Cullowhee, N.C. – The Citadel scored all six of its runs over a four-inning stretch between the fourth and seventh innings and then held off a late charge by Western Carolina as the Catamounts dropped Saturday's game two of its Southern Conference baseball series 6-5 to the Bulldogs at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
The series concludes Sunday afternoon on Senior Day with the rubber match slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Fans are encouraged to arrive early on Sunday afternoon for the pregame festivities that include an on-field mini-graduation ceremony with WCU Chancellor Dr. Kelli Brown, and a Senior Day celebration of six Catamounts playing their final home game in Cullowhee.
 
Sunday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available through a link online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Both sides belted three-run home runs in their respective ends of the fifth inning as the game headed to the sixth tied at four apiece. Sawyer Reeves hit his homer to left field while Brandon Butterworth carried the 20-foot batter's eye in straight away center field for his three-run blast. The Bulldogs used back-to-back doubles by Noah Mitchell and Travis Elliott to break the deadlock in the sixth before tacking on a needed insurance marker in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Reeves for his fourth RBI of the day.
 
Pascanel Ferreras drew his third free pass of the day on a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth inning before scoring on an RBI single through the left side by Jack Spyke to claw the Catamounts back to within a run.
 
However, Bulldog reliever Gant Starling put the finishing touches on the series-evening win by striking out four of the final five batters, stranding two on base in the eighth, and working a 1-2-3 ninth with Dylan Costa snaring a low line drive by Butterworth to finish the game.
 
Butterworth matched the WCU single-season record with his SoCon-leading seventh triple of the year to score WCU's first run of the game in the first inning, finishing 2-for-5 with three RBI on his fourth home run of the season. The sophomore from Monroe, N.C., collected two of WCU's five hits in the loss. He matched former Catamount Tracy Biggs who legged-out a school-record seven triples back in 1999. Jordan Starkes doubled down the first-base line for the only other extra-base hit for the Purple & Gold, finishing 1-for-4.
 
Ferreras drew a pair of walks and an HBP to reach three times Landen Morrison matching with a pair of walks and a fifth-inning single to left, scoring one of the five Catamount runs. Spyke tallied his third RBI of the series on his eighth-inning single.
 
Reliever Dylan Wheeler (3-2) took the loss allowing the go-ahead run on just two hits in an inning of work out of the bullpen. Dante Visconti struck out two over three relief innings, matching starter Kyle Riesselmann who fanned a pair over 4.1 innings in a three-run, three-hit effort. Carson Lowder tossed two-thirds of an inning in relief with one of WCU's five strikeouts as a staff.
 
Bulldog starter Sam Swygert (5-2) scattered four runs on four hits over five innings to earn the victory, striking out three against three walks. Starling collected the four-inning save – his third of the season – working around a trio of walks with seven strikeouts with just one run on one hit allowed.
 
Reeves paced the Bulldogs with a 3-for-4, four RBI effort offensively with a pair of runs scored, tallying three of The Citadel's eight base hits by finishing just a triple shy of the cycle. The remaining five base knocks were spread between five players that included four doubles with Elliott and Thomas Rollauer both driving in runs.
 
The series concludes Sunday with WCU's Senior Day with the pregame ceremonies scheduled to start at 12:40 p.m. It's also Little League Day at the ballpark courtesy of Great Smiles Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. All kids receive free admission to the game by wearing their team jersey or shirt. Following the game, kids will be able to run the bases.
 
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