Spartanburg, S.C. – Western Carolina baseball rebounded in a big way on Saturday afternoon, scoring in each of the first six innings and rode the career-long, nine-inning complete-game effort on the mound by sophomore right-hander Gavin Mortenson as the Catamounts evened the best-of-three Southern Conference series by downing the league-leading Wofford Terriers 9-2 at Russell C. King Field.

WCU's win halted Wofford's 19-game seasonal home winning streak that extended back to early March. It also ended Wofford's 12-game home SoCon win streak that dated back to the final two regular-season games of last season against Mercer.
 
The series rubber match in game three is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available through a link on CatamountSports.com. WCU has won three-straight league series including two on the road at The Citadel and VMI before sweeping Mercer last weekend at home.
 
Mortenson (5-7) delivered just what the Catamounts needed in the starting role on Saturday, striking out four against two walks and a hit batter over his nine innings of work. The Summerfield, N.C., native limited Wofford – the SoCon's top batting team in terms of average – to just five hits and a pair of runs in securing the victory. Mortenson worked around a lead-off HBP in the first and a lead-off homer in the second to limit Wofford to just the one run over the first two frames, and after allowing a second run on three hits in the third, found six-consecutive zeroes to close the game including four, 1-2-3 innings.
 
Will Prater led off the first inning with a solo home run to right field as a part of his 2-for-4, adding a double and three RBI to help pace the Catamounts. WCU jumped out to a 2-0 lead through the top of the second inning with an infield error allowing Drew Needham to plate the second marker for the Catamounts before Brennen Dorighi homered in the home half of the second to cut the margin in half.
 
Both teams managed runs in the third inning with Immanuel Wilder doubling in Pascanel Ferreras in the top before John Dempsey scored Nolen Hester on a run-scoring single to again pull the Terriers back to within a run, 3-2, and ultimately recording the final marker for the home squad.
 
Western Carolina (25-25, 9-8 SoCon) found its big inning in the fourth, plating four runs to surge in front by five, 7-2. Will Prater doubled to left-center to score catcher Tom Brosnahan with Ferreras drawing one of his two walks, plating a run with the bases-loaded free pass. A wild pitch allowed Prater to scamper home with Zach Ketterman scoring on an infield double-play.
 
In the fifth, Prater collected his third RBI on a sacrifice fly to center to plate longtime friend Bryson Parks, with Ferreras tripling before scoring on another double-play by the Terriers to cap the scoring.
 
Prater led two Catamounts with two-hit games, joined by Ferreras (2-for-3) who tripled and drew a pair of walks. Ferreras extended his hitting streak to a team-best and season-long tying 11-straight games. WCU's five remaining hits on a nine-hit effort were scattered between five different players with Parks and Wilder both doubling to extend long reached base safely streaks of 23 and 14 games, respectively.
 
Tom Brosnahan and Seth Graves both finished 1-for-3 with singles while also putting down successful sacrifice bunts for the Catamounts in the winning effort.
 
Wofford starter Coulson Buchanan (4-1) took his first defeat of the season, surrendering six runs – five of which were earned – on eight hits with three strikeouts against a pair of walks in just three innings of work. Devon Sharts, the final of five total pitchers used by the Terriers, struck out four over three relief innings to finish the game.
 
For the Terriers offensively, Hester reached base three times with two hits including a double and a walk with the three remaining base hits spread between a trio of batters with Brennen Dorighi homering and John Dempsey driving in one on a 1-for-4 effort.
 
The series concludes on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch in Spartanburg, S.C.