Cullowhee, N.C. – Stony Brook used a four-run top of the seventh inning to turn a two-run deficit into a two-run lead and then held off Western Carolina's rally attempt to claim Friday's series-opener 5-4 on Friday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
WCU was out-hit 10-to-7 – all singles for the home squad – in the first-ever meeting between the Catamounts and Seawolves. Game two is scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday afternoon with coverage available through live stats online at CatamountSports.com.
Senior
Bryson Parks led the Catamounts with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate with two runs scored and one driven in, while sophomore
Pascanel Ferreras tallied a pair of singles in a 2-for-4 outing. Ferreras lengthened his 10-game hitting streak with Parks extending his 10-game reached base safely streak.
Drew Needham drove in two runs in the loss.
Western Carolina (4-6) jumped in front on Friday with two runs in the home half of the second inning as Parks plated a run on an infield single to score
Zach Ketterman before eventually scoring on a Needham sacrifice fly. The Catamounts stretched the lead to three in the fifth inning as Parks led off with a walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
The Seawolves got on the board in the top of the sixth as Derek Yalon scored on an RBI single to right field by Shane Paradine to make it 3-1. Then in what proved to be the decisive seventh, Stony Brook pushed across four runs including one on a bases-loaded ground-out, two on a double to right field by Stanton Leuthner, and the final on an RBI single by Paradine for his second RBI of the game to go along with his team-best three hits.
WCU got back to within a run in the home half of the seventh as Ketterman scored after leading off with a walk. The Catamounts had a two-out opportunity in the ninth as
Seth Graves delivered an infield single ahead of Ferreras who singled down the third-base line. However, with both runners in scoring position, a flyout to left ended the game.
Zebby Matthews (0-2) was saddled with the loss despite striking out a season-high 10 batters over 6.2 innings, surrendering all five runs on seven hits.
Zach Franklin tossed the final 2.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts in scoreless, three-hit relief.
Reliever Brendan Pattermann (1-0) earned the victory out of the bullpen, allowing a run on two hits in two innings of work, while Jack Carr collected the save in two innings of three-hit, scoreless work. Starter Ben Fero struck out three over five innings for Stony Brook.
