April 20, 2001
FRANKEY'S TWO HOME RUNS POWER FURMAN PAST WESTERN CAROLINA 11-8
GREENVILLE -- Dominic Frankey went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI to lead Furman to an 11-8 win over Western Carolina in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Furman Stadium.
Frankey, a freshman first baseman from Hamilton, Ohio, belted a three-run home run to key Furman (23-18, 12-9 SoCon) to a six-run third inning and later added a two-run blast in the fourth inning to give the Paladins a 10-3 lead.
Furman added another run in the seventh on an RBI single by Adam Etherington to make it 11-3 and quelled a four-run rally by Western Carolina (20-20, 12-9 SoCon) in the ninth to post their third straight win.
Sophomore righthander Tom Mastny (5-4) went eight innings to gain the victory, giving up six hits, two runs, and two walks while striking out four.
Furman's early game offensive show came against Catamount starting pitcher Ryan Basner (4-7), who surrendered 11 hits and 10 runs in five innings of work.Only six of Basner's 10 runs were earned, however, as the Catamounts committed four erorrs in the contest.
Also contributing to Furman's 14-hit attack were Adam Etherington (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Derek Norman (2-for-4, 2 runs), and Ryan Presnell (2-for-5, run).
Western Carolina was paced by Donovan Minero, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
A Todd Buchanan two-out double gave Western Carolina a 1-0 lead in the first before Furman answered with two runs in the second when Danny Rueckel scored on a error and Brandon Barrett crossed the plate on a single to deep short by Richie Dean.
The Catamounts went up 3-2 in the third, scoring twice on an RBI single by Todd Roper and a sacrifice fly by Minero, before Furman took control with six runs in the bottom of the inning.
Clint Hill led off the frame with a single to center and stole second before coming around to tie the game at 3-3 on a Norman double down the left field line.Chris Valdes then singled to left to score Norman and advanced to second when Catamount third baseman Ryan Schade's throw to second hit the field umpire Danny Trexton. After Presnell reached first on a bunt single, Frankey belted a Basner pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run to make it 7-3. The Paladins added another run to make it 8-3 on Etherington's RBI single.
With the Paladins leading 11-4, Furman reliever Mike Dugan walked the first three batters to load the bases in the ninth before Rusty Putnam came in to record the final three outs, but not before Minero doubled to center field to highlight a four-run Catamount rally. Putnam, however, recovered to get Doug Myers to bounce into a double play to end the game.
Furman and Western Carolina continue the three-game conference series on Saturday with a single game beginning at 6:00 p.m. Sunday's series finale is scheduled to start at 1:00 P.M.