Furman Tames Western Carolina 14-2

April 15, 2005

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Matthew Betsill went 5-for-6 and drove in four runs and Sam Perry pitched seven strong innings to lead Furman to an 14-2 win over Western Carolina in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Furman Stadium.

Betstill's five hits and four RBI marked career highs and included a pair of doubles and three singles. Perry (3-3), meanwhile, earned the win after limiting Western Carolina to only six hits and two earned runs while striking out five and walking one.

Caleb McConnell (5-4) absorbed the loss after leaving the contest in the second inning with an arm injury and the Catamounts trailing 2-0.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Furman (12-19, 5-10 SoCon) and marked only the second loss in the last seven games for Western Carolina (21-12, 9-7 SoCon).

Nick Wajda collected three base hits, and Ben Terry, Andrew Greene, and Sam McLain two each for the Paladins, who tallied 14 hits in the contest and played their first errorless game since a 9-2 win over Jacksonville State on Mar. 20 -- a span of 12 games. Greene's four RBI also represented a career high.

Furman touched up Western Carolina for two runs in the first inning. With one out Greene reached on a bunt single, and Case Cassedy followed with a fielder's choice after Catamount second baseman Chris Davis failed to tag Greene on his advance to second. Sam McLain then singled to drive in Greene, and Betsill singled to plate Cassedy.

In the second inning Catamount starting pitcher McDonnell was forced to leave the game with an arm injury with two outs. His replacement, Greg Holland, retired Andrew Greene on a ground out to end the frame, but Holland ran into trouble in the third. Back-to-back doubles by McLain and Betsill scored McLain to make it 3-0. After Betsill stole third base, he came on a Joe Daysh sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead.

Furman upped its advantage to 5-0 in the fourth after Wajda singled to lead off, advanced to second on a passed ball, and to third base on a Terry single before coming home on an ground out.

Western Carolina got on the board in the fifth on Nate Hall's solo home run to left center, but Furman answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on Wajda's RBI double for a 6-1 lead.

The Catamounts made it 6-2 on Jared Greenwood's lead off home run in the sixth inning.

Furman, however, took command with five runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Greene's two-out, two-run single off Catamount reliever Andrew Larrimore to give the Paladins a commanding 11-2 cushion.

The Paladins finished off their scoring barrage with three runs in the eighth, including a Betstill's two-run double to left center field.

Furman and Western Carolina continued their conference series on Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. game.