Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina erupted for eight runs in the home half of the sixth inning to erase all but two of a 10-run deficit in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale. However, UNC Greensboro held the Catamounts at bay, stranding the would-be game-tying and go-ahead markers on base over the final three innings to stem the rally and outlast WCU 16-13 at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
With the Catamounts pulled back within a run, 13-12, UNCG lit the scoreboard three times in the final frame for insurance markers that provided the final tally as the Spartans completed the three-game series sweep with its fourth victory over WCU over the past five meetings. WCU scored one in the home half of the ninth and had the tying run at the plate but were unable to find the same magic of the eight-run sixth in suffering the loss.
 
Saturday's game saw a combined 29 runs scored on 33 base hits as the teams used 15 combined pitchers. Delayed two hours from its advertised start time due to the threat of impending weather, the contest endured over a 90-minute pause just two pitches into the game when lightning skirted the stadium, chasing the teams from the field, and did not end until nearly 10:30 p.m.
 
Senior Bryson Parks (3-for-5) led five Catamounts with multi-hit games, legging out his team-high tying 21st double in a three-hit effort, reaching base a fourth time on a walk. Classmate Daniel Walsh (2-for-4) doubled twice after entering mid-game as a pinch hitter. Senior Seth Graves and freshman Brandon Butterworth both reached four times finishing 2-for-3 with a single, double, and a pair of walks.
 
Senior Immanuel Wilder (1-for-5) reached base twice with a double and an HBP,  driving home a team-best three coming on a fielder's choice and two on his double.
 
Western Carolina (25-29-1, 9-11-1 SoCon) had to fight uphill in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale as UNCG pushed across seven runs in the first two frames to take a lead it would never relinquish. Sophomore Zach Ketterman blasted a two-run home run in a three-run second inning to pull the home squad back to within four, 7-3, through two complete.
 
The Spartans added a two-run fourth, three runs in the fifth, and a solo marker in the top of the sixth inning to pull out to the 10-run, 13-3 lead heading to the bottom of the frame.
 
In the sixth, though, WCU rallied as pinch-hitter James Hinson drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Ketterman to start the scoring barrage. Wilder then doubled down the left-field line to plate two, with a pair of runs scoring on an infield Spartan error that allowed Will Prater to reach. Walsh then belted a pinch-hit, run-scoring double to centerfield ahead of Jordan Starkes who laced a two-run single to right-center to cap the scoring and pull the Catamounts back to within a pair at 13-11.
 
Still down by just two in the seventh inning, Parks beat out a two-out infield single with a throwing error allowing him to get to second base where he was stranded. In the eighth, Walsh led off with his second double of the game before moving to third on a one-out infield groundout. Butterworth then drove a full-count pitch down the right-field line for an RBI double to make it a one-run game. Graves put runners at the corners with a chopping infield single, but a strikeout ended the threat and kept WCU behind a run.
 
The Spartans put their first two runners aboard in the top of the ninth inning before an infield single and subsequent throwing error allowed the first of three insurance runs to score to stretch the advantage. Dallas Callahan and GC Jarman delivered run-scoring singles and despite standing the bases loaded, UNCG carried the four-run cushion to the bottom of the ninth.
 
WCU used a pair of walks and the Wilder HBP to load the bases, again bringing the tying run to the plate in the home half of the ninth. After a strikeout, an infield fielder's choice pushed Wilder across the plate with the game ending on an infield groundout, stranding two runners.
 
All told, the Catamounts left 11 runners on base in the loss including five over the final third of the game.
 
WCU starter Nick Hyde (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on three hits with a pair of walks, exiting in the second inning after recording just three outs. Seven relievers completed the final eight innings with catcher-turned-pitcher Tom Brosnahan making his debut on the mound, striking out a team-best two over two official innings as he worked into a third. Matt Schepel and Dawson Elder also posted punchouts in the loss.
 
UNCG reliever Austin Koehn (2-2) scored the victory after starter Sam Murchison was chased in the second inning, allowing three runs on three hits with a pair of walks in one official inning. Koehn struck out four in four scoreless, two-hit innings of work. Hunter Shuey also struck out four batters as the Spartan bullpen combined for nine Ks' in the winning effort.
 
UNCG had four batters post three-hit games as seven Spartans posted multiple hits. Pres Cavenaugh (3-for-5) tripled in a three-hit outing, driving in two runs, while GC Jarman (3-for-6) doubled as a part of his three hits. Kennedy Jones (3-for-4) and Bradley Bott (3-for-5) also finished with three hits, while Hogan Windish (2-for-3) doubled and homered in a two-hit, three-RBI effort adding a walk and four runs scored.
 
Western Carolina now turns its attention to the 2022 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases to be played Wednesday through Sunday at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. Seeded sixth, the Catamounts will be the designated home team against the seventh-seeded VMI Keydets (16-39, 6-16 SoCon), which will officially be confirmed by the SoCon office later this weekend. WCU took 2-of-3 from VMI in Lexington, Va., in the regular season.
 
POSTGAME NOTES:

• Western Carolina turned two double-plays defensively on Saturday afternoon, finishing the regular season with a Southern Conference-leading 46 double plays, three more than second-place VMI (43) and four more than third-place The Citadel (42);
• Immanuel Wilder collected his 59th career HBP late in Saturday's game, already the WCU career record holder … He is just THREE HBPs shy of the Southern Conference record of 62, held by J.R. Revere (1999-02) of former league-member Georgia Southern;
• WCU honored nine seniors including eight players making their final appearance at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium before Saturday's regular-season finale: right-handed pitcher Tristen Campbell, right-handed pitcher Jacob Corn, right-handed pitcher Zach Franklin, outfielder Seth Graves, outfielder Bryson Parks, infielder Will Prater, infielder Daniel Walsh, outfielder Immanuel Wilder, and student manager Jessica McGee;
• Western Carolina Athletics will host a special pre-tournament Facebook LIVE event on Monday, May 23 at approximately 11 a.m. with head coach Bobby Moranda to talk about the 2022 regular season and look ahead to the 2022 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases that opens on Wednesday at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.