UNCG sweeps weekend series from Western Carolina: Slack, Walker and Crawford with key roles…

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG received a strong pitching performance from Warren Slack(Southwest Guilford HS) and held off a ninth-inning rally from Western Carolina as the Spartans defeated the Catamounts, 5-4, on Friday evening in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.

Slack went 8 1/3 innings for the Spartans (8-5, 1-0 Southern Conference) and allowed just three runs on seven hits to move to a perfect 3-0 on the year. He also struck out eight batters without yielding a walk. Jonathan Jones picked up his first save of the season after coming in to pitch to the final batter.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG trailed 5-0 after four innings of play, but rallied to complete the sweep over Western Carolina, 9-6, on Sunday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.(Cody Walker/Grimsley HS went 2-5 with a triple, 2 RBI’s and one run scored, while Ray Crawford/Dudley HS was 2-5 with a double and one run scored…..)

It marked the first time UNCG (10-5, 3-0 Southern Conference) has swept an opening SoCon series since 2008 and the first time the Spartans have swept Western Carolina since 2004.

Cody Walker(Grimsley HS) had a 2-for-5 day at the plate with a triple and pair of RBI and Joe Hager also added a pair of RBI. Trevor Edwards went 1-2 with two walks and added a solo home run.

After Western Carolina stretched its lead to 6-2 in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Martin, UNCG mounted its rally to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. John Hein, Ray Crawford(Dudley HS) and Drew Gehringer all singled to lead off the inning and load the bases.

Hein then scored on a passed ball before Crawford and Gehringer scored on a triple to left center by Walker that make it 6-5. Martin then singled through the left side of the infield to score Walker and tie the game at six.

The Spartans return to the diamond on Wednesday as they host Princeton at 6 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.