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Western Carolina splits two baseball games with Brown
Western Carolina split a pair of non-conference baseball games with Brown last week at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.
The Bears rallied for a 10-6 win on March 30, but WCU bounced back to win an 18-9 slugfest last Thursday.
Brown scored six runs in the ninth to overcome a 6-4 deficit and claim its victory. The Bears tied the score on Paul Christian’s two-run homer. Eric Larson and Adjatay Nyadjroh both had RBI singles and Jeff Nichols doubled in a run. Another run scored on a wild pitch.
Devin Thomas’ RBI double along with a pair of errors helped Brown take a 3-0 lead in the first.
The Catamounts answered with two runs in the bottom half. Tim Hallam’s triple drove in one, and he scored on Jared Greenwood’s ground out.
WCU went up 6-3 in the fifth. Hallam had an RBI double while Trey McDaniel and Steven Strausbaugh had RBI singles. Nate Hall added a sacrifice fly.
Matt Kutler’s homer cut the gap to 6-4 in the seventh.
Bobby Wiginton, James Lowe and Larson all had two hits for the Bears.
Chris Davidson retired WCU’s final four batters for the win.
Western reliever Luke Miller (2-1) took the loss.
Strausbaugh and Barrett Shaft each had three hits to pace the Cats’ offense. Hallam and Greenwood had two hits apiece.
Western rolled to the 18-9 win last Thursday in a game that started 17 minutes late due to rain and was shortened to seven innings as Brown had a travel conflict.
Jonathan Greene had four hits in five at-bats while Chris Davis, Ryan Wilson and Strausbaugh all had two hits.
Greg Holland (1-0) was credited with the win in relief although he allowed four runs and six hits in three innings. Brandon McDowell pitched two scoreless innings for his first save.
The Cats scored four runs in the first. Wilson had an RBI double while Strausbaugh and Jason Haynes singled in runs. Another run scored on an error.
Brown responded with five unearned runs in the second. A bases-loaded error with two out allowed a run to score, and Christian ripped a three-run double. Wiginton followed with an RBI double.
WCU took the lead for good at 9-5 with five runs in the bottom of the second. Greene doubled in a pair, and Haynes drove in a run with a fielder’s choice, The other runs scored on a wild pitch and an error.
Nichols’ RBI double narrowed the gap to 9-6 in the third.
A three-run double by Davis made it 12-6 in the fifth.
Kutler’s two-run double and an error in the sixth helped the Bears climb within 12-6.
Western put the game away by erupting for six runs in the seventh before the contest was called. Strausbaugh had an RBI single, followed by Davis’ RBI double. Greene and Wilson also singled in runs, and Chris Ahearn capped the scoring with a two-run double.
Chrisitan, Wiginton and Connor Reardon all had two hits for the Bears.
Clint Dykehouse, who relieved in the first inning, suffered the loss.
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