Scheduled Action for Friday, March 4th.

[NCBBallFan]

New York Tech @ William & Mary 3 pm
Rutgers @ Old Dominion 3 pm
Appalachian State @ Furman 7 pm
Campbell @ High Point 2:30 pm
Charleston Southern @ Winthrop 4 pm
Clemson @ Auburn 7 pm
Duquesne @ Liberty 2:30 pm
Georgia Tech @ Duke 4 pm
Iona @ Norfolk State 1 pm
Lipscomb @ College of Charleston 5 pm
NC State @ Miami (Fla.) 7 pm
Ohio @ UNC Greensboro 6 pm
Stony Brook @ The Citadel 6 pm
Virginia @ Wake Forest 2:30 pm
Virginia Tech @ Maryland 7 pm
West Virginia @ East Tennessee State 4 pm
Kent State vs. Western Carolina 11 am @ Conway SC
James Madison @ Coastal Carolina 4 pm
Niagara @ Charlotte 4 pm
Southern Miss vs. UNC Wilmington 1 pm in Beaumont, Tx
South Carolina vs. Pepperdine 12:15 pm in Minneapolis
Michigan @ East Carolina 11 am
Arizona State vs. North Carolina 5 pm
Akron vs. UNC Asheville 8 pm @ Cookeville, TN (Tennessee Tech)

[rcbbfan]

WCU 4 Kent State 1

Conway, S.C. - Western Carolina junior righthander Caleb McConnell struck out a career-high 10 batters, while walking none, to lead the Catamounts (4-3) to a 4-1 decision over Kent State (3-4) Friday afternoon at the Springmaid Beach Resort Rumble, played at Coastal Carolina's Watson Stadium.

McConnell (Waynesville, N.C./Tuscola HS) improves to 2-1 on the season, allowing six hits and one run over his 7.0 innings pitched. Sylva native Derrick Hawk pitched the eighth and ninth innings to earn his second save of the season. He did not allow a hit, run or walk with five strikeouts in his two innings.

Kent State got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the third. Eric Holick singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI single by Joe Tucker.

The Catamounts answered with three runs in the top of the fourth. Tim Hallam had a leadoff walk and moved to third on a double by Chris Davis. Jared Greenwood followed with a two-run double, while Trey McDaniel walked and Barrett Shaft singled to load the bases. Nate Hall plated Greenwood with a double to right-center field, but McDaniel was gunned down at home and Shaft was thrown out at third on the play to end the inning.


Derrick Hawk picked up his second save of the season, striking out five in 2.0 innings.


Western padded its advantage in the top of the ninth, providing the 4-1 final margin. Steven Strausbaugh delivered a leadoff home run over the left field wall, his team-leading third blast of the season.

Hall and Brandon Zollman each had two hits for the Catamounts, accounting for four of WCU's eight hits. For the Golden Flashes, Tucker and Chuck Moore each had two hits. Kent State starter Evan Smith (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing four hits, three runs and three walks in three-plus innings pitched.

The Catamounts will return to action on Saturday (Mar. 5) at Noon, facing James Madison in the second day of the Springmaid Beach Resort Rumble. Western will close out the three-day event by facing host and 23rd-ranked Coastal Carolina on Sunday at approximately 3:00 pm. Western Carolina will provide live stats for each of the remaining two contests via GameTracker.

[JM15]

Southern Miss pounded UNC-Wilmington, 16-3 on Friday. UNCW dropped to 6-8.

NCSU dropped their ACC opener down in Coral Gables, 6-1 to the Canes.

Watch out! App. State has won 2 in a row. They beat Tenn. Tech on Wednesday, 4-1. They won @ Furman in their conference opener, 5-3. App. State improves to 3-9.

High Point 18, Campbell 5

Pepperdine 7, USC 5
Jon Willard got 2 more hits yesterday to up his season average to .531. He also has 2 doubles, 2 triples and 3 HR's. :229031_ha

ECU 2, Michigan 1
This was ECU's first game in their new ballpark in Greenville. They set a school record with 4,410 in attendance. Wow.