Spartanburg, S.C. – Western Carolina rallied from a two-run deficit in the top of the eighth inning in Friday's Southern Conference series opener at Russell C. King Field only to see Wofford walk-off with a game one victory in the home half of the ninth inning, scoring the game-winning run from third base on a wild pitch.
Down 5-3 in the top of the eighth inning, WCU's
Justice Bigbie delivered a run-scoring double off the wall in left-center field, and
Daylan Nanny lifted a game-tying single into to center pull the Catamounts back even at five apiece. However, a lead-off HBP to Zeb Roos followed by a stolen base put the eventual game-winning run at second. Poised to get out of the frame following back-to-back strikeouts, a second of two wild-pitches allowed Roos to race home with the game-winner for Wofford.
Despite out-hitting the Terriers, 12-to-8, the Catamounts stranded 13 runners on base in suffering its second-straight defeat since winning eight-straight. WCU lost its fourth-straight game in Spartanburg and fell for the sixth time in the last seven meetings against Wofford.
Junior
Will Prater led the three Catamounts with multiple hits on Friday, finishing 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI on a first-inning single that gave WCU its first lead of the day. Junior
Daylan Nanny, who along with freshman
Pascanel Ferreras extended their reached base safely streaks to 19-consecutive games, finished 2-for-5 with an RBI while
Immanuel Wilder singled twice in a 2-for-5 performance. Bigbie drove in two in a 1-for-2 outing that included WCU's only extra-base hit while also walking three times, including an RBI free pass in the sixth inning that handed the Catamounts a 3-2 advantage.
Reliever
Zach Franklin (2-2) was saddled with the loss without surrendering a single base hit. Two walks, a hit batter, and a pair of wild pitches led to one run while he struck out three.
Zebby Matthews tossed 6.1 innings in the start, scattering seven hits and four runs while striking out four.
Davis Tyndall struck out two for his two outs recorded to get WCU out of the seventh inning.
Wofford reliever Dalton Rhadans (3-0) scored the victory out of the bullpen, limiting WCU to two runs on six hits over 3.2 innings in relief of starter Hayes Heinecke who tossed 5.1 innings. Rhadans struck out three while Heinecke struck out four.
Lead-off man Nolen Hester collected three of Wofford's eight hits in a 3-for-4 performance with a run and an RBI, while Colin Davis drove in two in the win for the Terriers on a third-inning home run.
Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m.
