Box Score April 1, 2017
Box Score |
Cullowhee, N.C. - Catamount pitchers Tristan Baker and Korey Anderson combined on a four-hit shutout victory on Saturday afternoon as Western Carolina blanked The Citadel, 6-0, to take game two of the three-game Southern Conference series at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
The pair of WCU hurlers combined to work around seven walks with six total strikeouts on the day, stranding nine Bulldog base runners. It was WCU's second shutout victory of the season, and the second time WCU has blanked The Citadel the past two seasons -- winning the Saturday meeting last year, 11-0, in Charleston.
Saturday's win coupled with Friday night's 4-3 walk-off victory secured the series win for the Catamounts while improving the squad to 11-15 overall and 3-2 in league play.
Baker (3-2) tossed seven and a third innings in the strong start, scattering three hits and countering four walks with four strikeouts. He gave way to Anderson in the eighth as the Grayson, Ga., product tossed the final inning and two-thirds of one-hit, scoreless relief. Anderson worked around three walks with a pair of strikeouts to help seal the win including stranding the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
WCU's pitching was matched by Bulldog freshman Will Abbott (0-3), who suffered the loss for The Citadel (9-18, 2-3 SoCon). Abbott worked around several jams early as the game remained scoreless through five and a half innings, striking out five against three walks.
The Catamounts were able to break through the stalemate in the home half of the sixth inning. Redshirt freshman Justin Sparks delivered a pinch hit, two-RBI double to the gap in left center to put WCU on the board, 2-0, after six. An inning later, redshirt senior Bryson Bowman blasted a three-run home run over the fence in left to give the Catamounts a five-run cushion before capping scoring with a run-scoring ground out in the eighth to provide the final tally, 6-0.
Bowman reached base three times in a 1-for-3 outing, plunked twice in his first two trips to the plate. The Baton, N.C., native extended both his reached base safely streak to 26 -- each game WCU has played this season -- and his active hitting streak to a career-long 11-straight on the three-run, round-tripper.
Junior Brett Pope paced the seven Catamounts to record hits on Saturday with a 2-for-5 outing including a perfectly executed bunt. Sparks drove in two on his pinch-hit double to account for the first of two WCU extra base knocks. Senior Nobu Suzuki reached for the 11th-straight game with a single for a five-game hit streak, and senior Matt Smith reached twice on a walk and a HBP to extend his reached base streak to eight-consecutive.
Brothers Caleb Robinson and Andrew Robinson, as well as designated hitter Andrew Bullock each collected hits in Saturday's win.
Bryce Leasure paced The Citadel with a 2-for-4 performance, tallying half of the Bulldogs' hits. Two-sport athlete Shy Phillips singled and William Kinney doubled in 1-for-3 showings, both reaching twice by adding a walk. Third baseman Jonathan Sabo drew a pair of free passes in an otherwise 0-for-2 outing.
The Citadel used four different pitchers on Saturday afternoon. In addition to the four walks, the Bulldogs plunked WCU five times in game two.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. First pitch is slated for 1:00 pm. Fans can follow the game live with streaming video online through the SoCon Digital Network and with live GameTracker available through CatamountSports.com.