Cullowhee, N.C. – Sophomore infielder
Zach Ketterman hit his second home run of the season as a part of a three-hit outing, but Illinois State rode a five-run fourth inning to a 9-5 victory over Western Carolina on Sunday afternoon in nonconference baseball action at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
Ketterman belted a solo home run to tie the game at one in the bottom of the third inning and added a double in a 3-for-4 effort offensively to pace the Catamounts. Sophomore
Nate Stocum also collected a two-base hit for the Catamounts with both sophomore
Drew Needham and
Seth Graves plating runs on sacrifice flies.
Will Prater and
Bryson Parks both tallied run-scoring singles for WCU.
Illinois State first-baseman Jake McCaw finished 2-for-3 with a first-inning home run to give the Redbirds the early lead before Ketterman knotted the game at one in the third inning. The deadlock was short-lived, though, as the Redbirds lit the scoreboard for five runs in the elongated top of the fourth inning to take a 6-1 lead.
In the sixth inning, WCU managed to push across three runs to trim the margin back to two, 6-4, as Prater and Parks delivered RBI singles and Needham drove in a run on a sac fly. However, Illinois State stretched the margin back to five runs with a three-spot of its own in the seventh as Ryan Cermak lifted a solo homer over the fence in left with run-scoring hits by Nick Gile and Connor Olson.
The Catamounts managed one more run in the nine as Graves plated Parks on the sacrifice fly to left.
WCU starter
Gavin Mortenson (1-1) took the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits through 3.2 innings, striking out three. Freshman reliever
Lucas Hartman struck out two in 2.1 innings with
Zach Franklin fanning three over three innings of work to close Sunday's finale.
Derek Salata (1-1) struck out seven over 5.2 innings, limiting the Catamounts to four runs while scattering eight hits in the winning effort. The Redbird bullpen managed three strikeouts over the final 3.1 innings while holding WCU to a run on just one hit after the sixth inning.
Western Carolina (4-4) travels to AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tenn., home of the Chattanooga Lookouts – the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds – for a midweek nonconference meeting with Middle Tennessee (3-5) which hosts Lipscomb in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Tuesday.
First pitch on Wednesday is now slated for 5:00 p.m. The Catamounts then host Stony Brook for a three-game set in Cullowhee next weekend.
