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Western Carolina baseball team takes three games from Terriers

By Carey Phillips
WCU's Rod Goldston Photo by Mark Haskett

Western Carolina's Rod Goldston extended his hitting streak to 14 games Sunday against Wofford. Here he beats a throw home from right field in the bottom of the seventh inning of WCU's victory.

Western Carolina's struggling baseball team hit its high point of the season this week end by sweeping a three-game Southern Conference series from Wofford at Hennon Stadium/Childress Field.

Morgan Frazier went two of four and drove in the game-winning run as Western (10-23, 6-12) rallied from a 5-0 deficit for a 12 8 Sunday to complete the sweep. Rod Goldston was also two of four.

"Our young players are growing up," Coach Todd Raleigh said. "We have freshman all over the field and its hard to rely on six freshman, especially at the division one level."

In the top of the first inning, the Terriers put a five spot on the board. Following back-to-back walks and an error to start the inning, Danny Slade had a two-run single, and Fritz Baier added a two-run double in the frame.

Western scored two runs in the third inning, both on wild pitches.

The Catamounts cut the gap to 5-4 in the fourth. Ben Rhoney had a sacrifice fly, and Jason Long delivered an RBI double.

Frazier's RBI double in the sixth tied the game at five. Charlie Wands put WCU ahead with a run-scoring double then was driven home by Austin Smithwick. Rhoney added an RBI single. Smithwick was two of three at the plate.
WCU added another four runs in the bottom of the seventh to overcome a couple of late runs by the Terriers.

Aaron Kirby (1-5) pitched three and two-thirds innings for the win. Tate Ostermann (3-2) was tagged with the loss.

"Our pitching was outstanding, but we've still got a long ways to go offensively," Raleigh said. "We didn't capitalize with the bases loaded. We let their pitchers off the hook."

Western scored five runs in the eighth inning of game two to complete a sweep of Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 9-4 and 5-3.

"Our pitchers were outstanding today," Coach Todd Raleigh said.

"Once again we threw all freshman and they did a great job for us again today."

Brian Casey's two-run single put Wofford up 2-0 in the first inning of game one.

WCU answered with two runs of its own in the first. Jeremy Hamrick and Goldston singled ahead of Morgan Frazier's sacrifice fly. Todd Buchanan, who was two of four, followed with an RBI single.

"Todd gave us a lot of quality at-bats," Raleigh said.

Rhoney put the Cats ahead in the second with a sacrifice fly. They also scored runs in the fourth and sixth.

Ryan Basner (3-3) pitched eight and a third innings, striking out a career-high eight. Ryan Foster picked up his first career save by striking out the final two batters with runners at first and second.

George Lehr (2-5) went the distance for the Terriers in the loss.

Charles Thomas drove in four runs in game two, including a two-run double in the fourth.

Leading 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth, WCU broke open the contest with five runs. Goldston ripped a single to right scoring two runs and got caught in rundown allowing Thomas to score.

Seth Foster (1-3) earned the victory. He pitching six innings and gave up six hits and two earned runs. Blake Gordon was credited with his first career save.

Kyle Hadden (1-4) was tabbed with the loss.

Basner (2-3) pitched two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief to help the Catamounts snap a five-game winning streak and defeat Georgia State 5-4 at Hennon Stadium/Childress Field on March 29.

"This was our best pitched game of the season," Coach Todd Raleigh said. "We threw four freshmen today and everybody did a great job. We were able to get the lead and our pitchers were able to hold it for us."

The Cats scored three runs in the seventh to go ahead 5-4. Singles by Rhoney and Thomas started the rally. Jeremy Hamrick had an RBI single, and Frazier delivered a sacrifice fly. Goldston beat out an infield hit to drive in a run.

Western worked its way out of a jam in the sixth inning when right fielder Rhoney threw out a runner trying to go from first to third on a hit.

"We played great defense today, just outstanding," Raleigh said. "Everything worked for us today against a really good team. We didn't make any mistakes, and our pitchers were able to come in and get double-play balls."

The Cats put two runs on the board in the second inning. Following singles by Buchanan and Alan Beck, Wands hit a bloop double for an RBI. Rhoney had a sacrifice fly.

Chad Smith opened the Panthers scoring with a home run in the second. An RBI single by Paul Schlosser made it 2-2.

Jacob Smith (0-3) took the loss.

Georgia State used nine home runs to cruise past Western 21-8 on March 28. Smith led the Panthers with three round trippers.

Six different GSU players left the yard with Josh Vandiver leaving it twice. The Panthers scored seven runs in the third and six in the fourth. Schlosser, Vandiver and Smith hit consecutive homers off WCU starter Brad House (1-3) in the fourth.

Smith had a near perfect day at the plate going five of six.

Thomas and Rhoney were three of five for the Cats, while Wands went three of four. WCU freshman Ryan McCurry hit his first collegiate homer in the eighth. Steven Kidd (3-0) held WCU to two runs through six innings.

The Cats were scheduled to play at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at national power Clemson. Results were not known at Herald press time. They will return home Friday for a three-game conference series against College of Charleston. The teams will play at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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