Cullowhee, N.C. – Daniel Walsh raced home with the eventual game-winning run on a double-steal after an eighth-inning strikeout as Western Carolina outlasted Kennesaw State, 12-11, on Wednesday evening in nonconference baseball action at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
WCU (8-4) claimed its third-straight seasonal win while halting a four-game series slide against the Owls with Wednesday's home victory. The two teams play the return meeting of the home-and-home next Wednesday (March 17) at Stillwell Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga.
 
After Kennesaw State (7-5) tied the game with a four-run top of the eighth inning, Walsh led-off the home half of the frame with a sharp single up the middle. He was sacrificed into scoring position by Daylan Nanny on a bunt with Will Prater delivering a pinch-hit single to put runners at the corners with one out. With freshman Drew Needham swinging at an 0-2 pitch, Prater took off from first on the front-end of a double-steal as the Owls took a chance on turning an inning-ending double-play. However, Prater slid around the tag at second base as the throw was gunned to the bag which allowed Walsh to scamper home, scoring what proved to be the game-winner.
 
Reliever Zach Franklin (2-1), who stranded a pair of runners including the go-ahead marker in the top of the frame after being summoned from the bullpen, turned in a 1-2-3 ninth with a pair of strikeouts to lock down the victory. Franklin, the 10th different pitcher used by the Catamounts in the win, struck out two over 1.1 innings of work with one hit allowed. Jacob Corn struck out two in an inning of work while Davis Tyndall settled things with a pair of strikeouts in two innings of middle-inning relief.
 
Walsh led three Catamounts with two-hit games, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, stretching his reached base safely streak to 13-straight games. Freshman Pascanel Ferreras doubled in a 2-for-4 showing, likewise scoring twice with an RBI, while Luke Robinson singled twice and plated a run on a seventh-inning sacrifice fly. Junior Justice Bigbie drew three walks to stretch his reached-base safely streak to 21-straight games.
 
Kennesaw State reliever Brayden Eidson (0-1), who started the game at first base, was saddled with the loss, allowing three runs on four hits over 1.2 innings. Owls pitching issued 12 walks and a pair of hit batters on the day. Jesse Sherrill finished 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and Gavin Patel drove home three in a 2-for-5 performance offensively for the Owls. Terence Norman also plated a pair of runners in a 1-for-4 finish with an eighth-inning double.
 
WCU took advantage of five walks, a hit batter, and an error with two base hits in an elongated first inning to grab a 6-0 lead after one inning. The Owls rallied back with a two-spot in the top of the second and four runs in the top of the third to tie the game a third of the way through.
 
Bigbie drew a lead-off walk to start a fourth-inning rally, scoring on a passed ball to take a 7-6 advantage midway through the game.
 
Kennesaw State pulled even in the top of the sixth inning, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batter. A double-play turned in the middle infield allowed the game-tying marker to score making it 7 -7 through five and a half innings. However, the Catamounts reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the frame as Ferreras doubled and later scored on a wild pitch with Bigbie walking for the third time and eventually scoring on a passed ball.
 
WCU stretched its lead to four with two runs in the home half of the seventh before the Owls tied the game with four runs in the eighth, setting-up the Catamounts' heroics in the home half of the inning.
 
Western Carolina continues its four-game homestand this weekend, hosting St. John's (7-0) for a three-game set in Cullowhee. The first pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m., in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+.