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Western Carolina divides games with East Tennessee and Mercer
Western Carolina split a pair of non-conference baseball games last week.
The Catamounts won 7-4 at East Tennessee on March 6 but lost 13-10 to Mercer the next day at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.
Chris Masters (2-0) surrendered one run on five hits while striking out five in six innings at ETSU.
John Ingram, who was named Southern Conference player of the week, went four of five to pace the offense. Nick Liles was three of five while Barrett Shaft and Brent Greer both had two hits.
Western went up 2-0 in the fourth on Shaft’s two-run single.
The Cats made it 4-0 in the fifth as Liles had an RBI single and Drew Saberhagen drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.
After ETSU got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, Ingram’s two-run double extended the lead to 6-1 in the sixth.
Corey Martin was credited with his first save despite allowing three runs in three innings.
Mercer erupted for 10 runs in the fourth inning en route to the 13-10 win. The big blows were a three-run homer by Steven Karwatt and Jason Lowey’s three-run double. Josh Thompson had a solo homer in the frame as the Bears erased a 3-1 deficit to go up 11-3.
WCU came right back with six runs in the bottom of the fourth to trail 11-9. Kenny Smith homered with a man on base and also had an RBI single in the frame. Liles had an RBI double, and Ingram singled to drive in a run. Steven Strausbaugh walked with the bases loaded.
Mercer pushed the lead back to 13-9 on Karwatt’s two-run homer in the sixth.
Andy John’s RBI single accounted for WCU’s final run in the eighth.
Mercer reliever Andy Campbell was the winning pitcher. Cory Gearrin picked up the save.
WCU starter Tyler Johnson (0-2) took the loss.
Karwatt and Tyler Brown both had three hits for the Bears. Thompson, Lowey and Matt Crawford all had two hits.
Shaft, Liles and Smith all had four hits in five at-bats. Ingram, Strausbaugh and Murphy had two hits apiece.
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