Atlanta, Ga. – Scoring came in bunches on Saturday afternoon as Western Carolina evened its nonconference baseball series with Georgia State, outslugging the Panthers 16-12 to force a Sunday series rubber match at the GSU Baseball Complex. The first pitch of the finale is 1 p.m.
 
Coverage of Sunday's finale will only be available through live stats provided by Georgia State and linked on CatamountSports.com.
 
Eight of WCU's nine batters collected hits with six posting multi-hit games. Trent Turner doubled and tripled in a 3-for-5 offensive effort with one driven in, while Jack Spyke collected two extra-base hits with a double and home run in reaching base six times with a trio of hits, three walks, and three RBI. Turner has a team-long 11-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 13 straight.
 
Elijah Smith doubled twice in a 3-for-6 performance, also plating three. Brayden Corn singled twice and reached on a walk, driving home three in a 2-for-6 effort.
 
Hayden Friese extended his team-best reached-base safely streak to 24-straight games with two hits, including a double. Trey Spees reached base three times on HBPs, extending his reached streak to 15-consecutive games.
 
William Maginnis for Georgia State and Colin Hynek both tallied four RBI apiece as Maginnis finished with three hits including a triple and Hynek homered twice. Andon Lewis also hit a home run in a 2-for-5 effort with three RBI.
 
Run-scoring doubles by Friese and Turner in the top of the first inning, coupled with an RBI ground out by Cole Jones handed the Catamounts the early 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning. WCU carried that lead into the second before Hynek hit a two-run homer to right, trimming the lead to just one, 3-2, through two complete.
 
The Catamounts appeared to bust the game open in the top of the third inning, putting a six-spot on the scoreboard thanks to three RBI singles, a two-run double by Spyke, and a bases loaded sacrifice fly and RBI by Spees. However, with WCU leading 9-2, Georgia State found a six-spot of its own in the home half of the third with an RBI double, two-run triple, and a pair of home runs that accounted for three runs and tightened Saturday afternoon's contest.
 
Western Carolina carried its one-run, 9-8, lead into the sixth inning before again finding multiple runs to extend the advantage. Smith drove home two on a double down the left field line before Corn matched with two scoring on a single to short. Holton capped the scoring in the frame with a run-scoring single that plated Turner as WCU pulled ahead, 14-8.
 
Spyke belted his second home run of the season in the seventh inning for a seven-run cushion at 15-8 before Georgia State cut the deficit back to three with a pair of seventh-inning, two-run singles. In the eighth, Friese helped put the game out of reach as he scampered home on a ball-four, wild pitch that put Cole Jones aboard in ultimately providing the final tally.
 
Griffin Guinther (1-0) tossed a team-long 3.2 innings out of the bullpen in securing the victory, striking out three against a pair of walks with runs allowed on just one base hit. Brandon Langley continued his strong work in relief, securing his first save with the Catamounts in striking out four against three walks in 2.2 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. Langley struck out the first two he faced in the ninth before issuing a two-out walk, He then induced the game-ending flyout to right field.
 
Josh Ossiander earned the start, lasting 2.2 innings before being lifted for Guinther.
 
Georgia State starter Ross Norman (2-2) took the loss after giving up seven runs on seven hits with four walks and a hit batter, striking out one. The backend of the Panther bullpen combined for seven of the team's 10 strikeouts as Brian Crooms fanned three and Dylan Matela struck out four, both in two innings of work.
 
The series concludes Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch at the GSU Baseball Complex.
 
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