Asheville, N.C. – UNC Asheville used a pair of big innings to upend Western Carolina baseball on Tuesday afternoon in nonconference action at Greenwood Field, scoring a four-run fourth before tacking on three insurance markers in the eighth as the Bulldog pitchers silenced the Catamounts in the 8-4 decision.
WCU collected just three base hits, all before the end of the third inning, as Catamount batters failed to record a hit over the final 6.1 innings.
Mason Holton (2-for-4) doubled and singled, while
Jaylen Jones (1-for-3) drove in a run with a base knock. The squad stranded eight base runners in the road loss, the sixth defeat for the team away from Cullowhee.
The Catamounts drew six walks as a team, led by
Yates Sikes with two, and had five hit batters, but were unable to take advantage. Sikes reached base a team-high three times, adding an HBP to his pair of walks.
Wyatt Stanley and
Trent Turner both reached twice, drawing a walk and were plunked.
Solo markers in the second and third innings staked the Catamounts to a 2-0 lead through three complete innings on Tuesday.
Jaylen Jones singled home Holton, who opened the second inning with a double for the early lead, before Holton returned the favor to plate
Yates Sikes in the third after a frame-opening HBP.
UNC Asheville (13-12) opened the fourth inning by putting four straight aboard against WCU reliever
Scott Templeton, loading the bases with a pair of singles and a walk. Tyler Parks doubled home two to tie the game. Zeb Swangim then delivered a two-run single to put the home squad ahead 4-2.
Half an inning later, the Catamounts responded, though, tying the game at four with a two-spot. Sikes and
Jackson Lyda both walked, with Lyda extending his reached base safely streak to 14 straight games. Both runners eventually scored on an infield fielder's choice.
Asheville found the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a bases-loaded groundout to third as Blaize Johnson bookended the rally with a one-out walk and the eventual go-ahead marker. Clinging to the one-run lead in the eighth, the Bulldogs tacked on three insurance markers, including two scoring on a Ben Green triple to provide the final tally.
The Catamounts put two on in the top of the ninth as pinch-hitter
Noah Quarless and
Wyatt Stanley were both plunked, but were stranded in the four-run loss, halting WCU's six-game series win streak. The win was UNCA's first over WCU at Greenwood Field since 2017.
WCU starter
Davis Budd did not factor into the decision and limited the Bulldogs to a pair of hits and an HBP over three scoreless innings as the first of eight Catamount pitchers in the game.
Tyler Oaks (1-1) took the loss by giving up the go-ahead run to Asheville in the sixth. Relievers
Shane Huntsberger,
John Lobs, and
Owen Austin each recorded strikeouts.
UNC Asheville reliever Matthew Hall (2-0) shut the Catamounts out over 3.1 innings to earn the victory, countering three HBPs with a team-best three strikeouts. Starter Cooper Smith was tagged for a run on two hits with a strikeout, while Nic Melton allowed the only other base hit, surrendering a run with a walk and an HBP.
Western Carolina (17-9, 2-1 SoCon) remains on the road this weekend as it concludes its eight-straight games against Bulldogs, traveling down I-26 to face The Citadel (9-13, 1-2 SoCon) in Charleston, S.C., in a three-game Southern Conference series. The Cadets host Palmetto State rival Presbyterian on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to open a nine-game homestand before welcoming WCU to town this weekend.
The weekend conference set opens Friday at 6 p.m., and continues Saturday at 2 p.m., before concluding on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Joseph P. Riley Park, on the banks of the Ashley River.
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