GREENSBORO, N.C. – In a mirror image of last night's series opener, Western Carolina scored early and often to take a 17-6 victory over the UNCG baseball team Saturday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The win for the Catamounts evens the series with the Spartans who won last night's contest by a 17-2 margin.

Western Carolina (9-10, 1-1) racked up 15 hits of which eight went for extra bases. UNCG (8-12, 1-1) piled up nine hits of its own – including a trio of home runs and a double. The teams combined for six errors and 16 walks to go along with three hit batters.

Senior RHP Brennen James fell to 0-4 after tossing four innings and giving up eight runs (five earned) on seven hits with six walks and three strikeouts. Korey Anderson picked up the win to improve to 2-2 as he threw seven innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Senior outfielder Zac MacAneney extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a 2-for-4 performance and also scored a run. Junior infielder Collin Woody added two hits, a run scored and a RBI while junior catcher Jake Hall went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and two home runs. It was his second career multi-home run game with the other occurring last season at former Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern. Kramer Ferrell paced the Catamount offense with three hits, three runs scored and five RBI.

Bradley Strong drew a walk to lead off the contest but was thrown out at second by Hall as he tried to steal the base. Consecutive doubles by Brett Pope and Matt Smith set the stage for a Danny Bermudez RBI groundout that put Western on top 1-0. The Spartans responded in the bottom of the frame as MacAneney led off with a double and scored on a throwing error at first.

A hit and an error plated two runs for the Catamounts in the top of the second as they pulled ahead 3-1. Western Carolina took advantage of another UNCG miscue in the top of the third and scored three runs on two hits – establishing a 6-1 cushion.

Woody brought the Blue and Gold to within four runs with a two-out home run in the bottom of the third. However, the Catamounts plated five runs in the middle innings to stake themselves to an 11-2 lead. Hall's first home run of the day in the bottom of the sixth left the score at 11-4 through six complete.

Western put the game away for good in the top of the seventh, scoring five runs on three hits and another UNCG error. Hall homered to lead off the bottom of the eighth and freshman Ryne Sigmon scored on a wild pitch later in the inning before the Catamounts' Reece Strong recorded a RBI double in the top of the ninth to complete the scoring.

The teams will play the rubber game of their SoCon opening series Sunday at 1 p.m. at 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.