Greenville, N.C. – Trent Turner homered in the third inning, and Trey Spees delivered an insurance marker with a run-scoring single in the fourth as Western Carolina combined for a six-hit, 2-0 shutout victory over homestanding East Carolina on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the 23rd annual Keith LeClair Classic at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
 
Sunday's game was a tremendous tribute to the late WCU Athletics Hall of Famer Keith LeClair, who played and coached at WCU before a Hall of Fame coaching career at ECU. By virtue of both teams going 2-1 over the weekend, the two share the tournament title of this year's Keith LeClair Classic.
 
Turner handed the Catamounts the lead with a one-out, third-inning solo homer over the fence in left. Spees came through with a two-out, bases-loaded RBI single through the right side for the 2-0 advantage through four complete. That proved to be all the Catamount pitching staff needed as a trio of WCU arms and the defense behind them limited ECU to just six singles in the squad's second shutout victory of the season.
 
WCU earned its first shutout win since 2023 in last Sunday's 5-0 victory over Bowling Green in Cullowhee. This week's shutout win gives the Catamounts two shutout victories in the same season for the first time since 2021, when WCU earned a five-inning, weather-shortened 5-0 victory over VMI (4/10/21) at home and blanked ETSU in game one of a doubleheader in Johnson City (4/23/21)
 
Freshman Evan Myers (2-0) scattered four singles over five innings, working around a walk with a strikeout to earn the victory. James Fordham was equally as effective, only allowing a pair of singles over three scoreless relief innings with a punch out. Owen Austin (3) bookended his weekend in Greenville with his second save, striking out one to cap a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the victory.
 
Western Carolina's win marked its first over the Pirates since ousting ECU from the 2007 NCAA Chapel Hill regional, halting a seven-game series slide. The third in the 23-game series history, Sunday's win was also the first-ever by Western Carolina over ECU in games contested in Greenville, S.C. (1-17).
 
The Catamounts rapped out 10 base hits on Sunday, three going for extra bases, spread between seven players. Noah Quarless doubled in a 2-for-4 effort, reaching a third time on an HBP to continue his strong start to the season. Jaylen Jones and Mason Holton both finished 2-for-4, with Holton scoring the second run on the Spees RBI hit. Spees reached twice, reaching on a walk to accompany his 1-for-3 effort.
 
Turner (1-for-5), who wears the No. 7 jersey in honor of LeClair's coach Jack Leggett, homered with Walker Fox (1-for-4) also legging out a two-bagger to account for the trio of extra-base hits. Jackson Lyda (1-for-4) reached twice with a single and an HBP, while Cole Jones walked and pushed a sacrifice bunt.
 
Despite the offensive success, ECU forced the Catamounts to strand 11 base runners in the tournament finale.
 
The Pirates (6-5-1) had two-hit efforts by Braden Burress (2-for-4) and Matthew Lashley (2-for-3) in the loss. Starting pitcher Colby Weber (1-1) struck out seven against a walk in 5.1 innings before giving way to the bullpen. ECU relievers combined for the final 3.2 innings, working around two hits, a pair of HBPs, and a walk with five strikeouts to give Pirate pitching 12 on the day.
 
Stymied by WCU's pitchers, the Pirates left seven runners on base, including two in the first inning and one in the second. In one of ECU's best scoring opportunities, Myers stranded two at the corners in the fifth inning, with one apiece left in the home halves of the sixth and eighth.
 
ECU's players and coaches all wore throwback jerseys adorned with LeClair's iconic No. 23, topped by purple caps with "23" as the emblem in tribute on Sunday. Former Catamount turned country-music star Matt Stillwell was on hand and addressed the crowd, while also making an appearance on the broadcasts to talk about his 723 Foundation (723.foundation).
 
Western Carolina (8-3) continues its combo road swing this week with five games on the docket, including two neutral field contests and three true road games. The Catamounts face nationally ranked Georgia on Wednesday, before a split weekend in Charlotte, N.C. WCU faces Radford on Friday and Saturday at Noon at Charlotte's Hayes Stadium, before meeting the host 49ers in the backend of a Saturday doubleheader and a finale on Sunday set for 1 p.m.
 
Wednesday's game at Georgia is scheduled to be broadcast on the SEC Network+ (paid subscription required) and through the Watch ESPN app. Next Saturday's meeting with Charlotte is slated to be available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Each game should have live stats available online through CatamountSports.com.
 
Any additional broadcast information will be made available later.
 
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