• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1997-02-06_Vol62_No17_05

2% Hestern (Earnltman Sports Thursday, February 61997 5 Catamount Baseball Off to Impressive Start BRYAN SHARPE SPORTS EDITOR Western Carolina University opened up the 1997 baseball season this past weekend in quite an impressive fashion, taking two of three games on the road against the defending Trans America Athletic Conference west division champions, Jacksonville State University. The Catamounts pulled out a squeaker for their first win of the season on Saturday. Transfer infielder Jeremy Bruce provided the heroics for the Cats in extra innings, as he singled in another transfer, outfielder Chuck Koone, to provide Western with a 7-6 victory. WCU was trailing 6-5 going into the last inning before tying the game and sending the opening game into an extra stanza. This made the first time since the 1990 season that the Cats opened up their season on a winning note. The winning pitcher for the Cats was Chris Waters, who pitched two scoreless innings of relief to seal the win for Western. Jacksonville State evened the series in Saturday's second game, 10-1. Western could only muster four hits throughout the game while the Gamecocks manufactured 11 hits. The rubber match was played on Sunday in a tightly contested battle between two equally determined teams. The game saw Western cruise to a what seemed like a commanding 9-2 lead, but the home team would not go down without a fight as the Gamecocks scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at nine apiece. However, the Cats refused to let the game slip away from them. Senior catcher J.P. Burwell led off the ninth inning with a single. Freshman Tracy Biggs, who also starts for the Catamounts football team at tailback, came into run for Burwell. Biggs went on to score two outs later as pinch hitter Dave McKay brought him home from third base. Sophomore pitcher Donnie Suttles gained the win, pitching three and one-third innings of relief for the Cats, including sending the Gamecocks down in order in the ninth inning. Standout performances for the third game included three hits by Bruce, first baseman Alex Tolbert batted in three runs, and Frankie Ward, a transfer catcher also had three hits including a solo home lun. "We competed and played hard in all three games," said WCU Head Coach Keith LeClair, "and stayed poised when they came back on us, and showed a lot of character in coming from behind to win two games against a very good baseball team. "I was pleased with our intensity, defense and the way we swung our bats, and despite the number of runs they scored, I saw some very positive things on our pitching staff that makes me think we are going to be okay," LeClair said. The Catamounts v. ill face some tough competition this weekend as they battle three teams from the Colonial Athletic Association in Charleston. The Cats will face Old Dominion on Friday at 10 a.m., Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday at 5 p.m., and East Carolina on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. 'PHILLIPS" CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the University of Colorado. "Joel [Flemming] had a lot to do with it, but I think the biggest influence that led me to come to Western was my little brother," Phillips said. "There's a lot of personal things that are going on at home and I felt like I needed to be close to him. "It was real hard at Western Nebraska because he couldn't come and see me, or come talk to me, or call me as much. When I came to Western it really helped our contact with each other." Phillips said that his contact with his brother is especially important because of his upbringing. "The reason I moved from Alexandria to North Carolina was because my mother raised me, " Philips said. "She got stressed out because me couldn't supply the things that I needed as far as going to school and stuff, and she turned toward drugs. "It really affected me because I noticed the change in her behavior and the effect that it was having on me and my younger bother. My grand mother got legal custody of me and that's when I moved to Salisbury. "I really think that basketball was a turning point for me," Phillips continued. "Because at the time, I was caught up in all the wrong things on the street. " Phillips said that after moving to Salisbury he realized that he could play basketball and began to view it as his "way out." He said that he felt at ease and comfortable with his teammates. "I felt like I had a true family because I never had it at home," Phillips said. "Once I got on the court and I was around the guys that could understand and relate to things I was doing, it made me feel a lot better." Despite all of the passion that Phillips displays for the game, he says that when basketball is over, he wants