April 22, 2008

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina baseball team will look to complete a first-ever season sweep over the Clemson Tigers tonight when they face off at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The Catamounts defeated Clemson, 6-2, back on April 15 in Clemson, S.C. for just their third win all-time away from home in the series.

Fans can also 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 holds a 9-13 record in Cullowhee against the ACC-member Tigers, who have a 12-49 lead in the 61 meetings overall, with the two teams playing at least one game every year since 1978. The Catamounts have won five of the last eight games played at home, including a win in the most recent contest, 6-3, over the sixth-ranked Tigers on March 20, 2007.

In their first meeting of the year, senior Barrett Shaft turned in a 3-for-4 performance from the plate with four RBI, including a two-run home run, to lead the Cat's offense. Fellow senior Tyler Sexton picked up his second career save after pitching 1.1 scoreless innings, with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.

WCU enters tonight's game with an overall record of 18-20, after winning one of three games at arch-rival Appalachian State this past weekend. They will be looking to bring their non-conference record back to .500, as they hold an 11-12 record in non-conference play so far this season, and have won five of their last six games against teams not in the SoCon.

A pair of sophomores lead the Catamounts at the plate so far this season, with classmates Nick Liles and Brent Greer currently holding batting averages of .369 and .367, respectively. Liles has made a run to the top spot lately, with the help of an 11-game hitting streak that is the longest active run on the team. Greer still holds the team-high for the entire year, having ran off an 18-game hitting streak earlier in the season. He also leads the team with 44 runs scored. Senior catcher Blake Murphy is WCU's top run-producer, as a result of leading the team with 13 home runs, 13 doubles, and 44 RBI, to go along with his .738 slugging percentage and 37 walks.

On the mound, WCU's sophomore class is again tops courtesy of reigning SoCon Co-Pitcher of the Week Chris Masters, who leads the team with a 4.54 ERA and 45 strikeouts on the year. Masters is also tied for the top spot in wins (4) and saves (2), in 18 appearances this season. Last week, he threw 4.2 innings of perfect relief in two games on the mound. Against Appalachian State, he earned the win when he helped trigger an extra-inning victory over the Mountaineers with four full innings unblemished work, including three strikeouts.

Senior Barrett Shaft reached a career milestone this past weekend, when he led off the second game of the Sunday doubleheader with his 300th career hit. He is now one of just three players in Western Carolina history and one of just seven in SoCon history to reach the 300-hit plateau. Coming into tonight's game, he currently sits at 301 hits, a single base knock away from tying Catamount great Matt Raleigh for second place all-time with 302, and ten away from the career record of 311 hits, held by Chris Moore, who achieved his record numbers from 1996-99. With his first at-bat of the game, he will also move into sole possession of second place on the all-time list for career at-bats, with 848 going into the game.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use | About Us | Advertise | Feedback | XML RSS Feeds