Cullowhee, N.C. – Outfielder Cole Jones delivered a two-out, two-run double off the wall in left field as Western Carolina rallied from a four-run deficit over the final two innings on Saturday afternoon, stunning Wofford with a walk-off 10-9 victory to even the best-of-three series with the Terriers at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
Trailing 9-5 entering the home half of the eighth inning, the Catamounts used a three-run home run by Drew Needham to pull back to within a run heading to the ninth. Following a pair of infield groundouts, Zach Ketterman and Jack Spyke both reached on two-out singles ahead of Jones. The Champaign, Ill., transfer then belted one off the wall in left field to cap a four-hit day with Ketterman scoring from second and Spyke rumbling around from first with the game-winning run.
 
With the series evened at one win apiece, the rubber match is scheduled for Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. In partnership with Ingles and the Nexstar Media Group, Sunday's finale will be broadcast regionally over the air on The CW 62 (Asheville) and simulcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Additional coverage through live stats is available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Jones finished a triple shy of the cycle with his 4-for-5 offensive effort on Saturday as he gave WCU an early lead with a three-run home run in the first inning and closed it with the two RBI double. Spyke reached twice with a pair of singles including an RBI knock in the first inning with Pascanel Ferreras finishing 2-for-4.
 
Needham reached three times with a walk and an HBP, adding the three-run homer in the eighth, while Brandon Butterworth tripled in the sixth inning to extend his active reached base safely streak to 21-straight games before exiting the game late.
 
For a second straight game, Wofford struck in the first inning with a two-run single before the Catamounts responded in the home half of the opening frame. Spyke delivered an RBI single into right-center to score Ferreras before Jones homered to right center field to hand the Catamounts the 4-2 lead after one.
 
Ketterman drove a sacrifice fly to left to push the margin to three, 5-2 before Ryan Galanie doubled in the fourth to make it a 5-3 game halfway through. In the sixth inning, Wofford capitalized on a two-base error on a would-be sacrifice bunt with Galanie collecting his second RBI of the game to knot things at five two-thirds of the way through.
 
Gunnar Johnson put Wofford in front for the first time since the opening inning in the seventh with a three-run homer for an 8-5 lead with Dixon Black singling home Trey Yunger in the eighth to hand the Terriers a four-run cushion with just six outs remaining. Needham homered with one out in the eighth to make it 9-8 ahead of the Jones heroics in the final frame.
 
Reliever Nick Hyde (1-1) scored the victory out of the bullpen, working around a walk with a strikeout in tossing a hitless, scoreless ninth inning in keeping WCU within a run. Kyle Riesselmann battled for the Catamounts in the starting role, scattering eight hits over five innings with five runs – four earned – allowed with a walk, strikeout, and three hit batters. Jonathan Todd struck out three in 2.1 innings with Tom Brosnahan tossing two-thirds of an inning to help keep WCU close.
 
Wofford's Luke Stephens (2-3) suffered the loss, tagged for three runs on four hits in an inning and a third. Starter Charlie Weber was chased after three innings and five runs allowed.
 
Ryan Galanie tallied three of Wofford's 13 hits in a 3-for-5 effort with a double with David Wiley and Cameron Gill finishing with two hits apiece. Gunnar Johnson drove in three on a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning, his lone hit of the outing.
 
The series concludes Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. scheduled start.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount baseball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).