Birmingham, Ala. – Western Carolina managed to pull even with league-leading Samford on Saturday with a
James Hinson RBI single in the top of the seventh inning. However, the Bulldogs answered with the eventual game-winning marker on a sacrifice fly in the home portion of the frame. For a second-consecutive day, WCU again threatened in the ninth inning, but stranded two of their 10 runners left on base in the final frame as the Bulldogs held on to claim the series with a 6-5 victory at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
The two teams combined for eight of the 11 runs scored on Saturday in the fourth inning. WCU used a two-run single by
Brandon Butterworth and a two-run home run by
Nate Stocum to grab a short-lived 4-0 lead in the top of the frame. Samford promptly responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half, all scoring on home runs – two solo shots and the game-tying two-run blast.
In the fifth, the Bulldogs used a pair of singles to take their first lead, 5-4. Jayden Davis reached on a one-out base knock before scoring on a two-out single by Andrew Bennett.
WCU managed to find the equalizing marker in the top of the seventh as Jak Spyke walked before advancing to third on a double by
Cole Jones. Two batters later, Hinson dropped a single into left field to plate Spyke but was thrown out trying to advance to second base with Jones at third to prevent the Catamounts from pulling ahead. The out would prove costly as Davis was hit by a one-out pitch and eventually scored on the sacrifice fly to center by Lucas Steele with the game-winning run.
WCU put two aboard in the ninth as
Pascanel Ferreras led off with a single and Jones collected a two-out base hit to put two aboard, but a force play on a fielder's choice ended the game.
Six Catamounts collected two hits apiece in the loss as WCU outhit the Bulldogs, 13-to-11. Butterworth (2-for-4) and Stocum (2-for-5) both drove in two runs apiece with Butterworth reaching three times as he added a walk. Hinson finished 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI, reaching base four times as he also walked twice.
Spyke (2-for-4), Jones (2-for-5), and Ferreras (2-for-5) each posted two hits for the Catamounts.
Dante Visconti (2-3) was saddled with the loss out of the bullpen, surrendering two runs on five hits over four relief innings. He worked around three walks with a strikeout.
Kyle Riesselmann tossed four innings in the start, allowing four earned runs with a strikeout.
Bulldog reliever Jake Hollifield (1-2) scored the win in relief, striking out four over two innings while scattering three hits with one run allowed. Brody Westbrooks struck out five early in his five-inning start and was tagged for four runs, three of which were earned. Ben Petschke collected his ninth save of the season with two scoreless innings, striking out a pair with two hits allowed.
Samford's three homers were spread between three players in Steele, Bennett, and the two-run shot by Josh Rodriguez. Eight of the nine Bulldog starters collected hits with three tallying two apiece. Davis finished 2-for-3 with an HBP with Bennett (2-for-4) and catcher Kaden Dreier (2-for-4) matching with two hits.
The series wraps up Sunday with game three slated for a 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT first pitch with coverage through ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
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