SPARTANBURG, S.C. –The Wofford baseball team dropped the series finale against Western Carolina by a 7-5 score on Sunday afternoon at Russell C. King Field after a ninth inning comeback fell short. The Terriers (31-17, 9-6) scored a run in the second and fourth innings, but a dominant five-run fourth inning for the Catamounts (31-17, 12-6) gave them an early lead. Wofford held off Western Carolina for the rest of the game and a three-run ninth-inning comeback fell short.
Austin Laughlin (1-1) made the start for the Terriers, giving up two runs on four hits in two innings.
Sheldon Egger,
PJ Fitzpatrick,
John Gray,
Miller Alston, and
Corben Childers followed in relief.
Ben Timblin recorded one run on two hits with one RBI for Wofford.
Niko Brini,
Logan Tribble,
Marc Quarrie, and
Hunter Herndon all had hits as well.
After a scoreless first inning, the Catamounts had two outs in the top of the second when they hit two back-to-back home runs for a 2-0 lead.
Marc Quarrie led off for the Terriers in the bottom of the second, and on the first pitch thrown he responded with a solo home run to cut the Catamounts lead to 2-1. The third inning didn't see any runs, but the Catamounts left three runners stranded. A leadoff single by
Cade Collins started the bottom of the third inning for Wofford, but the inning ended with two runners left on base.
The Catamounts had a dominant fourth inning, scoring five runs to extend their lead over the Terriers. With the bases loaded, two singles and a double made it a 6-1 ball game with one out. A wild pitch followed to make it 7-1 before two outs retired the Catamounts. Wofford's inning started with a hit pitch on
Hunter Herndon. With two outs,
Brady Gold popped up to left field, but an error allowed Gold to reach second base and Herndon scored to cut Western Carolina's lead to 7-2.
The Terriers held off the Catamounts' offense for the remainder of the game.
Niko Brini led off with a double to start the Terriers' comeback rally in the bottom of the ninth. An RBI single by
Logan Tribble and an RBI double by
Ben Timblin, along with a throwing error on the play, drove home two runs to cut the lead to 7-4.
Marc Quarrie had a flyout to right field to advance Timblin to third. A groundout by
Hunter Herndon drove in Timblin for a 7-5 ball game. With two outs on the board,
Lucas Manning had a single, but the Catamounts' pitching ended the comeback and secured the series win. Â
Quick Hits:
The Terriers are back on the road to Boiling Springs, North Carolina, as they take on Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, May 6 at 6 p.m., for the final non-conference game of the season.
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