Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina rallied from a 4-0 deficit by scoring eight unanswered runs to complete the season-opening, nonconference sweep of the Iona Gaels with an 8-4 victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
Transfer infielder Trent Turner belted a go-ahead two-run home run as part of a three-run seventh inning as WCU pulled ahead for good after the stretch. A product of Waynesville, N.C., Turner finished 3-for-5 with three total RBI to pace a pair of Catamounts with multi-hit games as freshman Landon Mowery reached three times in a 2-for-2 effort that included a double and two RBI.
 
Mason Holton reached base thrice including a pair of walks with both Jack Spyke and Kyle Harbison touching the bases twice with a base hit and a walk. Harbison doubled and Zach Ketterman hit a pinch-hit home run in the winning effort.
 
Iona's six hits were spread between four players with two – Josiah Ragsdale and James Kemp – both tallying two hits apiece. Ragsdale drove in two on a third-inning triple to account for his pair of RBI, with James Kemp doubling in his 2-for-3 effort.
 
The two pitching staffs combined for 26 total strikeouts on Sunday – 14 by the four Iona pitchers and a dozen from WCU's four arms. Neither starter factored into the decision as WCU's Kyle Riesselmann retired the first seven in a row he faced with five strikeouts including fanning the side in the second inning. Riesselmann surrendered four runs on five hits over five innings. Iona's Michael Lorenzetti managed seven strikeouts over his five-inning effort, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks.
 
WCU's bullpen only allowed one hit over the final four scoreless innings. Transfer Dusty Revis (1-0) struck out four over 2.2 innings of his WCU debut only allowing an eighth-inning two-out single. The Marion, N.C., native earned his first victory as a Catamount in relief. Jonathan Todd made his second appearance of the weekend, striking out one while Jackso Reid fanned two in tossing a perfect ninth.
 
For the Gaels, reliever Andrew Gaines (0-1) was saddled with the loss after surrendering two runs on one hit with a pair of walks against three strikeouts. Brendan Callanan walked and struck out one over two-thirds of a frame with Matt Zguro recording all three of his outs in the eighth on strikeouts, though surrendering two runs on two hits to provide the final tally.
 
Iona (0-3) used Ragsdale's triple to left center to plate the game's first two runs with Jayson Gonzales doubling home a third marker in the third inning as the Gaels took the early lead. Two innings later, the Gaels stretched their lead to four by producing a run as Kemp doubled before being sacrificed into scoring position and scored on an infield RBI groundout by Anthony Zollo.
 
Limited to just a Landon Mowery single through the first four innings, Western Carolina finally got rolling in the fifth inning. Spyke reached on a lead-off walk where he was joined on the bases two batters later by Holton on a second free pass. Mowery then blooped a two-out double that dropped between three Gaels in the outfield scoring two to cut the deficit in half. Harbison posted a second-consecutive two-base hit to score Mowery to make it a one-run game through five complete.
 
Holton opened what proved to be the decisive seventh inning with a lead-off walk where Mowery sacrificed him into scoring position. A walk to Harbison that included two wild pitches allowed Holton to cross with the game-tying run and continue the rally. The gridlock was short-lived, though, as Turner blasted a two-run home run that put the Catamounts in front, 6-4.
 
WCU pushed across two runs in the eighth inning to provide the final tally as senior Zach Ketterman belted the first pitch of his pinch-hit appearance over the fence in right field for his first home run of the season. Holton then reached on an infield throwing error – one of two miscues by the Gaels on the day – with Turner singling to center to plate the game's final run.
 
Western Carolina opens a four-game road swing in the midweek, visiting USC Upstate on Wednesday afternoon with a 3 p.m. first pitch at Harley Park in Spartanburg, S.C. The Catamounts then travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for a three-game weekend series at Florida State, the first meeting between the Catamounts and Seminoles since WCU dropped two on the road in 2022. The three-game series in Florida will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required).
 
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