Western Carolina advances in SoCon tournament

GREENVILLE, S.C. – It was the fifth inning that sealed the win for the Catamounts on Tuesday as No. 8 seed Western Carolina beat ninth-seeded The Citadel 7-3 in the opening contest of the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

Western Carolina (21-30) advances to the double-elimination portion of the bracket and will face No. 1 seed Samford on Wednesday at 9 a.m. The Citadel sees its season end at 12-43.

The Citadel didn’t waste anytime getting on the board first. Tyler Corbitt homered to left field at the top of the first, making the score 1-0. Chas Goodman doubled to right field with two outs, but the Bulldogs couldn’t bring him home as Lane Botkin lined out to the pitcher to end the inning. Western Carolina answered in the bottom of the second with back-to-back doubles by Will Prater and Jalen Jones to tie the game.

After a third inning that saw Western Carolina putting up one and The Citadel putting up two to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of The Citadel, Immanuel Wilder, who homered to lead off the third, started the Catamounts’ rally in the fifth with a single to third. The 2019 SoCon Player of the Year, Justice Bigbie, then singled to center, scoring Wilder with one out.

After a Bulldogs pitching change, Luke Robinson sacrificed to the pitcher to advance both Bigbie and Daylan Nanny into in scoring position. An intentional walk put Andrew Bullock on first to load the bases for Justin Sparks, who singled through the left side to score Nanny to keep the bases loaded. Up next was Prater, who singled to center only to to bring both Bullock and Bigbie home and make the score to 6-3.

The Catamounts held the Bulldogs scoreless throughout the rest of the game but would score one more themselves off a  Robinson home run to right center, making the final score 7-3.

Taylor Purus picked up the win after going 6 2/3 innings in relief and improved his record to 5-4. Jordan Merritt suffered the loss after going 4 innings. He ended his 2019 season with a 3-8 record.

The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases resumes Wednesday at 9 a.m. with No. 8 seed Western Carolina taking on No. 1 seed Samford.

May 21 (Tuesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #8 Western Carolina 7, #9 The Citadel 3              

May 22 (Wednesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)

 (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)

Game 2: #1 Samford vs. #8 Western Carolina                  9 a.m.

Game 3: #4 Mercer vs. #5 Furman                                   12:30 p.m.

Game 4: #3 UNCG vs. #6 ETSU                                      4 p.m.

Game 5: #2 Wofford vs. #7 VMI                                       7:30 p.m.

 

May 23 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
 (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3                        9 a.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5                        12:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3                   4 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5                   7:30 p.m. 

May 24 (Friday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
 (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8                   3:30 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 9                   7 p.m. 

May 25 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9                 12 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11              3:30 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 13 vs. Loser Game 12                7 p.m. 

May 26 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN+)
 (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 14              12 p.m.
^Game 16: Winner Game 15 vs. Loser Game 15              40 minutes after Game 15 

^ if necessary

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