Mason, Ohio – Western Carolina scored runs in each of the first six frames on Saturday afternoon and withstood a four-run fifth by Akron as the Catamounts claimed their nonconference series with a 10-5 neutral field victory over the Zips at beautiful Prasco Park.
WCU (17-11) raced out to a 6-0 lead before Akron pulled back to within two thanks to the fifth inning's four-run outburst. But a pair of two spots in the fifth and sixth allowed the Catamounts to regain their breathing room and secure the series victory when coupled with Friday's 7-3 victory. Saturday's win was the sixth-straight for the Catamounts who also secured their seventh-consecutive victory away from Cullowhee.
WCU's 10 hits in the winning effort were spread between seven different players with
James Hinson busting out with a 3-for-4 performance including a trio of doubles and two RBI.
Drew Needham drove in a run in a 2-for-4 effort with a pair of singles to cap the multi-hit games for the Catamounts.
Trent Turner (1-for-4) reached base twice with a double and a walk and
Zach Ketterman (1-for-3) likewise cruised into second base with a stand-up double with a walk and an RBI.
Nate Stocum (1-for-5) doubled while
Hayden Friese (1-for-4) and
Mason Holton both singled and reached on a walk to get aboard twice.
Eight Zips combined for their series-high nine base hits with designated hitter Charlie Schebler reaching twice on a pair of singles. Michael Sprockett hit a two-run home run and James Strom circled the paths on his lone hit of the game as a pinch hitter to highlight the offense for Akron.
Western Carolina (17-11) struck early on Saturday as Turner doubled home
Kyle Riesselmann who reached on a lead-off HBP for the early advantage. Turner later touched home on a run-scoring single by Friese as the Catamounts led 2-0 after one.
In the second, Hinson delivered a run-scoring double to right center and Riesselmann pushed across a marker with an infield groundout to push the lead to four through two complete.
Consecutive one-run frames in the third and fourth gave WCU a 6-0 lead. Ketterman scored Spyke on a two-out double in the third before Riesselmann walked and matriculated around the paths to eventually score on a wild pitch.
Akron got going in the top of the fifth, though, as the first two Zips reached before the Sprockett two-run homer to right. After the next two batters reached, WCU starter
Davis Budd posted consecutive strikeouts and looked to limit the damage. However, a two-out HBP put two aboard and was followed by a two-run single by Max Bowman trimmed the margin back to two, 6-4.
The Catamounts responded with consecutive two-run innings in the fifth and sixth with Hinson collecting his second two-bag base hit to score Needham in the fifth ahead of Riesselmann's second run-scoring ground out. An inning later, Needham plated
Nate Stocum who reached on a double with Ketterman plating Friese on a RBI ground out to first base.
Strom provided the final tally in the top of the ninth with his pinch-hit home run as WCU claimed the series with the 10-5 victory.
Budd struck out five batters for his second-consecutive start, tossing the first 4.2 innings with four runs coming on five hits before being lifted.
Shane Huntsberger threw just two relief pitches to end the Akron threat in the fifth.
Dusty Revis (5-1) was credited with the win as he struck out four over four innings out of the bullpen, scattering four hits and working around a walk to limit the Zips to just one run.
Spencer Atkins (0-5) took the loss for the Zips, pulled after two innings with four runs on four hits allowed. Relievers Anthony Fett and Yassir Kahook struck out two and three, respectively, with Fett recording an inning and Kahook tossing the final three of scoreless, one-hit relief.
The three-game nonconference series concludes on Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch at Prasco Park. The game will be streamed online through Chatterbox Sports with live stats – both available through links at CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to WCU Athletics and Catamount baseball including any game day schedule changes through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).
