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Niagara University Athletics

Tucker
James Gray
3
Niagara NIA 0-1
22
Winner Western Carolina WCU 1-0
Niagara NIA
0-1
3
Final
22
Western Carolina WCU
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Niagara NIA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 2
Western Carolina WCU 2 0 0 0 0 16 0 4 X 22 17 1

W: Carson Lowder (1-0) L: Bruning, Jacob (0-1)

3
Niagara NIA 0-2
17
Winner Western Carolina WCU 2-0
Niagara NIA
0-2
3
Final
17
Western Carolina WCU
2-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Niagara NIA 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 2
Western Carolina WCU 0 2 0 0 0 5 3 7 X 17 14 3

W: Jacob Corn (1-0) L: Smyth, Kyle (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

NU Drops Two To WCU On Opening Day

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Purple Eagles (0-2) dropped a pair of games to Western Carolina (2-0) to open the 2022 season on Friday.

Game One – Western Carolina 22, Niagara 3
Game Recap
  • Niagara started off strong in the first inning, with Dawson Bailey hitting a lead-off single.
  • An RBI double to left center from Cole O'Connor scored Bailey and gave the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead.
  • A sacrifice fly from Max Giordano sent O'Connor across the plate and Niagara led, 2-0, going into the bottom of the first inning.
  • Western Carolina tied things up in the bottom of the first, 2-2, scoring on a wild pitch and a solo homerun.
  • Liam Ward doubled down the left field line in the second inning, but NU wasn't able to capitalize and the score remained the same, 2-2.
  • In the top of the sixth, O'Connor singled up the middle to lead off the inning. Giordano also had a single in the inning, advancing O'Connor into scoring position, but the Catamounts got the remaining two outs they needed to close out the top half of the inning and keep NU off the board.
  • Western Carolina had a monster bottom of the sixth, scoring 16 runs to take an 18-2 lead over the Purple Eagles.
  • Bailey and Cole Tucker each picked up a hit over the next two innings, but Western Carolina added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead, 22-2.
  • Josh Marchese hit a lead-off  homerun in the top of the ninth frame, but it was not enough to overcome the Catamounts as NU fell to Western Carolina, 22-3, in its first game of the 2022 season.

Eagle's Eye On
  • Bailey had a team-high three hits, while O'Connor and Tucker each had two.
  • Giordano, Marchese and O'Connor each had one RBI.
  • Jacob Bruning (0-1) took the loss on the mound. He struck out three and allowed four earned runs in 5.0 innings pitched.

Game Two – Western Carolina 17, Niagara 3
Game Recap
  • Both teams went scoreless in the first inning, with Marcus Cashman fanning all three Catamount batters in order in the bottom of the frame.
  • In the top of the second, an RBI single from Nick Castellana put the Purple Eagles on the board and gave NU a 1-0 lead over Western Carolina.
  • A two-run homerun from the Catatmounts in the bottom of the second left NU trailing by one run, 2-1.
  • In the top of the third, Bailey homered to left field, tying the score, 2-2. An RBI single from Tucker put the Purple Eagles back in the lead, 3-2.
  • The score remained the same through the next two and a half innings, with Cashman striking out five more batters, before being relieved by Kyle Smyth in the bottom of the sixth.
  • The Catamounts reclaimed the lead in the sixth inning, scoring five runs to get ahead of the Purple Eagles by four, 7-3.
  • Western Carolina added two runs in the seventh and seven in the eighth to extend its lead, 17-3.
  • The Purple Eagles went down in order in the ninth and fell to the Catamounts by the final score of 17-3.

Eagle's Eye On
  • In his first start of the season, Cashman fanned a career-high 10 batters. He gave up just four hits and two earned runs in 5.0 innings pitched.
  • Bailey, Tucker and Castellana each had one hit and one RBI four the Purple Eagles. Castellana's hit was the first of his career.
  • Smyth (0-1) took the loss. He struck out one and allowed two earned runs in 1.0 inning pitched.

Up Next
  • The Purple Eagles play two more games against the Catamounts; one on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2:00 p.m. and one on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 1:00 p.m.

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