GREENSBORO, N.C. – A big offensive outburst propelled the UNCG baseball team to a 17-2 victory over Southern Conference preseason favorite Western Carolina Friday evening in the league opener for both teams at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans improve to 8-11 overall with a 1-0 SoCon mark while the Catamounts drop to 8-10 and 0-1. The Blue and Gold also snapped a six-game skid to the Catamounts after Western Carolina had swept the Spartans in two-straight trips to Greensboro.

UNCG's 17 runs marked a season high and the most in a league contest since May 4, 2008 when the Spartans defeated College of Charleston 18-17 in Greensboro. The Blue and Gold racked up 14 hits with four going for extra bases and took advantage of four WCU errors as well as 11 walks issued by the Catamount pitching staff.

Junior RHP Ryan Clark was fantastic in seven scoreless innings of work and picked up the win to improve to 4-1. He struck out six batters against just two walks, retiring seven-straight hitters in the second through fourth frames. Clark also struck out the side in the sixth inning. Bryan Sammons took the loss to drop to 2-3, giving up five runs on four hits with seven walks and six strikeouts.

Senior infielder Hunter King racked up a season-high three hits in five at bats and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the potent UNCG offense. Junior infielder Collin Woody also picked up three hits to go along with a run scored and a personal-best four RBI. With two hits, senior outfielder Zac MacAneney extended his hitting streak to nine games and chipped in with three runs scored and a RBI. The trio combined for eight hits, four runs scored and 10 RBI in the game. Sophomore catcher Jake Kusz, senior outfielder Eric Kalbfleisch and senior outfielder Tyler Long each notched multiple-hit efforts with Kalbfleisch and Long crossing the plate three times apiece and Kusz twice.

UNCG took the lead quickly in the bottom of the first, using a RBI double and run scoring single from Woody and Kusz to stake itself to a 2-0 advantage. Woody added another RBI in the bottom of the second, lacing a single to left field that plated freshman infielder Austin Embler.

Western Carolina put up its first threat in the top of the fourth, getting runners to second and third after a wild pitch. However, Clark induced a groundout to keep the Catamounts scoreless.

The Blue and Gold began to pull away in the middle innings, scoring eight runs in the fifth and sixth frames. In the bottom of the fifth, Kalbfleisch and freshman Devin Ruiz walked before Long laid down a bunt single to load the bases. With one away, MacAneney produced a RBI single to make it 4-0 and King roped a two-run double down the right field line that scored Long and Ruiz to leave UNCG with a 7-0 cushion. The Spartans would put up another four spot in the bottom of the sixth thanks to three hits and a pair of WCU errors. RBI singles by King and Woody and an Embler RBI groundout accounted for three of the runs while UNCG plated the fourth on a throwing error by Western Carolina catcher Danny Bermudez.

Kusz led off the seventh inning with his first home run of the season, pushing the Spartan lead to 12-0, before a two-run single by King gave UNCG a 14-0 advantage. The Catamounts finally broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the eighth via a Spencer Holcomb RBI double. However, the Spartans came up with three more runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Kalbfleisch RBI double, Ruiz sac fly and Long RBI groundout. Western Carolina scored a run in the top of the ninth to account for the final margin before Woody closed the game out on the mound.

UNCG and Western Carolina will continue their series Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

Keep up with the UNCG baseball team all season by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @uncgbaseball/@uncgsports.