Greenville, S.C. – Zach Ketterman and Seth Graves both doubled in collecting three hits apiece and Pascanel Ferreras drove in three runs as Western Carolina downed Cincinnati 8-6 on Sunday evening to win its final game of the 2022 First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field.
 
WCU scored runs in six of the eight innings in which it took swings, rallying from a 1-0 deficit after the top of the first inning and breaking open a 3-3 tie with a two-run fourth inning to lead the remainder of the game. Ketterman scored three of the squad's eight runs with Ferreras finishing 2-for-5 with a pair of run-scoring singles. Graves posted a 3-for-4 outing with a seventh-inning RBI single.
 
James Hinson belted his third home run of the season with Bryson Parks delivering the go-ahead RBI for the Catamounts in the fourth inning.
 
After falling behind in the top of the first inning on a lead-off home run to open the game, WCU – the designated home game in the neutral-field contest – responded with a two-spot in the bottom of the frame as Ferreras plated Ketterman and Parks reaching on an HBP and scoring on an infield fielder's choice. Ketterman later drove in Nate Stocum on a sacrifice fly in the second inning as WCU pulled ahead, 3-1, through two innings.
 
The Bearcats tied the game in the third with a two-run home run. Then in the fourth, Parks plated Cameron Murray to break the tie and put WCU ahead for good with a Ferreras groundout stretching the lead to two, 5-3, through four complete.
 
Cincinnati twice pulled to within a run at 5-4 in the fifth and 6-5 with a run in the seventh inning. But each time, the Catamounts answered in the home half to reclaim the two-run advantage. Graves singled home pinch-runner Jordan Starkes in the seventh with Ferreras providing an insurance marker on an RBI single in the eighth to make it 8-5.
 
In the ninth, Cincinnati put its first two runners aboard with a one-out wild pitch and an infield groundout pulling the Bearcats back to two. With a runner at third and the tying run at the plate, WCU reliever Nick Hyde got a groundout to third base to end the game and score the save.
 
Tristen Campbell (3-0) earned his third victory of the season out of the bullpen, limiting the Bearcats to two runs on just two hits while working around three walks with a couple of strikeouts. WCU starter Gavin Mortenson struck out six over four innings with Hyde tossing two innings, allowing a run on just two hits. Mortenson struck out the side in the first inning after surrendering the lead-off home run.
 
Cincinnati starter Zach Segal (0-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits with four strikeouts against three hit batters and a pair of walks. Max Bergmann struck out three over three innings of two-run, four-hit relief.
 
WCU's win over Cincinnati halted a two-game series slide against the Bearcats, evening the all-time series between the two at 2-2. The Catamounts finished the First Pitch Invitational at 2-1, matching its record at the same event in the 2020 season.
 
Western Carolina (7-7) plays its fifth-consecutive game away from home on Tuesday evening, traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face Wake Forest (13-3) at David F. Couch Ballpark. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra and through the WatchESPN app.