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Western uses bats to take two of three from Xavier
Hitting got the better of pitching throughout the weekend as Western Carolina took two of three games from Xavier in a non-conference baseball series at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.
The best pitching performance came from WCU’s Tyler Sexton (4-0) as the Catamounts (9-6) won Friday’s opener 9-4. He allowed one earned run and six hits in six innings.
Jonathan Greene led the offense by going three of five. Barrett Shaft, Mitchell Hatley, Blake Murphy, John Ingram and Kenny Smith all had two hits.
WCU scored on a wild pitch in the first and Hatley’s RBI single in the second to lead 2-0.
A four-run third extended the margin to 6-0. Ingram had an RBI single, and Smith drove in a run with a ground ball. Another run scored on an error, and Liles was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Adam Lipski’s RBI double put the Musketeers on the board in the fifth.
Greene’s RBI single and an error made it 8-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
Jordan Wolf singled in a run in the Xavier sixth, and Robbie Kelley’s sacrifice fly cut the gap to 8-3 in the seventh.
Smith had an RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh.
Xavier closed the scoring on an infield out in the ninth.
Michael Lucas pitched the first three innings and took the loss.
Andy Zellers was three of five while Wolf, Lipski and Sean Farrell all had two hits.
The Musketeers scored six runs in the sixth and five in the seventh to claim a 17-12 victory Saturday.
Lipski pounded out four hits while Wolf and Jack Bonnikson both had three. Farrell, Adam Pasono, Drew Schmidt and Tyler Aholt all added two.
Ingram went four of four with a pair of home runs and six RBIs to lead the Cats. Murphy followed with three hits while Shaft, Hatley and Steven Strausbaugh all had two.
Bonnikson’s RBI single and a wild pitch put Xavier up 2-0 in the first.
Strausbaugh’s run-scoring single made it 2-1 in the bottom of the first, but the Musketeers scored four times in the second to go up 6-1. Farrell and Pasono both had RBI singles, and Lipski doubled in a run. Zellers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Cats clawed within 6-5 after Murphy’s RBI single in the third, Strausbaugh being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth, and Ingram’s two-run homer in the fifth.
Xavier erupted for six runs in the sixth to go up 12-5. Zellers had a two-run double while Lipski, Bonnikson and Wolf drove in runs with a triple, double and single, respectively. Another run scored on a passed ball.
The Muskateers followed with five runs in the seventh for a 17-5 lead. Lipski singled in a pair, and Aholt and Wolf both had RBI singles. Schmidt walked with the bases loaded.
The Cats closed within 17-10 in the bottom of the seventh. Ingram homered with two runners on, and Murphy and Strausbaugh had RBI singles.
Ingram’s RBI double and Hatley’s run-scoring singled accounted for the final two runs in the eighth.
Xavier reliever Mark Janszen was the winning pitcher.
WCU starter Brock Thornburg (1-2) took the loss.
Shaft went five of five, and Smith was four of four leading the Cats to a 14-7 victory in Sunday’s rubber game.
Smith had a three-run homer in the second. Shaft had an RBI double, and Strausbaugh delivered a sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead.
Hatley’s sacrifice fly made it 6-0 in the third.
Wolf’s homer put the Musketeers on the board in the fourth, and they went ahead 7-6 with six runs in the fifth. Neil Lindgren had a two-run double, and Drew Roberts belted a grand slam.
The Cats responded with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 13-7. Smith started the rally with a homer, and Shaft followed with a two-run shot. Murphy had a two-run double before Ingram capped the uprising with a two-run homer.
Adam Baker added an RBI double in the eighth.
Tyler Johnson (1-2) threw three and a third innings of scoreless relief for the win.
Xavier starter Kyle Cowden suffered the loss.
Wolf had three hits in the loss.
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