Baseball Southern Conference

Western Carolina Alum Makes Major League Debut

Cullowhee, N.C. - Jason Beverlin, a former All-American pitcher at Western Carolina, had his minor league contract purchased by the Cleveland Indians on July 27 and made his Major League Baseball debut with the Tribe on July 29 at Oakland. He is the first Catamount to play in the major leagues since Paul Menhart, who played for three teams from 1993-98.

Beverlin, who is wearing number 49 for the Indians, pitched 2.1 innings in his debut, which Cleveland won 8-6. He also pitched on Aug. 1 and Aug. 3 at Seattle, giving the right-hander 5.1 innings on the season with a 6.75 ERA and eight strikeouts.

Beverlin earned All-American honors for the Cats in 1994, leading WCU to an NCAA Regional berth. The Royal Oak, Mich., native posted an 11-4 record in 124.1 innings with 154 strikeouts and a 2.39 ERA. Beverlin was a two-time first team All-Southern Conference pick and was tabbed the league's Most Valuable Pitcher in 1994. In three seasons at Western (1992-94), he set single-season records for wins (12 in 1993), strikeouts (154 in 1994) and innings pitched (124.1 in 1994). Beverlin finished his career fourth on the school's all-time wins list (27), second on the all-time strikeouts list (306) and fifth on the all-time innings pitched list (285.0).