CULLOWHEE, N.C.- After a four-hour weather delay, the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team defeated the Western Carolina Catamounts, 16-13 in the 2022 regular-season finale on Saturday Night.
With the win, the Spartans finish in a three-way tie for second place in the regular season with Mercer and Samford. Due the to Southern Conference tie-breaker rules, the Spartans will earn the fourth seed in the conference tournament.
The entire team contributed to the win with 19 hits from the offense and nine strikeouts from the pitching staff.
Austin Koehn earned his second win of the season while
Jake Wolf earned his first save of the season.
SPARTANS INTERVIEWING SPARTANS WITH BRADLEY BOTT
Bott: "Jake got his first save of the season. Tell me how that felt?"
Wolf: "It felt good. The adrenaline was pumping. I was just glad I could pull it out for my guys."
Bott: "Big time save situation. It was a 16-13 game. Tell me how did it feel getting out of that and shaking the guys hands after?"
Wolf: "It felt good. This has to be one of my favorite moments of my baseball career. I'm just happy I was able to pull it out."
Bott: "Big win for the Spartans We're tied for second in the regular season. What can we do going into the tournament to keep up this hot streak?"
Wolf: "We need to stick to the approach at the plate. The guys have been swinging the bats well. If we keep pitching the ball like we do on the weekend then I think we're going to be good."
RECORDS
UNCG: 28-27, 12-9 (SoCon)
Western Carolina: 25-29-1, 9-11-1 (SoCon)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Kennedy Jones started the game with a single right before the game was paused due to lightning in the area.
- Play resumed at 6 p.m. with Hogan Windish at the plate.
- He gave the Spartans an early lead with a two-run home run.
- UNCG scored five runs in the second to grow the lead to 7-0.
- Dallas Callahan, GC Jarman, Zack Budzik, Bradley Bott, and Pres Cavenaugh scored a run in the second.
- The Catamounts scored three in the bottom of the second to make it 7-3.
- Greg Hardison hit a two-RBI single to grow the lead to 9-3.
- UNCG grew the lead to 13-3 by adding three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.
- The Catamounts cut the deficit by scoring eight runs in the bottom of the sixth, 13-11.
- Western Carolina added another run in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game.
- The Spartans added three runs in the ninth inning on three straight RBI singles, 16-12.
- Western Carolina scored a run the bottom of the ninth, but the Spartans were able to pull off the series sweep.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Seven Spartans had a multi-hit performance.
- Jones, Cavenaugh, Jarman, and Bott led with three hits.
- The 19 hits are a season-high.
- Windish hit his 13th home run of the season.
- Sam Murchison and Hunter Shuey led with four strikeouts. Wolf had the last strikeout.
FINAL WORDS FROM COACH GODWIN
"It's remarkable. For our kids to start out 0-7 and then go 12-2 down the stretch, we just played really well. Tonight, was a testimate of how we grinded and battled. I have to give Western credit. It looked like we had the game in hand and then they battled back. Our guys just continued to be resilient so I'm proud of them. We're excited to go into the tournament and start to prepare for that."
UPCOMING
UNCG will head to Greenville, S.C. for the 2022 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament next Wednesday-Sunday. The Spartans will enter the tournament as the fourth seed.
