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 Kenny Smith was among five Catamounts to be named to the Chapel Hill Regional all-tournament team. |
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June 4, 2007
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Western Carolina, which finishes the season as the only team from the Southern Conference to eclipse the 40-win plateau at 42-20, landed a regional-best five on the Chapel Hill Regional All-Tournament team, announced by tournament officials following Monday afternoon's championship game. WCU led with five, with regional champion, UNC, and East Carolina each putting three on the honorary squad.
Saturday's winning pitcher, red-shirt sophomore Drew Saberhagen, seniors John Ingram and Kenny Smith, junior Steven Strausbaugh, and freshman Nick Liles headlined the list for the Catamounts, which earned just the second at-large bid to the NCAA Field of 64 in program history.
Saberhagen pitched a seven-hit shutout through eight innings of work for Western in the shutout victory over No. 4 Jacksonville, propelling WCU into Sunday's rematch with East Carolina. The transfer from Calabasas, Calif., struck out five Dolphins without allowing a walk to earn his team-best ninth victory of the season. He finished the year with a 2.87 ERA, giving up just 18 free passes in 106.2 innings pitched.
Ingram led Western on the weekend at the regional, hitting .500 (8-for-16) with a pair of home runs and a triple. In driving in four runs, the Alpharetta, Ga., native amassed a 1.000 slugging percentage. He was selected to the team in the position assigned for the designate hitter, which on the all-regional team can go to a player deserving from a position already filled.
Smith, who tied WCU's single-season RBI record with 84 runs driven in on the year, hit .316 (6-for-19) in the regional with a pair of homers, a double and five RBI. The Asheville, N.C., native, who transferred to Western from UNC Wilmington prior to this season, posted a .684 slugging percentage with just one strikeout in 19 at bats in Chapel Hill. Being named to the all-regional team caps a solid season for Smith, who was the consensus SoCon Player of the Year selected by both the league's head coaches and voting media, as well as a second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.
Strausbaugh posted the team's second-best batting average in four regional games, reaching safely in eight of his 17 at bats (.471) with a pair of doubles and an RBI triple. The Venice, Fla., native slugged .706 for the tournament. Rounding out the five selections to the all-regional squad was Liles, who recoded three base hits on the weekend including a two RBI double to help spark a four-run inning on Monday against top-seeded North Carolina.
As a team, Western hit .322 (51-of-150) over the four days in Chapel Hill, with 15 extra base hits including six home runs. Defensively, WCU turned three double plays in the field, caught four would-be base stealers and picked off one runner.
2007 NCAA Baseball Tournament June 1-4, 2007 - Chapel Hill, N.C.Chapel Hill Regional All-Tournament Team
P - Drew Saberhagen, Western Carolina P - Rob Wooten, North Carolina 1B - Stephen Batts, East Carolina 2B - Kenny Smith, Western Carolina SS - Josh Horton, North Carolina (MVP) 3B - Nick Liles, Western Carolina OF - Reid Fronk, North Carolina OF - Steven Strausbaugh, Western Carolina OF - Jamie Ray, East Carolina C - Corey Kemp, East Carolina DH - John Ingram, Western Carolina
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