Cullowhee, N.C. – Two big innings on Friday helped spur Western Carolina baseball to the doubleheader sweep over visiting Eastern Illinois, leading to the nonconference series win. The opportunistic Catamounts scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning in the series opener, capitalizing on an inning-extending infield error to win the front end 5-3. In the nightcap, WCU logged a five-run second inning in racing to a six-run lead to complete the sweep with a 9-2 victory in game two of the twin bill.
 
Game three of the series is scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday afternoon as the games were jostled to avoid forecasted inclement weather in the region. The Catamount Sports Network will broadcast the series finale with live, free streaming online audio and live stats both available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Seven Catamounts finished Friday's twin bill with multiple hits, led by Jaylen Jones (4-for-7, .571) and Brayden Corn (4-for-8, .500) with four hits apiece. Corn hit a solo home run that hugged the left-field line before crossing the 20-foot high "Monster" left-field wall to account for one of his two RBI, while Jones legged out his second triple of the season to plate two.
 
Elijah Smith (2-for-6), who entered the opener as a late-game sub, collected two hits with a single in game one and a double in game two. Coupled with Corn and Jones, those were the only three extra-base hits for the Catamounts who finished the day with 23 knocks combined in the doubleheader that saw WCU club 20 singles.
 
Mason Holton (3-for-7), Cole Jones (3-for-8), Trent Turner (3-for-9), and Hayden Friese (3-for-9) each tallied three hits. Wyatt Stanley drew a team-high four walks and plated a team-best three runs.
 
Turner extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games with a 17-game reached base safely streak still intact. Trey Spees saw his 17-game reached base safely streak end with just one at-bat in a pinch-hit role. Holton has a 13-game hit streak, followed by Jaylen Jones (7 games), Elijah Smith (5 games) and Noah Quarless (4 games). Cole Jones and Smith both have 14-game active reached base streaks, followed by Holton (13 games), Jaylen Jones (7 games), and Quarless (4 games).
 
Catamount pitching combined to limit EIU to five runs – three earned – on 12 hits between the twin bill, while striking out 16. WCU limited the Panthers to a .185 batting average in the two games while posting a 1.50 team ERA in the two games.
 
Game One – Western Carolina 5, Eastern Illinois 3 - (Box Score)
Trailing by two entering the eighth inning, Western Carolina found itself down to its final four outs before finding four runs to seize a two-run lead to claim the first-ever meeting between the Catamounts and Panthers, 5-3, on Friday afternoon.
 
Down to its final out in the eighth inning after Trent Turner and Hayden Friese both grounded out, Mason Holton jumpstarted the offense with a single through the left side, splitting the difference between the shortstop and third baseman. Cole Jones continued the two-out rally by punching a single through the right side to put two aboard. Speedy out of the batter's box, Jaylen Jones applied extra pressure on a slow bouncer infield ground ball to third with the errant throw to first allowing Holton to score and left the Joneses on second and third in a one-run game.
 
Wyatt Stanley proved to be the hero in the opener as he dropped a first-pitch, two-out single into right field that not only tied the game but pushed the Catamounts in front by a run. After Jack Spyke reached on a walk, Elijah Smith delivered a run-scoring single up the middle in his lone plate appearance to provide the eventual final tally.
 
In the ninth, Brandon Langley took over for Owen Austin (2-0) on the mound, working around a one-out walk with a pair of strikeouts to secure his second save and hand Austin his second win of the year. Starter Dusty Revis struck out six against four walks over a six-inning start, surrendering three runs with two earned on four hits. Austin tossed two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief with a walk and a strikeout before Langley finished off the ninth.
 
Eastern Illinois starter Tyler Conklin struck out three over his six-inning start, limiting the potent Catamount offense to a run on six hits. Reliever Dalton Boruff (0-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up four unearned runs in the eighth as part of his two innings of work with a walk and a strikeout.
 
The Panthers led 2-0 after the second inning as Jake Ferguson drove a two-run single down the first-base line that just missed the outstretched mitt of Friese. In the fifth, Corn cut the deficit in half with a lead-off solo homer to make it 2-1 through five complete.
 
EIU tacked on an insurance marker in the sixth inning as Tyler Castro singled through the right side to plate leftfielder Brett Stanley for the 3-1 margin, setting up the eighth-inning finish.
 
Game Two – Western Carolina 9, Eastern Illinois 2 (Box Score)
A five-run second inning proved to be enough for Western Carolina to complete the doubleheader sweep on Friday evening as the Catamounts powered past Eastern Illinois 9-2 in the nightcap at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
Leading by a run after a bases-loaded walk to Cole Jones gave the home squad the go-ahead marker, WCU broke the game open with five runs on six hits and took advantage of a Panther error to take a lead it would never relinquish. Wyatt Stanley opened the rally with a lead-off walk and was moved around on a sacrifice bunt by Cam Murray and a Jaylen Jones single to put runners at the corners. Elijah Smith then doubled to score Stanley and put two runners in scoring position.

Hayden Friese pushed a bunt single past the pitcher that allowed Jaylen Jones to score from third base. On the same play, a throwing error attempting to get Friese at first allowed Smith to score to double the lead, 4-0. Friese eventually worked his way home on an RBI single by Cole Jones with Brayden Corn capping the scoring with an infield single to leave WCU up 6-0 when the dust had settled.
 
Eastern Illinois got on the board in the third as the Panthers played opportunist with an infield error, stolen base, and run-scoring single by Tyler Castro putting the visitors on the board. However, WCU answered in the fourth to regain the six-run cushion Stanley drew a bases-loaded walk to bring Turner home after reaching on a one-out single.
 
The two teams combined for three runs in the seventh inning. The Panthers got a lead-off solo home run by Ethan Rossi to seemingly breathe life into the EIU offense. A one-out walk by Luke Melton, double by Chris Worcester, and an HBP to Castro loaded the bases with two gone. WCU reliever Shane Huntsberger slammed the door, though, striking out Pierce Bauerle looking to end the threat.
 
To compound the issue after the stretch, two walks to Corn and Stanley followed by another sac bunt by Murray put two in scoring position. Jaylen Jones then raced around the bases with a two-RBI triple that provided the final tally and made a winner of WCU starter Davis Wright.
 
Wright struck out six over six innings of one-run, four-hit baseball with a walk and the lone marker allowed scoring unearned. John Lobs and Shane Huntsberger combined for the seventh with freshman Carter Burnette working around a hit and a walk in two innings of scoreless relief to close the game.
 
Eastern Illinois starter Anthony Solis (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season, tagged for six runs – three earned – on eight hits with three walks over an inning and two thirds. Four Panther relievers combined for the final six and a third innings with three strikeouts among the four arms.
 
The series concludes on Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
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