to be able to look back and say that he had a good time. Judging from his numbers so far this season—14.8 ppg, a team high, 5.4 rpg—he just might be able to do that. Cats Suffer Damaging Loss at GSU CHAD GARRETT STAFF WRITER Western Carolina's Feb. 1 loss to Georgia Southern, 83-71, all but clinched the south division title for UT-Chattanooga, which is still unbeaten in conference play at 8-0. The Cats desperately needs some victories to help position themselves for the defense of their Southern Conference Tournament Championship, as they are a dismal 0-5 on the road in the conference this season. Bobby Phillips once again led the way for Western Carolina (9-10, 2-6) as he tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs. Scott Scholtz scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. The only other Catamount to score in double figures was Kerry Wright, with 10. Scholtz and Phillips combined to be the first Catamount duo to have double-doubles in the same game this season. It Intramural Basketball Polls As of January 31,1997 Men's All Campus 1. TripleX 2. Pi Kappa Alpha A 3. Butter Babies 4. Pi Lambda Phi 5. River Cats 6.. Sigma Phi Epsilon 7. Hooterville Express 8. Sigma Chi 9. Delta Sigma Phi 10. Sigma Chi B Women's Top 5 1. Bad Girls 2. Whiptails 3. PhiMu 4. HelderHunies 5. Alpha Xi Delta Men's Small Campus 1. Ready to Run 2. Killer Bees 3. Barons 4. Krimson Tide 5. Workin Class 6. Cavaliers 7. Voo Doo Children 8. The Express 9. Silver Bullets 10. House Flys was done only once last season. The game began evenly through the first 20 minutes of play. Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than four points as the game went back and forth including nine lead changes and nine ties in the first half. Western shot a mediocre 37.98 from the floor in the first half, but picked up the slack by hitting a trio of three-pointers and going 16 for 16 from the foul line. Meanwhile, the Eagles nailed five shots from behind the arc and shot a respectable 43.8 percent from the floor. The two teams played to a 41-41 tie at the break. The Catamounts jumped out to a four point lead on a hook shot by Scholtz and a lay-up by Phillips to start the second half. Western would manage only one bucket, a lay-up by Dondrell Witmore, over the next eight minutes. Worse than that, GSU scored 18 points during the same stretch. Rod Willie lead the charge for the Eagles as he scored eight of his 15 points, including two three-pointers, during the run. The Cats held their ground from there, until the 4:30 mark. Brett Carey entered the game and immediately hit a three- pointer to spark one last surge by the Cats. Scott Scholtz got credit for a bucket on a goaltending call to finish off a 12- 3 Catamount run and cut the lead to three with 1:56 to go in the game. But, the Cats could get no closer. Western could not find the bottom of the net and was forced to start fouling. Georgia Southern hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch, including 3-4 by Elvardo Rolle, to seal the win. The Catamounts shot only 32.3 percent from the floor for the game—the worst performance from a WCU team in a Southern Conference game since the 1990-91 season. In addition, the Cats connected on only four of 22 from three-point range. One bright spot for the Cats was their foul shooting: Western hit 25 of 30. Georgia Southern (8-12, 4- 4) had four players who scored in double digits. Fernando Daniel lead the way with 19 points and Elvardo Rolle went for 17. Doug Beaty turned in a double-double of his own with 11 points and 10 boards. The best all-around game was turned in by Rod Willie who scored 15 points, hauled in seven rebounds, and dished out five assists. This is a tough game for the Cats to lose, simply because they know they should have won. On top of that, this loss really puts the pressure on Western, as everyone struggles to get in good position for the Southern Conference Tournament in Greensboro, Feb. 22-March 2. Luckily, Western is scheduled to play four of their last six conference games at home, were they are 6-1 this season. The Cats get another shot at Georgia Southern, at home on February 22. Cats Rally Past Sues CHAD GARRETT STAFF WRITER Western bounced back from a road loss at Georgia Southern Monday night as they struggled to a 65-54 victory over East Tennessee State (6-15,1-8), the last-place team in the Southern Conference. The Cats did get a much needed win, but they were not exactly impressive. ETSU had beaten Western in ten of their last 14 games prior to Monday night. Both teams started out slowly, but WCU was absolutely ragged. The Bucs came out with some fiery, defensive intensity and opened up a 12-4 lead in the first five and a half minutes of the game. Bobby Phillips made a free throw, a jump shot, and a lay- up to stop the bleeding. Joel Flemming then