Johnson City, Tenn. – Western Carolina homered three times as a part of riding big innings and a career-best seven strikeouts by starting pitcher
Jonathan Todd in taking game one of its Southern Conference baseball series at ETSU 12-10 on Friday night at Thomas Stadium. WCU used a pair of five-run frames in the third and seventh innings to snap a four-game slide with the series-opening victory.
Kyle Harbison belted a grand slam home run in a five-run third inning,
Landen Morrison led off the fifth with a first-pitch solo homer, and
Nate Stocum hammered a two-run shot in the five-run seventh inning for the Catamounts which outslugged ETSU 15-to-12 for the series lead.
With unfavorable forecasts for Sunday, officials at ETSU have moved game three of the series to the backend of a Saturday doubleheader with the first pitch of game one of the twin bill at 2 p.m. and the series finale to follow. Both games are slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats through StatBroadcast available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
Zach Ketterman led five Catamounts with multi-hit games, driving home two in a 3-for-5 effort with a trio of singles with Stocum plating two in a 2-for-3 effort after entering the game in the fourth inning. Both of Morrison's hits went for extra bases with a double and a home run, reaching three times with a walk.
Kyle Riesselmann doubled in a 2-for-4 performance with
Jordan Starkes (2-for-5) also collecting a pair of hits.
Brandon Butterworth legged out his SoCon-leading sixth triple of the season in the winning effort, moving into a four-way tie for second in WCU's single-season record books. He matched former Catamounts Bradley Strong (2014), Martin Barrow (1997), and WCU Hall of Famer, Freddie Hailey (1984). Butterworth is just one three-bagger shy of all-time leader, two-sport standout Tracy Biggs who had seven in 1999.
Todd (2-2) battled through 5.2 innings in the start, striking out seven against three walks and a pair of hit batters to earn the victory. The Reidsville, N.C., product scattered six hits in allowing five earned runs. Relievers
Carson Lowder and
Dante Visconti bridge the gap to
Coby Ingle who finished the final 2.2 relief innings to earn his first save of the season. Ingle struck out three including two looking in the ninth in holding the Bucs scoreless and allowing just two base hits.
After
Kyle Riesselmann doubled home
Jordan Starkes in the top of the second inning, ETSU responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the frame to take a short-lived three-run edge. Half an inning later, WCU exploded for five runs to take a lead it would never relinquish. Ketterman singled home
Pascanel Ferreras before Harbison blasted the first pitch of his bases-loaded at-bat over the fence in center for a 6-4 lead.
Morrison jumped on the first pitch he saw to lead off the fifth inning with a solo home run and a three-run 7-4 lead with the Bucs getting the marker back in the sixth.
Western Carolina looked to put the game away before the stretch with a second five-run inning.
James Hinson opened the onslaught by scampering home on a wild pitch with Ketterman striking again with a run-scoring single to plate Morrison. Stocum then homered to right field ahead of Butterworth's RBI triple to give the visitors a 12-5 lead.
The Buccaneers responded with a five-run, one-out rally in the home half of the seventh to again pull back to within two, 12-10. ETSU used five singles and WCU's lone miscue of the game in the rally. After a three-up and three-down in both ends of the eighth inning, both teams managed a ninth-inning base runner but neither lit the scoreboard.
ETSU (18-21, 4-9 SoCon) saw five players post multiple hits with Ashton King finishing 3-for-5 with a double. Ryan McCarthy had two hits including a double to go along with a sacrifice fly and a team-best three RBI with Nick Iannantone driving home two in a 2-for-5 effort.
Colby Stuart (1-3) was saddled with the loss for ETSU, allowing six runs on six hits with three walks in 2.1 innings. Landon Smiddy scattered nine hits over 6.2 relief innings as the Bucs only used two arms, striking out five against a walk also with six runs allowed.
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).
