Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball swept both ends of Saturday's nonconference doubleheader against the Akron Zips at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, winning by scores of 6-1 in the seven-inning affair and taking the nine-inning nightcap 11-6.
 
Saturday's win in the opener was the first collegiate coaching victory for WCU head coach Alan Beck.
 
The four-game, season-opening nonconference series concludes on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Game One – Western Carolina 6, Akron 1
Western Carolina rode a three-run second inning to earn its first victory of the season, downing Akron 6-1 in a scheduled seven innings in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
Akron opened the game with a Jack Firestone solo home run in the top of the first inning to lead by a run after one. However, the Catamounts responded with all the runs they would need in the home portion of the second, taking advantage of a single, an HBP, and a pair of walks – the latter by Drew Needham coming with the bases loaded – to even the game. Cole Jones then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Jack Spyke with Brandon Butterworth scampering home from second on the same play after a fielding miscue on the relay back to the infield.
 
WCU tacked on a single run in the fifth on an RBI single by Pascanel Ferreras with two scoring in the sixth on a double by Needham and a run-scoring single by Kyle Riesselmann to cap the scoring and provide the final tally in Beck's first collegiate victory.
 
On both sides, the six hits apiece were scattered between six players. Drew Needham legged out a double with two total RBI and Zach Ketterman added the only other extra-base hit with a two-base knock in the third inning. Nick Arrivo doubled with Firestone's third homer of the weekend accounting for Akron's two extra-base hits.
 
Starter Matt Schepel (1-0) earned the victory after striking out six over his five-inning start, scattering five hits with just the one run allowed. Paddy McGonigal and Nick Hyde combined for the final two frames, McGonigal striking out one in one-hit relief while Hyde worked a 1-2-3 seventh with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Spencer Atkins (0-1) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs – three of which were earned – on four hits over four and a third innings.
 
Game Two – Western Carolina 11, Akron 6
Western Carolina broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-spot, adding three insurance markers in the eighth to claim the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, 11-6. Zach Ketterman delivered the go-ahead base knock on a two-run double into right-center field with WCU tacking on two more runs on RBI singles by Jordan Starkes and Pascanel Ferreras to provide the final tally.
 
WCU capitalized on 11 walks and four HBPs, outslugging the Zips 10-to-7 in scoring the victory.
 
Ferreras (2-for-4) and catcher Kyle Harbison (2-for-2) led WCU with two hits apiece with Ketterman and Drew Needham both tallying two RBI.
 
Dylan Wheeler (1-0) induced a pair of pop-up outs to end the top of the seventh inning and benefited from the two-run home half to land the victory on the mound after two-thirds of an inning. Adam Quincy worked around a single with a double-play with Cole Beverlin and Carson Lowder combining for the final inning and a third of one-hit, scoreless relief in the winning effort.
 
Dante Visconti worked around four walks with four strikeouts in four innings of work in the starting role with Corey Bright striking out three in two innings of work out of the bullpen for the Catamounts.
 
Jack Firestone (3-for-4) paced Akron with three hits including a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning. Sam Seeker also homered with a solo shot to right-center in the sixth inning for the Zips.
 
Akron reliever Aiden Fitzsimmons (0-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing two runs in an inning of work in the seventh.
 
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