connected on his first of 3 three-pointers on the night and the Cats were in business. Flemming hit his second long-range bomb of the half to cap a 12-2 run and give the Cats their first lead of the game at 23- 21 with 5:09 remaining before intermission. Western extended the lead to four with a minute and a half to play and clung to a two point lead at half-time. ETSU was able to stay with the Cats in the first half, thanks to a 58 percent shooting effort from the floor. Once again Western come oui of the locker room flat, and ETSU took full advantage. Reggie Todd scored six points in a 10-2 run that opened up a seven-point lead for the visiting Bucs. The Cats again faced the challenge of digging themselves out of an early hole. This time they decided to do it right. WCU went on an inciedible 21-4 run to open up a ten-point lead at 55- 45. Six players scored at least one bucket during the onslaught, and Phillips lead the way with a dunk, two lay-ups, and a free throw. At this point the Buccaneers were forced to begin fouling. For a moment it looked like the strategy might work as the lead was cut to six points with 37 seconds to play. But, the Cats got it together and put the game away by hitting five of six from the free throw line in the last 30 seconds. The final 11 point margin was the largest of the game for either team. Reggie Todd, a late addition to the Bucs starting lineup, had a great game scoring 16 points and grabbing ten rebounds for his first double- double of the year. The only other Buccaneer in double figures was freshman center Ryan Wilson, who scored 10. Joel Flemming blew up for 20 points, six assists and two steals as he continued his hot play. Bobby Phillips scored in double figures, with 17, for the ninth straight game. Phillips also pulled down a team high nine rebounds and made five steals. Scott Scholtz played a solid game, throwing in 15 points and getting eight rebounds. Both teams had eight players that played at least ten minutes in the game. The Cats (10-10, 3-6) have won ten of their last 11 games in the friendly confines of Ramsey Center. Needless to say, it is a good thing that the Cats will be playing three of their last five games at home. They will need victories in all of those games as well as victories at App. State and Furman. Next up for the Catamounts is a trip to Lexington, Ky., to play the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, who were upset in overtime at South Carolina Tuesday night. Personal note: Two years ago, I watched the Cats put a serious scare into the Duke Blue Devils for three-quarters of the game, and when this year's team left Cincinnati, Ohio, the Bearcats let go a collective sigh of relief. So, the Cats do have a chance against Kentucky if they play defense the way they are capable and knock down the three-point shot. Does anyone recall a gamp between Western Carolina and some school called Purdue... PHOTO TERRY K. ROBERTS/WC Bo&fty and Joel: Comrades on and off the Court. Intramural Events and Champions 1. RESULTS OF THE 3 POINT SHOOTOUT are as follows: All Campus Men's Champion: James Ford, Krimson Tide All Campus Fraternity champion: Jason Loggin, Lambda Chi Alpha All Campus Women's Independent Champion: Lynette Hicks, Whiptails 2. WOMEN'S 4-WALL RACQUETBALL "SINGLES" will occur Tuesday, February 11th for Sororities and Wednesday, February 12th for Independents at 6:15pm at the Ramsey Center 4-wall Racquetball Courts. Come prepared to participate; equipment will be furnished. 3. VOLLEYBALL TEAM SIGN-UPS (men and women) will occur in Office #13 of Reid Gym from Monday, February 10th through Wednesday, February 19th. 4. VOLLEYBALL RULES CLINIC will occur on Thursday, February 20th in Room 132 of Reid Gym at 4:30pm for Intramural Assistants and 4:00pm for Intramural Unit Managers. 5. MEN'S 4-WALL RACQUETBALL "SINGLES" TOURNAMENT RESULTS: All Campus Champion 6. MEN'S 1-ON-l BAS- All Campus 5'6" and KETBALL RESULTS: under All Campus 6' and under Champion Ryan Anna Sime, Phi Mu Stone Sorority Champion All Campus 6' and over All Campus 5'6" and Champion Frank over McNeill, BSU Suzanne Hauck, Zeta 7. WOMEN'S 1-ON-l Tau Alpha BASKETBALL RESULTS: Sorority Champion over All Campus 5'6" and 8. COED RACQUET- BALL DOUBLES will occur Thursday, February 13th at 6:15 in the 4-Wall Racquetball Courts of the Ramsey Activity Center. Equipment furnished, come prepared to participate. under Tracy Morrow, Bad Girls Independent Champion All Campus 5'6" and Wallace, Mike Ginn Lisa All Campus Runner-up Whiptails Dependent Cham- Alban pion

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1997-02-06
  • Date digitized: 2020-01-13
• Extent
  • Dimension: 14" x 11.25"
  • Pages: 10 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1997-02-06_Vol62_No17
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library