Box Score
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Wofford College baseball team lost 9-4 to Western Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Ronnie Childress Field at Hennon Stadium. The Terriers had nine hits, including two home runs. The Catamounts swept the conference series.
Wofford is now 21-28 on the season and 4-17 in the Southern Conference, while Western Carolina is 24-24 overall and 10-11 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Keith Munns, Shane Kirkley and Mo Seay, all with three hits. Mo Seay had two RBIs.
The Terriers opened the game with a double from Sterling Dye. A ground out by Michael Gilmartin scored Dye for a 1-0 lead. The Catamounts had two hits in their half of the inning, but did not score as Barrett Shaft was thrown out at the plate for the third out.
In the bottom of the second, the Catamounts tied the game with a solo home run by Ryan Mathews over the right field fence. Western Carolina added two runs with a single up the middle by Barrett Shaft in the bottom of the third for a 3-1 advantage.
The Catamounts added a run on a single by Dylan de Graaf in the bottom of the fourth. Nick Liles added an RBI single for a 5-1 lead after four complete innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Western Carolina drove in two more runs on a fielder’s choice by Reid Rollison and a double by Ryan Mathews to go up 7-1.
Wofford led off the top of the seventh with a home run by Shane Kirkley over the right center fence. Keith Munns singled and was brought home by a shot over the left center fence by Mo Seay to make it a 7-4 game. Josh McKinney added a double to left field and a walk to Alex Lee gave Wofford two on with one out, but the Terriers could not cut further into the lead.
Western Carolina added a solo home run from Dylan de Graaf in the bottom of the seventh to and Barrett Shaft hit a solo homer to deep center field in the bottom of the eighth to go up 9-4.
For the Terriers in the top of the ninth, Keith Munns was hit by a pitch and Mo Seay singled for two runners with one out. However two groundouts ended the game with a 9-4 win for Western Carolina.
Wofford starter Tom Dolinak (2-2) went 3.1 innings with seven hits, five runs allowed and one strikeout. John Cornely threw two innings with two hits and two runs. Chip Hunt entered the game in the sixth inning and went with 2.2 innings with two hits and two runs allowed.
For Western Carolina, starter Corey Martin (2-1) threw 6.1 innings with eight hits and four runs and one strikeout. Tyler Sexton went 2.2 for the save with one hit and one strikeout.
Shane Kirkley played in his 209th career game, setting a new school record which was previously held by Strat Stavrou with 208 career games. Kirkley hit his 13th home run of the season, giving him 48 in his career, third on the all-time list. Mo Seay hit his 11th home run of the season. Wofford has lost 19 straight games to the Catamounts, dating back to the 2002 season.
The Terriers return home on May 7 to host South Carolina at 7:00 pm. Wofford will travel to College of Charleston on Friday night for the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series.