Spartanburg, S.C. – Trent Turner posted three extra-base hits among his game-high four-hit performance at the plate and Nate Stocum belted his team-leading 17th home run of the season as Western Carolina evened its best-of-three series against the Wofford Terriers with a 7-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at Russell C. King Field.
 
WCU bookended Saturday's victory with two-run homers including Turner's eighth of the season that jump-started the offense in the first inning before Stocum provided a pair of insurance markers in the top of the ninth as the Catamounts bounced back from Friday night's seven-inning loss in the opener. A trio of WCU pitchers combined to strike out 10 as the Catamounts limited one of the nation's top-scoring offenses to just two runs on six base hits.
 
The series concludes with a rubber match on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch. The finale will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available through a link online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Turner hit a two-run home run in the first inning before adding a pair of doubles to his 4-for-5 effort at the plate to lead two Catamounts with multi-hit games. Turner, a product of Waynesville, N.C., matched his WCU career best with the four-hit outing. Mason Holton doubled as a part of a 2-for-4 showing with a run scored in the win with Stocum plating both runs on his ninth-inning round-tripper.
 
Zach Ketterman (1-for-4) reached twice with a walk and a run-scoring double with Kyle Riesselmann (1-for-4) and James Hinson (1-for-4) also posting an RBI.
 
Staked to the early lead, it was the WCU pitching staff that ultimately secured Saturday's victory for the Catamounts. Starter Dante Visconti struck out six over his four-inning start, limiting Wofford to both of its runs on just five base hits before giving way to the bullpen. Dusty Revis (6-1) worked around a pair of walks and a hit with two strikeouts in tossing 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. Closer Jonathan Todd struck out two in 1.2 innings of hitless, scoreless work out of the bullpen to collect his seventh save of the year.
 
Jack Renwick (2-for-3) tripled as a part of collecting the lone multi-hit game for the Terriers with Tyler Hare hitting a solo homer and Dixon Black a run-scoring single to provide Wofford's two runs.
 
The Terriers (28-12, 8-5 SoCon) used just two pitchers with starter Camden Wicker (2-2) striking out five over six innings with five runs on seven hits allowed in suffering the loss. Branton Little threw the final three, allowing the two-run homer to Stocum in the ninth to cap his effort.
 
With Ketterman aboard with a one-out walk in the top of the first inning, Turner belted a two-out, two-run home run over the fence in left field to give the Catamounts the early lead in Spartanburg for a second-straight day. Wofford wasted little time in the home half of the frame, though, as Marshall Toole led off with a double before scoring on a single by Dixon Black to cut the Catamount lead in half, 2-1 through one complete.
 
A one-out walk by Drew Needham sparked a second-inning scoring barrage for WCU as Holton then doubled to left field to put two runners into scoring position. Hinson plated a run on a right-side groundout before Riesselmann pushed Holton home for the second marker on an infield single. Ketterman capped the second-inning scoring with an RBI double down the left field line and a 5-1 lead through two complete.
 
Wofford trimmed the deficit back to three, 5-2, with a lead-off home run by Tyler Hare in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Revis worked back-to-back, 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth innings before surrendering a two-out single in the home half of the seventh but didn't allow a run. Wofford's best chance came in the eighth inning with two of the first three batters reaching on walks. Todd came on to slam the door, though, as Daniel Jackson was caught stealing by catcher Jack Spyke before David Wiley was struck out looking to end the frame.
 
With Hinson aboard on a lead-off single, Stocum belted a two-out, two-strike pitch over the fence in right field to provide the final tally at 7-2. Todd retired the Terriers in order in the bottom of the ninth with a groundout, strikeout, and pop-up to end the game and set up Sunday's rubber match.
 
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