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Citadel beats Cats twice in conference tourney finals
Western Carolina’s surprising run through the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament ended Sunday with an 8-1 loss to Citadel in the finals at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.
The Catamounts (28-31) were trying to become the first number eight seed to win the tournament. The defending league champs struggled throughout the regular season and barely qualified for the tournament. They turned things around with an upset of top-seeded College of Charleston in the first round and were one win away from a spot in the NCAA Regionals after a victory over Citadel. However, the Bulldogs bounced back with two straight wins in the double elimination tournament to claim the title.
Western Carolina second baseman Todd Roper turns a double play against Citadel in the Southern Conference Tournament. The eighth-seeded Catamounts emerged from the winners’ bracket undefeated but lost twice to Citadel in the championship round. – WCU photo by Mark Haskett
Citadel 8 WCU 1
Justin Smith pitched a complete-game in leading Citadel to Sunday’s 8-1 victory in the tourney finals. He allowed six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
The Bulldogs led all the way after scoring a run in the bottom of the second. Chip Cannon had a leadoff double and later scored on Mark Egleton’s ground out.
They made it 2-0 in the third on Chris Ard’s RBI single.
Citadel extended the margin to 5-0 in the fourth. Andy Phillips had a two-run single, and Matt Covington singled in a run.
Cannon homered in the fifth making it 6-0.
Josh Stackley’s sacrifice fly put the Bulldogs up 7-0 in the sixth.
Their final run came in the seventh on Egleton’s RBI single.
Western got on the board in the eighth on an RBI single by Brian Barnes.
Brad Josey (5-5) suffered the loss.
Egleton and Jon Aughey both had three hits for Citadel. Ard and Cannon added two hits apiece.
Citadel 9 WCU 2
Citadel forced an extra game with Saturday’s 9-2 victory. The winning margin was built on five unearned runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Jonathan Ellis, the league pitcher of the year, threw a complete game. He scattered seven hits while walking four and striking out eight. Only one of the runs he allowed was earned.
The Cats scored the game’s first run on Dustin Penland’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
A two-out error opened the door for the Bulldogs to score three runs in the sixth. Matt Matulia had an RBI single, and Covington doubled in a pair.
Citadel added two more unearned runs without the benefit of a hit in the sixth to go up 5-1 thanks to two hit batsmen and an error. Cannon and Andy Phillips drove in runs with ground balls.
Penland’s RBI single cut the gap to 5-2 in the eighth.
The Bulldogs added four insurance runs in the ninth. Stackley had a sacrifice fly while Cannon, Aughey and Egleton drove in runs with a triple, double and single, respectively.
Citadel was led offensively by Covington’s four hits. Cannon and Matulia both had two hits.
Penland and Chris Davis had two hits each for the Cats.
Mike McGowan (0-2) took the loss although all three runs he allowed in five innings were unearned.
WCU 5 Citadel 2
Western completed its march through the winners’ bracket by knocking off Citadel 5-2 Friday.
Jeremy Ellenburg (4-2) made the first start of his career and yielded eight hits and two walks while striking out three over 6.2 innings. Brian McCullen pitched 2.1 scoreless innings for his second save.
RBI singles by Denver Edick and McGowan put the Cats up 2-0 in the top of the first.
A bases-loaded walk to Brian Sigmon made it 3-0 in the second.
The Bulldogs cut the gap to 3-2 on RBI singles by Aughey in the sixth and Ard in the seventh.
Western scored two insurance runs in the ninth on an RBI double by Davis and Sigmon’s run-scoring single.
Sigmon, Edick, Roper and Greenwood all had two hits.
The Bulldog offense was led by Covington with three hits and Ard with two.
Griff Beckham was the losing pitcher.
WCU 7 Elon 6
McGowan’s two-run double in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Cats to a 7-6 victory over Elon in the second round last Thursday. The bases were loaded with no outs after a walk to Greenwood, Sigmon’s single and an error.
Former Smoky Mountain standout Derrick Hawk (4-4) was the winning pitcher in relief.
The Phoenix had taken a 6-5 edge in the top of the ninth on Evan Erickson’s two-run triple.
Chris Price’s RBI single along with an error put Elon up 2-0 in the third.
Western tied it in the bottom of the second as Edick had an RBI single and another run scored on an error.
Run-scoring singles by Edick and McGowan along with an error helped the Cats take a 5-2 lead in the fourth.
Elon cut the gap to 5-4 in the seventh on Grant Rembert’s two-run single.
Phoenix reliever Matt McSwain took the loss.
Greenwood, Sigmon, Edick and McGowan all had two hits for the Cats.
Elon’s Gary Morris had three hits while Drew Davis and Erickson added two apiece.
WCU 4 C of C 3
Brian Sigmon went three of three and drove in the game-winning run in the eighth as WCU opened the tourney on May 26 with a 4-3 upset of College of Charleston. Sigmon’s single scored Greenwood, who had doubled, to break a 3-3 tie.
Josey pitched seven innings for the win. He struck out three and walked none while scattering 10 hits. Hawk pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save.
Western’s Todd Roper led off the game with a single and later scored on Greenwood’s ground out.
The Cougars went up 2-1 in the second on Chris Campbell’s two-run single.
McGowan’s ground ball drove in a run for a 2-2 tie in the fourth.
Byron Barber’s RBI single put Charleston up 3-2 in the fifth.
The Cats tied it 3-3 in the sixth on McGowan’s RBI single.
Roper, Greenwood, McGowan and Brandon Zollman all had two hits.
Brett Gardner, Kevin Bulger, Jess Easterling and Anthony Fairfield paced the Cougars with two hits apiece.
Charleston starter Reid Price took the loss.
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