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Catamounts win two of three conference games from Bucs
Western Carolina swept a Southern Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday at East Tennessee before losing the series finale Sunday.
The teams were slated to open the three-game set Friday, but inclement weather postponed the first game forcing the twin bill Saturday.
WCU's Caleb McConnell (1-1) pitched a complete game in an 8-4 win in Saturday's first game. He scattered nine hits while walking one and striking out five.
ETSU jumped to a 3-0 lead on a home run by Matt Traylor in the first and a two-run shot by Josiah Glafenhein in the second.
That's how things stayed until the Catamounts (14-17, 4-8) scored five times in the sixth. Chad McKown tied it with a three-run homer. Todd Roper followed with a sacrifice fly, and Jared Greenwood was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Wayne Kilmer had an RBI single in the seventh, and Roper delivered another sacrifice fly extending the margin to 7-3.
Sigmon's sacrifice fly in the eighth, WCU's third in as many innings, made it 8-3.
Glafenhein hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the eighth to account for the final.
Nelson led Western with three hits while Kilmer, McKown and Brandon Zollman all had two.
Glafenhein and Traylor had three and two hits, respectively, for the Buccaneers.
Starter Jeremy Hall suffered the loss.
Roper went four of four with three RBIs as the Cats won game two by an identical 8-4 score.
Doubles by Roper and Denver Edick produced a run in the first.
The Bucs went up 2-1 in the bottom of the first on Steven Calicutt's two-run double.
Kilmer homered to start the WCU second, and Edick's sacrifice fly gave his team a 3-2 edge.
An error allowed ETSU to tie the game 3-3 in the third.
Western took the lead for good at 5-3 in the fourth. Kilmer had an RBI single, and Roper delivered a sacrifice fly.
Edick's RBI double in the seventh, and Roper's two-run single in the made it 8-3.
The Bucs scored the final run in the bottom of the eighth on Glafenhein's sacrifice fly.
Brad Josey (2-2) pitched into the seventh inning for the win. He yielded eight hits while striking out six and walking two.
Jeremy Ellenburg went the final 2.2 innings for his first save.
In addition to Roper, offensive support was provided by Kilmer, Edick and Chris Davis with two hits apiece.
Calicutt and Caleb Moore both had a pair of hits for the Bucs.
Starting pitcher Tim Turner took the loss.
ETSU broke a tie with two runs in the bottom of the seventh Sunday to salvage the final game of the series 4-3.
Justin Clear led off with an infield single and advanced on a bunt, a wild pitch and Moore's fielder's choice. Stephen Douglas added an RBI single for a 4-2 advantage.
Kilmer homered for the game's final run in the ninth.
Roper tripled and scored Davis' single for a 1-0 WCU edge in the third.
The Cats made it 2-0 in the fifth on Edick's RBI double.
An RBI single by David Yates put ETSU on the board in the bottom of the fifth, and Glafenhein's RBI single produced a 2-2 tie in the sixth.
Calicutt went seven innings and allowed two runs on seven hits for the win. Moore recorded the save despite giving up the homer in the ninth.
Reliever Brian McCullen (0-3) took the loss.
Glafenhein and Douglas both had three hits while Andy Howdeshell added two.
Roper and Edick paced the Cats with two hits each.
Western will return home for a conference series against Furman. Games are set for 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
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