Mason, Ohio – Western Carolina homered twice in the first inning to grab an early lead and powered its way to victory in Friday evening's series-opener over the Xavier Musketeers, 7-5, in a nonconference, neutral field match-up at beautiful Prasco Park. Seven of WCU's 11 hits went for extra bases in Friday's victory.
 
Sophomore Zach Ketterman finished a double shy of the cycle, leading off the game with a solo homer and tripling for the second time in as many games in a 3-for-5, three-run effort. Senior Will Prater tallied three extra-base hits with a two-run homer – the second of his career – and a pair of doubles in his 3-for-4 performance. Immanuel Wilder also homered in the top of the first for a 1-for-3 outing, adding a second RBI on a sacrifice fly.
 
Ketterman belted the fourth pitch of the game over the wall in right-center field for the early advantage with Wilder homering on his first pitch three batters later as the Catamounts grabbed a 2-0 lead after an inning. However, Xavier plated an unearned run in the second and hit a game-tying homer in the fourth to make it 2-2 through four complete.
 
In the fifth inning, Prater collected WCU's third round-tripper with a two-run shot to plate Ketterman from third after a triple down the right-field line pushed the Catamounts ahead for good, 4-2. The Musketeers pulled back to within one, 4-3, with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. WCU tacked on insurance markers in the sixth as Bryson Parks doubled before being plated on a single by Seth Graves for a 5-3 edge. Then in the seventh, Pascanel Ferreras singled home Ketterman with Wilder's sacrifice fly RBI allowing Prater to scamper home for a four-run, 7-3 lead.
 
Xavier answered after the stretch with a two-run double by Schultz to cut the deficit back to two, 7-5, before closer Zach Franklin was able to work around a walk with consecutive strikeouts to preserve the lead, stranding the bases loaded. Xavier only managed one additional base runner over the final two frames as the Catamounts held on for the win.
 
Catamount starter Zebby Matthews (1-5) scored his first victory of the season, scattering six hits over his six-inning outing with three runs allowed, only two of which were earned. The Cullowhee native countered a season-high four walks with four strikeouts. Franklin struck out five over 2.2 scoreless relief innings to pick up his third save of the season.
 
The nonconference series now shifts back to Cincinnati and Hayden Field on the Xavier campus for the remaining two games beginning on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FloSports (paid subscription required) with live stats available through a link online at CatamountSports.com.