May 15, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Western Carolina pitcher Matt Benedict allowed just one run over 7.0 innings of work to lead the Catamount baseball team to an 8-1 win over Samford in the second game of a three-game Southern Conference series Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford drops to 28-21 overall and 15-10 in Southern Conference play with the loss. Western Carolina improves to 31-17-1 overall and 13-12-1 in league play.

Samford was led at the plate by Brad Moss with a solo home run in a 1-for-3 performance. Kyle Putkonen pitched 7.0 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits and striking out five batters while walking just one to take the loss and drop his season record to 3-6.

For Western Carolina at the plate, Matt Johns went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Trevor Collias went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Ross Heffley went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI, while Tyler White went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Benedict struck out six batters while walking three in the winning performance. He improved his season record to 8-1.

Western Carolina got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the second inning. White singled to right field to drive in Collias for a 1-0 WCU lead.

Samford came back to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Moss hit a solo home run to left field to make the score 1-1.

The Catamounts plated three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take the lead for good at 4-1. Ollie Goulder doubled to right-center field to drive in Tyler Kirkpatrick to give WCU the lead. Collias then scored from third base on a sacrifice bunt by Cameron Dullnig. White then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Goulder for a three-run Catamount lead.

Western Carolina added a run in the sixth inning, two runs in the seventh inning and one more in the ninth to take the 8-1 win. In the sixth inning, Collias led the inning off with a solo home run to left field to make the score 5-1. Johns hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning for a 7-1 WCU lead. In the ninth inning, Heffley doubled to drive in Johns for the game's final run.

Samford and Western Carolina will conclude their three-game series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game will be the final home game for Samford's 11 seniors, and those seniors will be honored prior to the start of the game.

Sunday's game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game live online via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Sunday's Game