Greenville, N.C. – Walker Fox homered twice, with his second breaking a ninth-inning tie as Western Carolina upended Troy 4-3 on Friday afternoon in its opener at the 23rd annual Keith LeClair Classic, hosted by ECU at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Fox circled the base paths on a two-run, inside-the-park homer to centerfield in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 stalemate before collecting his second hit of the day on a first-pitch, 390-foot dinger to right that cleared the fence and pushed WCU clear of Troy by a run. A sophomore transfer, Fox finished 2-for-4 with his first multi-homer game as a Catamount and his third with multi-RBI.
Cole Jones singled twice in a 2-for-4 effort as he and Fox recorded four of WCU's seven hits in Friday's victory. His sharp-single to right field in the third inning put the Catamounts on the scoreboard with his third RBI of the year.
Trey Spees (1-for-3) reached base twice with a single and a walk, while
Jaylen Jones (1-for-4) doubled for WCU's only other extra-base hit.
Mason Holton (1-for-4) collected his lone base hit of the game with a productive single in the third inning that set up
Cole Jones for the game's first RBI.
Troy (4-5) was limited to six hits on the day, spread between four players, with Gavin Schrader and Josh Pyne leading the way with 2-for-3 efforts. Schrader had an RBI on a single down the third-base line in the fifth inning that helped the Trojans even the game at the midpoint. Nolan Book (1-for-3) had the lone extra-base hit with a double, while Schrader, Aaron Piasecki, and Steven Meier, who left the game with an injury, each collected an RBI.
The Trojans seemingly had the answer for the designated visiting Catamounts each time WCU pulled in front on Friday.
Cole Jones pushed the Purple & Gold in front with a run-scoring single in the third, only to see Troy answer with the equalizer in the home half of the fourth. Fox capitalized on the misplayed ball in center for what was ruled an inside-the-park two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning and a 3-1 lead.
However, Troy matched with a two-spot of its own on a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly to again knot the game in the home portion, moving the backend deadlocked at three.
Catamount closer
Owen Austin, who earned his second save of the season, did not allow the Trojans to respond to the Fox solo home run in the top of the ninth as he retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame to secure WCU's first win away from Cullowhee this season.
A pitcher's duel through the opening frames, neither starter factored into the decision as WCU's
Davis Wright struck out one against a walk, with three runs coming on six hits over four complete innings. Troy's Tommy Egan struck out five with a walk, also giving up three runs on just five hits in five innings of work.
Mason Snyder (2-0) scored the long-relief victory for the Catamounts, fanning four over four innings of hitless, scoreless relief. Austin tossed a perfect ninth with a pair of flyball outs and one on the ground to lock down WCU's fourth all-time series win in five meetings against the Trojans and extended the current win streak to three.
Troy's Jackson Lucas struck out three of the seven batters he faced, holding the Catamounts scoreless with one hit allowed over two innings. Cooper Ellingworth (0-1) took the loss after surrendering the ninth-inning homer, striking out three in two relief innings.
Western Carolina (7-2) continues at the LeClair Classic on Saturday, scheduled to face Rutgers at Noon at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The only coverage of the game is through live stats, linked online at CatamountSports.com.
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