Spartanburg, S.C. –
Cole Jones and
Jackson Godfrey belted back-to-back second-inning home runs on consecutive pitches, handing Western Carolina baseball a lead it would never relinquish on Sunday afternoon. The Catamounts then used a decisive five-run fourth inning to build a six-run lead before fending off the Terriers for the 7-5 series-clinching victory over Wofford in Southern Conference play at Russell C. King Field.
Wofford scored the game's final runs, including a three-spot in the home half of the ninth inning, until reliever
John Lobs finished off the game to secure the Catamount victory.
With the weekend series win over the Terriers, WCU has secured the postseason tiebreaker over each of the four teams closest to it in the SoCon standings. The Catamounts swept Mercer in Cullowhee back on April 10-12, and took 2-of-3 from Samford (March 20-22), ETSU (April 24-26), and Wofford (May 1-3).
Noah Quarless (3-for-4) and
Mason Holton (3-for-5) combined for six of WCU's 13 hits in the winning effort. Quarless reached four times with a double, two singles, and a walk, while Holton collected a trio of singles.
Walker Fox (1-for-4) drove in a pair of runs with a fourth-inning single to right-center, also reaching on a walk.
Jones (1-for-5) and Godfrey (1-for-3), who made his first start of the series in the finale, both homered, while
Dominic Robinson (1-for-3) reached twice with a single and a walk.
The Terriers finished with nine hits in the loss, spread among eight players. Ben Timblin (2-for-4) reached base three times, with a double and a walk, and scored in the ninth inning. Niko Brini (1-for-5) also doubled to lead off the final frame and scored the first of three Terrier runs in the ninth.
Two pitches after fouling off a long drive down the right-field line,
Cole Jones circled the bases with his eighth home run of the season to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. On the ensuing pitch, Godfrey blasted WCU's second homer of the inning, and his second of the season.
Wofford (31-17, 9-6 SoCon) answered in the home half of the second inning as Marc Quarrie homered to cut the deficit in half, 2-1 through two complete.
After stranding the bases loaded in the third inning, the first three Catamounts reached to start the fourth with
Trey Spees reaching on an error, Robinson walked, and
Jackson Lyda singled. Two batters later, Fox laced a two-run single into the outfield to stretch the advantage to three, 4-1. Quarless plated a run on a double before later scoring on a wild pitch to cap the rally, with Holton dropping a run-scoring single into shallow center as WCU climbed on top 7-1.
The Terriers cashed in a lead-off HBP in the bottom of the fourth on a dropped fly ball, with the error allowing an unearned run to score to make it 7-2 after four.
Wofford loaded the bases in the sixth inning before
Shane Huntsberger struck out Cade Collins to leave them loaded and preserve the five-run cushion. Two Terriers were stranded in the home half of the seventh, before
Owen Austin worked around a two-out double to keep the scoreboard the same after eight innings.
After forcing the Catamounts to leave a runner aboard in the ninth, the Terriers began their ninth-inning rally in the bottom of the frame. Brini doubled before scoring on an RBI single by Logan Tribble. Timblin was credited with a double to left with a second run scoring, before eventually coming home on the second out of the frame with an infield groundout. With Lucas Manning aboard with a two-out single, Lobs struck out pinch-hitter Andrew Mannelly to ice the victory.
Catamount starter
Evan Myers (5-1) earned the victory, limiting the Terriers to two runs – one earned – on just four hits over 5.2 innings. The Denver, N.C., product struck out four against two walks in the quality start. Huntsberger struck out one for his third of an inning, with
Davis Budd tossing an inning of relief before handing off to Austin. The senior southpaw struck out one with one hit allowed in an inning of work, with Lobs replacing
Kaden Fuller in the ninth.
Austin Laughlin (1-1) took the loss in the starting role, chased after two innings with two runs on four hits allowed. Five relievers toed the rubber for the Terriers, with Sheldon Eggers tagged for three runs – one earned – and PJ Fitzpatrick surrendering two on three hits in just a third of an inning. John Gray was the most effective reliever, scattering two hits over 2.2 innings, with Miller Alston pitching two hitless, scoreless innings before Corben Childers tossed the ninth.
WCU improved to 31-17 overall on the season, collecting consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time since 2013 (39 wins) and 2014 (37 wins), coupled with last season's 30 victories. The Catamounts also moved to 12-6 in SoCon play, ahead of the four-way tie between ETSU, Mercer, Samford, and Wofford, each with 9-6 league ledgers with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Western Carolina hosts UNC Greensboro (6-12) in Cullowhee in its final regular-season series on May 14-16. Meanwhile, Wofford closes the season by hosting ETSU (May 8-10) before visiting Samford (May 14-16), while Mercer hosts VMI (May 8-10) before visiting ETSU (May 14-16). Samford travels to Charleston, S.C., to face The Citadel (May 8-10) before hosting the Terriers.
The Catamounts have eight remaining regular-season games, four at home and four on the road. WCU returns to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium on Tuesday for the backend of the nonconference home-and-home against mountain-rival UNC Asheville, presented by State Farm agent Patricia Bryson-Wink. The Bulldogs snapped WCU's six-game series win streak, though the Catamounts have won three in a row in the series at home.
First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 5 p.m., in a game that will be broadcast regionally on WYCW-TV, TheCW 62 out of the Upstate of South Carolina, and simulcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required). Live stat links are available online at CatamountSports.com.
The Catamounts then travel to Wake Forest (32-17) for a three-game series in Winston-Salem on the weekend. The Demon Deacons are inside the national Top 25 in national RPI, with WCU anticipated to crack the national Top 50 this week, one of two SoCon teams inside the Top 50 and five inside the Top 100.
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