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May 7, 2003
Cullowhee, N.C. - Not only does the Western Carolina baseball team appear in the national polls, chiming in at 26th in Collegiate Baseball and 30th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, but Alan Beck and Rod Goldston, as well as the team, rank among the NCAA leaders in several statistical categories.
Beck ranks 18th in the NCAA in RBI, driving in 1.29 runners per game, and 20th in home runs with an average of 0.33 per contest. The senior from Hudson, N.C., additionally leads the Southern Conference in both categories with a total of 62 RBI and 16 home runs. Beck ranks among the SoCon's top 10 in nine of the 12 offensive categories. Besides leading the league in home runs and RBI, he ranks first in runs scored (57), second in total bases (125), second in on base percentage (.469), second in slugging percentage (.679), fourth in walks (34), seventh in batting (.353) and seventh in hits (65).
In Western's 24 conference games, Beck is batting .391, fourth-best in the league, while pacing the SoCon with eight home runs, 33 RBI, a .739 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage.
Goldston ranks third in the NCAA in doubles with an average of 0.51, trailing Lamar's Jordan Foster (0.56) and Arizona State's Dustin Pedroia (0.54). The senior from Goldsboro, N.C., leads the SoCon with his 24 doubles on the year, which is one shy of the WCU single-season record and ranks sixth (tied) on the league's season list. Goldston owns the WCU career doubles mark with 68, a number which ranks third on the SoCon all-time list. He only needs seven more doubles for the league's all-time record.
Goldston is fourth in the SoCon with a .374 batting average, while ranking fifth in hits (67), fourth in RBI (46), fourth in total bases (107), fifth in slugging percentage (.592), sixth in runs scored (47), eighth in on base percentage (.457) and ninth in walks (26).
The Catamounts lead the SoCon and rank 18th nationally in scoring 8.2 runs per game, while pacing the conference in total runs scored (392), batting (.315), home runs (51), RBI (348), slugging percentage (.487), on base percentage (.395) and doubles (121).
Other Cats to rank among the SoCon leaders include Todd Buchanan, Wayne Kilmer, Todd Roper, Ryan Basner, Derrick Hawk, Ryan Foster, Brad Josey and Brian Barnes. Buchanan, who is 12th in the league with a .339 batting average, ranks second in home runs (11), third in RBI (55), third in total bases (113), third in slugging percentage (.617), fourth in doubles (16), eighth in hits (62) and eighth in runs scored (46). Kilmer is ninth in the SoCon in batting (.347), while ranking second in stolen bases (22), third in runs scored (51) and fourth in hits (67). Roper is ninth in runs scored (43).
On the mound, Basner is 10th in the league with a 3.38 ERA, while ranking first in games started (14), second in innings pitched (96.0), third in complete games (2), fourth in wins (6) and 10th in strikeouts (62). Hawk is third in the SoCon with eight wins, going 6-1 in league games, and fifth in appearances with 22, tying teammate Barnes. Foster, who is WCU's all-time saves leader, ranks second in the SoCon this season with six. Josey is 13th in the league with a 3.50 ERA, ranks 10th in innings pitched (72.0) and is one of seven SoCon pitchers to throw a complete-game shutout this season.
Western Carolina is 34-14 and owns a .708 winning percentage to rank 28th among NCAA Division I teams. The Cats also own a SoCon-best 19-5 league mark and could clinch the regular-season title this weekend. Western will host Appalachian State for a three-game set to close out its 2003 home schedule. The teams will play a Sunday doubleheader scheduled for 3 pm, while playing a single game on Monday at 6 pm.
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