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Western claims two of three baseball games from UNC-G
Western Carolina won two of three Southern Conference baseball games from UNC-Greensboro over the weekend at Hennon Stadium/Childress Field.
The Catamounts (27-21, 13-11) opened the series with an 8-3 win Friday.
Bryan Tupper (4-1) pitched six innings for the victory. He allowed five hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts.
Barrett Shaft had three hits while Tim Hallam, Trey McDaniel, Jonathan Greene, Scott Ward and Donnie Wilson all added two hits.
The Spartans scored in the first on Guy Welsh’s RBI single.
Western tied it in the bottom of the frame when Tim Hallam singled and later scored on a passed ball.
The Cats took the lead for good at 3-1 with two runs in the second. Mitchell Hatley had a sacrifice fly, and Barrett Shaft delivered an RBI single.
Jermaine Mitchell’s homer cut the gap to 3-2 in the third.
WCU got that run back in the bottom of the third as McDaniel doubled and came around on a wild pitch.
Greene’s two-run homer upped the margin to 6-2 in the fifth.
Welsh’s RBI single made it 6-3 in the seventh.
Western answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to lead 8-3. Shaft had an RBI single and the other run scored on an error.
Greg Holland pitched the final 2.1 innings for his seventh save. He was named Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Mitchell led the Spartan offense with three hits, and David Adams had two.
UNC-G starter Nick Starnes took the loss.
The Cats broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the eighth to claim a 5-2 victory Saturday. Andy John and Hallam both had RBI singles, and Shaft drove in a run with a ground out.
John and Hallam each finished with three hits while McDaniel had two.
Western went up 2-0 after Greene’s sacrifice fly in the first and McDaniel’s RBI single in the second.
Adam Deleo’s run-scoring single cut the gap to 2-1 in the third.
The Spartans tied it in the eighth on Mitchell’s double.
Holland (3-2) retired the last four batters for the win.
Spartan reliever Patrick Currin was the loser.
Mitchell and Deleo had two hits apiece for UNC-G.
Greensboro salvaged the series finale with a 10-6 win Sunday. Mitchell finished with three hits while Adams, Greg Feltes, Roly Gonzalez, Shane Thompson and Sean Snell all had two.
Feltes tripled and scored on an error in the first.
Western went up 2-1 in the bottom of the frame on a wild pitch and Greene’s RBI single.
The Spartans took a 3-2 edge in the second on a two-run triple by Gonzalez.
WCU gained a 5-3 advantage in the bottom of the second on Ryan Wilson’s RBI double and run-scoring ground outs by John and Hallam.
UNC-G took the lead for good as a five-run fourth made it 8-5. Feltes had a two-run double, and Adams delivered a sacrifice fly. Welsh and Snell both had RBI singles.
Shaft’s RBI double brought his team within 8-6 in the bottom of the fourth.
Mitchell’s homer in the sixth made it 9-6.
The Spartans scored the final run in the eighth on Adams’ RBI single.
Jonathan Nichols, the second of four Spartan pitchers, was credited with the win.
Western’s offense was led by Shaft with three hits. Hallam, Greene and Hatley all had two.
WCU reliever Tyler Johnson (3-2) suffered the loss.
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