|
Furman takes series from Cats; rematch set for league tourney
Furman won two of three baseball games from Western Carolina over the weekend at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium to conclude the regular season.
The Catamounts (30-24, 13-12) are seeded sixth for the Southern Conference Tournament. They were scheduled to have another meeting with Furman (31-20, 15-10), the third seed, at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. Results were not known at Herald press time.
The second round will be today (Thursday). A WCU win would put it in the 4 p.m. game with a loss meaning another 10 a.m. contest.
WCU’s lone win of the weekend series was 7-5 in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. The Paladins bounced back for a 10-6 victory in the nightcap.
Western scored on an error in the opening inning of the first game Saturday, but Furman tied it on Case Cassedy’s home run in the second.
Scott Ward’s RBI single and Tim Hallam’s sacrifice fly gave WCU a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the second.
Home runs by Ben Terry and A.J. Davidiuk produced a 3-3 tie in the sixth.
Trey McDaniel’s two-run homer in the bottom of the frame gave the Cats a 5-3 advantage.
The Paladins came right back with two runs in the seventh to draw even at 5-5. Terry drove in a run with a ground out, and Will Stembridge followed with an RBI single.
WCU scored the winning runs in the seventh to account for the 7-5 final. Barrett Shaft broke the deadlock with a sacrifice fly, and Jonathan Greene, the conference player of the week, followed with a home run.
Western reliever Brian McCullen (6-1) pitched 2.2 scoreless innings for the win.
Furman reliever Patrick Arnett took the loss.
Greene had three hits for the Cats, and Shaft added two.
Cassedy and Joe Daysh had three and two hits, respectively, for the Paladins.
Led by Stembridge, who was four of four, Furman came back to win game two 10-6 and take the series. Terry was three of five while Davidiuk, Daysh and Joey Rodgers all had two hits.
The Paladins took a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Davidiuk and Cassedy.
Run-scoring singles by Donnie Wilson and Greene produced a 2-2 tie in the third.
WCU went up 3-2 in the third when Hallam grounded out with the bases loaded.
Terry’s RBI single tied it 3-3 in the fifth.
Greene’s two-run homer put Western back on top 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
Furman again pulled into a tie on Rodgers’ two-run triple in the sixth and went in front 7-6 on Daysh’s RBI single in the seventh.
It was Western’s turn to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, and that’s what happened when Greene homered.
The Paladins won the game by scoring four runs in the eighth. Stembridge had a two-run single, and Davidiuk followed with an RBI double. Cassedy drove in a run with a ground out.
Furman reliever Jay Jackson was the winning pitcher. Nick Hollstegge picked up the save.
WCU reliever Greg Holland (4-3) suffered the loss.
Wilson, Greene and Haynes all had three hits. Ward and Steven Strausbaugh added two apiece.
The Paladins jumped to an early lead and held on for a 5-4 decision in Friday’s series opener as Davidiuk had three hits in four at-bats.
Bases-loaded walks to Daysh and Tony Maccani put Furman up 2-0 in the first.
The Paladins made it 5-0 in the second on Davidiuk’s two-run double and Cassedy’s ground out.
The Cats cut the gap to 5-2 in the sixth on Greene’s two-run homer.
They closed within 5-4 in the seventh on Greene’s RBI single and a wild pitch.
Furman’s Matt Klinker pitched the first six innings for the win.
Western starter Tyler Sexton (7-6) took the loss.
Greene was four of five with three RBIs to pace the WCU offense. Shaft finished with three hits while Wilson and Hallam both had two.
|
