Atlanta, Ga. –
Brayden Corn and
Trent Turner both homered in the top of the third inning to stake visiting Western Carolina to an early 2-1 lead over Georgia Tech in Friday evening's series opener at Russ Chandler Stadium. However, the Yellow Jackets scored five runs in the home half of the third inning and tacked on insurance markers in each of the next five innings to take game one of the series 13-7.
Saturday's game two has been bumped up to a 3 p.m. first pitch to try and avoid inclement weather expected in central Georgia during the late afternoon and early evening. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra (
ACCNX, paid subscription required) and also available through the Watch ESPN app. Live streaming audio from Georgia Tech and links to live stats are available online at CatamountSports.com.
Turner (2-for-5) led three Catamounts with two-hit efforts on Friday with a home run and a single, while
Jack Spyke (2-for-4) stayed red-hot at the plate, reaching base three times with a pair of singles and a walk.
Wyatt Stanley (2-for-2) reached base a team-best four times, plating a run with his 12th double of the season to accompany a single, a walk, and an HBP. Those three combined for six of WCU's nine base hits.
Corn (1-for-5) homered for the sixth time this season,
Mason Holton (1-for-4) singled, and
Elijah Smith (1-for-4) doubled home a run for the Catamounts offensively.
But one of the biggest storylines for WCU was leaving potential runs on base as the Catamounts stranded 13 runners in the loss. WCU left runners on base in seven of the nine innings, twice leaving the bases loaded in the top of the third and ninth innings.
Georgia Tech had five players collect multiple hits, with Caleb Daniel (3-for-5) singling three times and scoring three runs. Vahn Lackey (2-for-4) doubled and tripled for his two hits, adding a sacrifice fly for one of his two RBI. Carson Kerce (2-for-4) homered with three RBI, with John Giesler (2-for-2) doubling and plating three runs for the home squad
Lead-off batter Kyle Lodise (0-for-2) walked and scored three times, adding a pair of stolen bases.
Trailing by a run after a Giesler RBI double in the home half of the second inning,
Brayden Corn led off the third with a solo homer to right center to knot the game at one. Two batters later, Turner hit the third pitch of his at-bat over the wall in left center to give the Catamounts a short-lived, 2-1 advantage.
Four batters into the home half of the third, Georgia Tech tied the game as Kyle Lodise walked, stole second, took third on an infield groundout, before scoring on the RBI single by Alex Hernandez. Two batters later, the Yellow Jackets took a lead they would never relinquish on a sacrifice fly and ultimately led 6-2 after the five-run frame.
Tech tacked on solo markers in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings, while posting a two-spot in both the sixth and eighth.
WCU mounted a mini two-out rally in the top of the fifth inning on back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Stanley and Smith to close the gap to three, 7-4, before exiting the fifth inning back down by four, 8-4.
Noah Quarless capped WCU's scoring in the top of the eighth, drawing a four-pitch, lead-off walk as consecutive free passes put two aboard. A double-play advanced Quarless to third, where he scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 11-5. Tech got it back, though, with a two-run homer in the home portion of the frame that provided the final tally.
With one last gasp in the ninth, the Catamounts loaded the bases on a Spyke single and pinch-hit walks by
Cam Murray and
Cole Jones. However, WCU was unable to dent the scoreboard as all three were left on base.
Catamount starter
Davis Wright (3-6) was saddled with the loss, chased after four innings where he allowed seven runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts.
Griffin Guinther struck out one against two walks in an inning out of the bullpen, while
Evan Langston fanned a pair over his two innings of one-run, one-hit relief. True freshman
Gavin Maines struck out one in pitching one inning out of the bullpen.
Tate McKee (6-2) scored the victory after scattering four runs on seven hits over five frames, countering two walks with four strikeouts. The three relievers out of the Yellow Jacket bullpen combined to strike out five over four innings of work.
The series continues with a 3 p.m. scheduled start on Saturday in Atlanta.
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including any additional game day schedule changes through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).
