Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball split its Saturday doubleheader with UT Martin in the first-ever meetings between the two programs on the diamond. The Skyhawks used a pair of home runs to grab the early lead in claiming the series-opener 6-2 before the Catamounts homered four times in the nightcap to even the best-of-three series with an 11-7 victory in game two at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
The series rubber match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
Senior infielder
Will Prater paced the Catamounts in the two-game set on Saturday, finishing 5-for-9 with a double and two RBI. Sophomore
Zach Ketterman collected four hits in the doubleheader, finishing 4-for-9 also with a two-base hit.
The Catamounts (9-10) homered five times in Saturday's twin bill with
Immanuel Wilder belting two in the second game.
Pascanel Ferreras and
Daniel Walsh also homered in the second game with
Nate Stocum closing the game one loss with a round-tripper.
Game One – UT Martin 6, Western Carolina 2
Junior RHP
Zebby Matthews matched a career-high with 12 strikeouts, but UT Martin scored on a pair of early home runs to grab a lead it would never relinquish, tacking on insurance markers late to claim the opener, 6-2.
Wil LaFollette hit a two-run homer to right-center field in the first inning to give the Skyhawks the early lead with the Catamounts cutting the lead in half by manufacturing a run in the home half on a
Will Prater infield groundout to score
Zach Ketterman that made it 2-1 after one. Down in the count 1-2, Houston Wright lifted a solo homer down the right-field line to make it 3-1 where it would ultimately remain until the seventh inning.
The Skyhawks added to their lead with a two-out double by Chance Merithew to pull ahead by four, 5-1, with a run-scoring double just inside the third-base line by Alec Beaman in the ninth giving UTM a game-high five-run, 6-1 lead.
Nate Stocum belted a solo home run to right in the ninth, but the Catamounts could get no closer.
The Catamounts stranded eight runners on base in the series opener including leaving the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
Matthews (0-3) posted a dozen strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work in the start and gave the Catamounts a chance by keeping the Skyhawks in check. He was tagged for five runs on just five hits allowed. After surrendering the solo lead-off homer to Wright in the second inning, the Cullowhee native retired 15-consecutive hitters including 10 on strikeouts. Reliever
Tristen Campbell fanned three in 2.1 relief innings, surrendering a run on four hits.
Rhett Fetner (4-1) earned the victory for UT Martin, striking out five while walking four over 5.2 innings. He only allowed the first-inning run coming on just two base hits. Three Skyhawks tallied two-hit games with Wright and LaFollette homering while Harford doubled in a 2-for-4 effort.
Game Two – Western Carolina 11, UT Martin 7
Immanuel Wilder homered twice as the Catamounts belted four round-trippers, rallying from a four-run deficit to even the series with an 11-7 victory in Saturday's game two. WCU scored in five of the eight innings in which it took swings, plating runs in five-consecutive innings after the third.
Trailing 4-0 after UT Martin lit the scoreboard with four runs without a base hit in the second inning, the Catamounts finally got going in the home half of the fourth.
Pascanel Ferreras opened the rally with a sharp single into left-center with
Will Prater singling to right as the first two reached. Senior
Daniel Walsh, who missed the first 17 games of the year after suffering a broken hand in preseason, ignited the Catamounts with a three-run home run to left-center field to cut the deficit to one, 4-3.
WCU's fourth-inning rally continued with
Nate Stocum walking and two batters later, Wilder belting a towering two-run homer to left that handed the Catamounts their first lead of the series, 5-4.
The one-run advantage was short-lived as UTM capitalized on a lead-off HBP by Casey Harford, scoring on an infield groundout to tie the game at five. Ferreras then pushed WCU ahead for what proved to be for good with a leadoff solo home run to left-center as the Catamounts pulled out to the 6-5 lead.
Wilder hit his second homer of the game with a solo shot to left in the sixth inning to stretch the lead to two, 7-5, with the Catamounts recording two runs in both seventh and eighth to carry an 11-5 edge into the ninth. Stocum, Ketterman, and Prater each delivered run-scoring singles in the pair of two-run frames.
UT Martin provided the final tally with a pair of runs in the ninth inning – one earned and one unearned – as the Catamounts scored the 11-7 victory.
The second pitcher used by the Catamounts in game two,
Jacob Corn (2-1) scored the victory in relief, striking out four in 3.1 innings of work.
Nick Hyde struck out one in an inning out of the bullpen with
Zach Franklin collecting the three-inning save – his first of the year – striking out four against a walk.
UTM reliever Seth Petry (0-4) was saddled with the loss, matching starter Matt Dickey with three strikeouts in an inning of relief work.
