh inning scoring seven unanswered. WCU gave up the game-tying runs in the seventh and the game winner in the ninth.

Turning Point
ETSU's Madison Boyd hit a lead-off walk-off homerun to give the Buccaneers an 8-7 win to close out the SoCon series in the bottom of the ninth.

How it Happened
- With two outs, ETSU got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second on a solo homerun by Tiffany Lauhren. - ETSU hit two homeruns in the bottom of the third to sport a 5-0 lead after three. - Western Carolina cut the ETSU lead to one, 5-4, in the top of the fifth. It all started with a lead-off double by Taylor Sigmon. Freshman Madison Armstrong followed with a single. With one out, Kara Salvo hit an RBI single through the left side. With two outs, Crystal Cyr hit a huge homerun over the centerfield wall for three RBI.
- Armstrong tied the game on a solo homerun in the top of the sixth.
- Cyr hit her second homerun of the game in the top of the seventh inning to give WCU the first lead of the game, 7-5. Salvo led off with a single and moved to second on an ETSU error. Courtney Price put down a perfectly placed ground out to the right side to move Salvo to third. Cyr launched a moon shot to centerfield for the two-run homerun and the lead.
- ETSU tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, 7-7, on a two RBI single with two outs.
- Boyd hit the walk-off game winning homerun in the bottom of the ninth.

Inside the Box Score
- Junior pitcher Courtney Buchanan got the start but was lifted in the game after two and two thirds innings. She gave up five runs on five hits and struck out three.
- ETSU had four homeruns in the game and Western Carolina had three for combined seven in the contest. - Cyr hit two homeruns in the game.
- Sigmon entered the game to pitch in the third with two outs and pitched the remainder of the game going 5.1 innings. She allowed three runs on six hits and struck out three. Sigmon falls to 6-7 on the season.
- Western Carolina and ETSU each had 11 hits in the game.
- Cyr was 3-for-5 in the game with two runs scored and five RBI.
- Armstrong and Salvo each had two hits in the game.

News & Notes
- Western Carolina had its four-game winning streak snapped with the 8-7 loss Saturday.
- With the three homeruns against ETSU Saturday, WCU has hit at least one homerun in the last nine games.
- The Catamounts 34 homeruns in the season ranks fourth in the WCU record books. WCU had a total of 37 in the 2015 season. The record is 81 set by the 2006 club.
- Harkey extended her hitting streak to 10 straight games with a single in the top of the seventh against ETSU. - With two homeruns in the game, Cyr now has nine in her career. The two homeruns ties her career-high for homeruns in a game.
- Sigmon ends the weekend series with 95 career RBI. She needs three to move into second place in the WCU record books and five to take over first place set by former Catamount Lauren Ross who had 99 in her storied career.
- In the opening conference weekend, Western Carolina hit .333 as a team and belted seven homeruns.
- Armstrong made a strong push for freshman of the year in her first conference series with a .600 batting average, six hits, four runs, a double, three homeruns and six RBI.

Up Next
Western Carolina returns home Tuesday to host Presbyterian in non-conference action. First pitch of the doubleheader is set to begin at 3 p.m. Fans can watch the games on the Southern Conference Digital Network.

For the latest information on Catamount softball, follow @catamounts on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com.