Cullowhee, N.C. - Denver Edick and Chris Davis drove in four runs each, Edick hitting two home runs and Davis one, to lead Western Carolina to a 16-3 victory over VMI Friday night at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. The Catamounts improve to 25-15 overall and 14-5 in the Southern Conference, while VMI falls to 14-19, 8-8.
After Catamount starting pitcher Ryan Basner struck out the side to start the game, Western Carolina exploded for five runs in the first, thanks to two doubles and a home run. Todd Roper began the home half with a double and advanced to third on a throwing error. After Alan Beck drew a one-out walk, Todd Buchanan plated Roper with a single to center. Beck and Buchanan executed a double steal and Rod Goldston had an RBI ground out. Buchanan stole home for the Cats' third run and Edick followed with a double. Davis, a sophomore third baseman, capped the inning with a two-run home run to right. The blast was the first for Davis this season and the second of his career.
VMI got on the board with a run in the top of the third. Jon Wade (Marietta, Ga. / Harrison) began the inning with a leadoff triple and scored one batter later on Andy Barden's (Chesterfield, Va. / Manchester) single up the middle. Western answered with two runs in the bottom half, making the score 7-1, as Goldston had a two-out single and Edick followed with a monster home run to left, his fourth blast of the season.
The Keydets trimmed their deficit to 7-3 in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Matt Smith (Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge), Brandon Massenburg (Prince George, Va. / Prince George) and Kelly Sweppenhiser (Herndon, Pa. / Line Mountain) strung together consecutive hits, the last of which was a two-run single to center. Once again, Western answered, scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 8-3. Beck reached on an error, advanced to third on a single by Buchanan and scored on Goldston's ground out.
Western tacked on five runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 13-3. Beck had a leadoff walk and scored on Buchanan's double. Goldston singled and Edick walked to load the bases. Davis followed with a two-run single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Brian Sigmon and Matt Nelson each had RBI ground outs to push across Edick and Davis, respectively.
The Catamounts added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Wayne Kilmer had a leadoff single and came around on Beck's RBI double. Three batters later, Edick sent his second ball over the fence of the night, this time to left-center, for the junior's first multi-home run game of his career.
Basner improved to 4-2 on the year, pitching seven complete, scattering nine hits and giving up three runs. The senior from West Chester, Pa., did not walk a batter and tallied six strikeouts. Alex Obert and Luke Miller worked the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, with each allowing one hits and no runs.
Edick tied a career high with three hits (in four at bats) and with four RBI, while his four runs scored was a career high. Davis, who had three RBI last Wednesday in the Gardner-Webb loss, established a career high with his four RBI. He finished the night 2-for-4 and scored twice. Others to have a solid night at the plate included Beck (1-for-2 with three walks and four runs scored), Buchanan (3-for-5 with two RBI) and Goldston (2-for-5 with two RBI).
For the Keydets, each starter collected at least one hit. Allan Wimmer (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) led the way with his 2-for-4 performance, while Sweppenhiser drove in two. Duke Acors (Richmond, Va. / Atlee) (3-5) took the loss, allowing eight hits, eight runs (six earned) and three walks with nine strikeouts.
Western Carolina and VMI will play the second game of their three-game set on Saturday (April 19) with first pitch set for 4 pm.
Courtesy of the Western Carolina Sports Information Department
