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Charleston takes two of three in series at Western Carolina

By Carey Phillips
Aaron Kirby held the College of Charleston to four hits through seven innings as Western Carolina salvaged the finale of a three-game Southern Conference series with a 15-6 victory Sunday at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.

The Catamounts are 11-26 overall and 7-14 in the league.

Kirby (2-5) allowed four runs, two of which were unearned, and struck out six.

Austin Smithwick and Morgan Frazier each doubled once and singled twice as the Cats pounded 14 hits. Charles Thomas and Charlie Wands both had two hits.

"We came out ready to play today," Coach Todd Raleigh said. "We made some great defensive plays and swung the bats well. The first inning gave us a big lift and the confidence we needed to make plays."

Western scored four runs in the first inning. Thomas walked, stole second and scored on a single by Rod Goldston, who extended his hitting streak to 18 games. A single by Frazier and a walk to Todd Buchanan loaded the bases. Goldston scored on a wild pitch from Ryan Mau (1-2), and Jason Long doubled in two runs.

"We stayed disciplined at the plate, didn't chase bad pitches and made their pitchers throw strikes," said Raleigh.

Cougar pitchers issued 11 bases on balls, while only striking out five.

Charleston (17-18-1, 9-8-1) cut the deficit in half with two runs in the third. Brett Spivey had an RBI triple, and another run scored on an error.

The Cats made it 5-2 in the third, but Charleston closed within 5-4 with single runs in the fourth and fifth inning.

Smithwick's RBI double made it 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth.

The Cats broke open with eight runs in the sixth, the most in an inning this season. Thomas, Wands and Jeremy Hamrick each drove in two runs in the frame as Wands and Hamrick both doubled.

Western pitchers issued a season-high 10 walks as Charleston won Saturday's game 10-5.

The Cougars moved in front 6-1 with a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and three in the sixth. The runs in the sixth came without a hit.

The Cats got on the board first as Hamrick hit his first collegiate home run, a solo shot in the third.

Karl Morris tied the score with an inside-the-park home run in the top of the fourth. Charleston made it 3-1 in the fifth with an RBI single by Spivey and an RBI groundout by Morris. The Cougars scored three runs in the sixth without a hit for a 6-1 advantage.

WCU cut the gap to 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh on Wands' two-run double after singles by Buchanan and Tracy Biggs.

The Cougars added four insurance runs in the eighth capped by a bases-clearing triple by Ronny Marmol.

Morris was three of five, and Marmol was two of five.

Frazier and Morris had two hits for WCU.

Charlie Wentzky (5-2) went 8.1 innings for Charleston, striking out six and walking two.

Blake Gordon (0-1) got the loss in his first career start.

Charleston pitcher Lucas Hooker (2-5) struck out a career-high 13 in a complete game victory over Western to open the series Friday.

"We just didn't come ready to play today," Raleigh said. "We came out flat and knocked the ball around. We had a chance to break the game open, but when we needed ground balls, we struck out."

The Cougars scored the game's first run in the second when Adam Smith came home from second on Tom Perrin's They made it 2-0 in the fourth with the run scoring on a double play.

Western got its only run in the fourth on consecutive singles by Thomas, Goldston and Frazier.

Charleston scored runs in the fourth and seventh. Chris Conrad's two-out double drove in the final run.

Conrad had two hits in four at-bats.

Goldston, Frazier and Wands all had three hits for the Cats.

Ryan Basner (3-4) took the loss.

Seventh-ranked Clemson defeated Western 11-7 March 28 at Clemson.

Jeff Baker went four of five with two RBIs to lead the Tigers. He knocked in the go-ahead runs in the third inning with a two-run double and later added two singles and another double.

Western got off to an early 2-0 lead, with two unearned runs in the second. Biggs had an RBI single, and Hamrick added a sacrifice fly.

Jarrod Schmidt put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the second with a solo home run.

Clemson (25-6) took the lead with four runs in the third. Casey Stone and Ryan Hub opened the inning with back-to-back doubles, and Brian Ellis followed with a triple. After a Khalil Greene, Baker had a two-run double for a 5-2 margin.

Patrick Boyd's sacrifice fly made it 6-2 in the fourth.

WCU closed within 6-4 in the fifth on Smithwick's two-run double.

Bradley LeCroy had an RBI double in the Clemson fifth.

Both teams scored twice in the sixth, but the Tigers pulled away with single runs in the seventh and eighth.

Schmidt and Mike Calitri had two hits apiece for Clemson.

Wands led the WCU offense with three hits, and Thomas had two.

Kevin Lynn (2-0) was the winning pitcher in relief. Western starter Joe Camac (0-1) took the loss.

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