Box Score |   

Greenville, S.C. - Cameron Blaquiere homered twice and Spencer Holcomb hacked a three-run shot over the "Green Monster" wall in left field as the two seniors drove in three runs apiece as ninth-seeded Western Carolina edged out No. 8 seed The Citadel 6-5 in Tuesday's opening contest of the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

Western Carolina (8-45) advances to the double-elimination portion of the bracket and will face No. 1 seed UNCG on Wednesday at 12:30 pm. The Citadel sees its season end at 19-34.

In addition to his two homers, Blaquiere drove in the game-winning run in the top of the ninth on a double off the fence in left center field that just missed getting out for his third round-tripper of the day, scoring Will Prater who had singled. A costly dropped high pop-up on a would-be third out in the top of the final frame that was the game's only error allowed Prater to circle the base paths, settling at third. Blaquiere then smacked one to within two feet of the top of the fence, easily scoring Prater for the go-ahead marker.

Blaquiere finished 3-for-3, reaching base five times with the two home runs, a double, and was hit by pitch twice. Prater singled twice in a 2-for-5 showing, scoring twice with WCU's other six hits coming from six different players. Senior Caleb Robinson doubled in a 1-for-3 performance, while his younger brother Luke Robinson returned to the lineup for the first time since April 14 with a 1-for-5 with a third-inning single.

Freshman reliever Zach Franklin then secured his third save of the season, recording a pair of fly ball outs and a ground out in a perfect ninth inning, thrusting WCU into the double-elimination portion of the tournament. Catamount reliever Tristan Baker picked up the win, tossing 3.2 innings in relief of starter Chase Walter.

Blaquiere got things going in the top of the second inning, hitting a solo shot to right center field that just hit off the yellow track around the top of the fence to make the score 1-0. After giving up a single and hitting a pair of batters, Bulldog right-hander Dylan Spence got some help from his defense as Ben Peden snagged a hard-hit ball and cut down the runner at the plate before William Kinney recorded a 6-3 putout to limit the damage to just one run.

The Citadel threatened in the bottom half of the inning, working the bases loaded but WCU starter Chase Walter induced a pop up to shallow right field to get out of the jam. In the bottom of the third, Taylor Cothran lifted a ball to center, allowing Jeffrey Brown to score from third base. Brown would return the favor in the fourth, putting the Bulldogs ahead 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to center field.

In the top of fifth inning, All-SoCon second team member Spencer Holcomb launched a three-run shot that cleared the Green Monster in left to give Western Carolina a 4-2 lead. And though The Citadel rallied to tie the game twice, it would be a lead the Catamounts would never relinquish.

The Citadel recorded single runs in the bottom of the fifth and the bottom of the sixth to pull even at 4-4. In the top of the seventh, Blaquiere went yard again to give the Catamounts a 5-4 lead. After Cothran and The Citadel tied the game at 5-5 in the eighth, Blaquiere smashed a ball off the center field wall that drove in the game-winning run for Western Carolina.

Walter (2-7) battled through his start, throwing 4.1 innings while striking out six batters and limiting The Citadel to three runs, factoring in a no-decision. Baker (3-6) struck out one against a pair of walks, surrendering just two runs on five hits in the winning effort.

After Spence and Alex Bialakis combined for the first seven innings, Jordan Buster (4-4) came on in relief for the Bulldogs, picking up the loss.

The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases resumes Wednesday at 9:00 am with No. 4 seed VMI taking on No. 5 seed Mercer. WCU's game will follow at just after Noon. Each game WCU plays will be available on the Catamount Sports Network with live streaming audio online at CatamountSports.com, with a live video stream available through the SoCon Digital Network.