Box Score

Greensboro, N.C. - Western Carolina rode a five-run, two-out rally in the fourth inning to build a lead it would never relinquish on Saturday afternoon, downing the UNCG Spartans, 9-5, at the UNCG Baseball Stadium to even its best-of-three Southern Conference series.

The series rubber match is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 pm first pitch. Fans can follow the game with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network online at CatamountSports.com. UNCG's online video stream is also available through YouTube.

Redshirt senior Bryson Bowman keyed a two-run first inning for the Catamounts with a run-scoring triple as a part of a team-best, 3-for-4, three RBI outing in the winning effort. But back-to-back, one-run frames by the Spartans tied the game at two through three complete.

In what proved to be the decisive fourth, redshirt sophomore Matthew Koehler delivered a two-out single in to center field to spark the rally. With two aboard, senior Nobu Suzuki singled to right field to plate Koehler to break the tie. With two aboard in Cameron Blaquiere at third and Brett Pope at first after being plunked, Bowman plated two with sharp single to center to make it a three-run game. Bowman's classmate Matt Smith then matched him with a two RBI single to right to hand the Catamounts a five-run, 7-2, lead headed to the home half of the fourth.

Junior Spencer Holcomb's team-leading fifth home run in the top of the fifth -- one of his two hits on the day -- and sophomore Andrew Bullock's RBI double inside the bag at first in the top of the ninth added just enough insurance as the Catamounts claimed the four-run victory.

Bowman paced the Catamounts with a 3-for-4, three RBI outing, adding a walk to reach four times while extending both his reached base safely streak to 22 games -- each game this year -- and active game hitting streak to seven-straight. Joining Bowman with multi-hit games were Suzuki and junior Caleb Robinson, both with 2-for-5, two single showings while Holcomb was 2-for-4. Smith, who started in left field for the first time this season, reached twice with his two-run single in the fourth and a seventh-inning walk.

Behind WCU's strong offensive start, the pitching followed suit as sophomore Tristan Baker (2-2) bounced back to score the victory for the Catamounts. The Charlotte, N.C., scattered 10 hits and allowed five runs, striking out five against just one walk in the win. Senior B.J. Nobles tossed 2.1 innings of two-hit, scoreless relief out of the bullpen to secure his second save of the season, and the seventh of his WCU career.

Following UNCG's two-run fifth which was cut short by Holcomb throwing a runner out at second base, Baker and the Catamounts worked a 1-2-3 sixth before a two-out single in the seventh halted the streak at five-consecutive retired. Nobles worked around a one-out single in the eighth before pitching around a single and a HBP in the final frame to seal the victory.

UNCG (14-9, 1-1 SoCon) was paced by Tripp Shelton who reached base four times with a perfect 3-for-3 showing at the plate and adding a walk, scoring once. Centerfielder Andrew Moritz also tallied three hits in a 3-for-5 showing, finishing a home run shy of the cycle.

Spartan starter Bryce Hensley (3-3) was chased in the fourth inning, allowing seven runs -- six earned -- on eight hits with a pair of strikeouts against two walks. Hensley was the first of our UNCG pitchers to see action with Jake Lewis allowing one run in 2.1 innings of hitless relief, striking out four. Lewis retired six-in-a-row through the seventh and eighth innings.

The final game of the three-game series is set for Sunday afternoon in Greensboro.