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 In addition to leading the team in batting average, sophomore Brent Greer has also helped turn 11 double plays this season in the field. |
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April 2, 2008
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina Baseball returns to action on Wednesday night, hosting UNC Asheville in a non-conference tilt at 7:00 pm at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium in the two squads' second meeting in a week.
Fans can follow all of the action with live GameTracker, presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine and the WestCare Health System by logging onto CatamountSports.com.
WCU (11-15) leads the overall series with UNC Asheville (12-18) by a count of 44-22, including a 25-6 mark in Cullowhee dating back to 1969. The Bulldogs won last year's meeting on Western's field, 7-6, after pulling ahead in the seventh inning and then their bullpen kept WCU scoreless on just three hits.
Western enters Wednesday night's game winners of two-straight, and five of its last six overall on the season including taking 2-of-3 from UNC Greensboro in its home conference opener last weekend. The Catamounts have also taken three-straight from non-conference foes during that stretch.
The Bulldogs fell at Appalachian State on Tuesday, 23-8, in Boone, and have now dropped five-straight, a string that started with last Wednesday's defeat to WCU, 12-10, at McCormick Field. WCU freshman Ryan Mathews sparked a ninth-inning rally with a lead-off pinch hit double down the left field line as Western scored twice in the win over UNCA.
According to UNC Asheville Sports Information, the Bulldogs are 2-9 in mid-week games with opponents batting .394 and a staff ERA of 10.27. UNCA is hitting .270 with their opponents' ERA at 5.73. On the weekends, the Bulldogs are 10-9 with a .292 average and team ERA of 3.37, while opponents are only hitting .265 with an ERA of 5.25.
Wednesday's home game starts a string of four-straight, which includes the weekend Southern Conference series against Davidson before an eight-game road swing begins next week.
First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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Additional Notes from the Diamond:
* Western Carolina has two players currently riding 13-game hitting streaks ... sophomore Brent Greer and freshman Ryan Mathews have each hit successfully in their last 13 games ... during his streak, Greer has 11, multi-hit games with nine extra base hits, including three homers, with 20 RBI ... Mathews has three multi-hit games, including a career-best 4-for-7 outing with two home runs and a double against Hartford;
* On Tuesday, Brent Greer gave WCU its second grand slam in four days with a blast to centerfield at Gardner-Webb on Tuesday ... J.C. Lyons hit Western's first slam on Friday in the Catamounts' 17-2 win over UNC Greensboro ... Lyons is currently out with a hand injury;
* Over its last six games, Western Carolina's pitching staff has lowered its collective earned run average by boasting a 5.33 mark ... WCU is 5-1 during that same span ... sophomore Chris Masters does not have an ERA during those six games, making four appearances allowing just one base hit while striking out five - for his efforts, Masters garnered SoCon Pitcher of the Week accolades, the first weekly award for the Catamounts this season;
* Inside the Numbers: Western Carolina's most productive inning this season has been the fourth, tallying 41 runs - however, the Catamounts have also surrendered an opponent-high 45 in the same frame ... WCU has outscored its opponents, 14-to-5, in the ninth inning ... Western is undefeated when leading after seven innings at 11-0 - but are also winless, 0-14, when trailing after seven frames ... the Catamounts have hit two-or-more home runs in a single-game 11 times this season with a 6-5 record;
* With one baseball game and the men's and women's outdoor track & field points the only ones yet to be awarded, Western Carolina has claimed the Parkway Series championship for a second-straight season. The Catamounts enter tonight's head-to-head meeting with the Bulldogs with an 8-to-2 advantage after last Wednesday's, 12-10, win at McCormick Field.
* Western Carolina signee, Andrew Blackwell of Brevard High, accomplished something special on April 1st - and it was not an April Fool's. Playing against mountain-rival, Pisgah High, Blackwell homered for the cycle - meaning he hit four home runs including a solo, two-run, three-run and a grand slam. He opened his feat with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. After striking out in his second at-bat, he then belted grand slam in the fifth, a solo bomb in the sixth and a two-run shot in the seventh for 10 RBI.
