GREENSBORO, N.C. – Riding the arm of senior right-hander Sam Murchison on Senior Day, the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team won game two of a weekend set, 1-0, over the Western Carolina (WCU) Catamounts in The Southern Conference (SoCon) on Friday night at UNCG Baseball Stadium.

With one conference game left in the regular season, UNCG and WCU are now tied at 9-11 in league play. Sunday's rubber match will determine the fifth seed for the 2025 SoCon Baseball Tournament, which begins next Wednesday.

Murchison tossed a career-high nine shutout innings with seven strikeouts en route to the victory. It marked the first complete game shutout for UNCG since Sammy Tortorella posted one last season in a 13-0 seven-inning win against High Point on April 24. The last time it was accomplished in nine innings was by Austin Parsley on April 30, 2022, in a 4-0 win at The Citadel. It also marks UNCG's fourth shutout in general this season and the first since hosting North Carolina A&T and winning 7-0 on March 17.

The game's only run was produced by the Spartans in the bottom of the eighth inning. After Brantley Truitt drew a walk with one out, WCU made its first move to the bullpen of the evening, ending Davis Wright's impressive 7.1-inning outing at 11 strikeouts. UNCG then pounced on Josh Ossiander out of the pen with Jacob Dilley singling through the right side, advancing Truitt to third. With runners on the corners in the next at-bat, Parker Wight hit a double the opposite way that one-hopped off the wall in left to score Truitt. UNCG was grasping a 1-0 after the eighth inning.

Murchison returned to the mound for the ninth inning and closed out his first-career complete game shutout with two more strikeouts.

PITCHING RECORDS:
Sam Murchison: W, 6-5
Davis Wright: L, 4-7

NOTES:

• Murchison's line: 9 IP, 3 hits, 0 R, 4 BB & 7K.
• Wight's team-leading 28th RBI secured the 1-0 win.
• Wight and Kermode each had two hits.
• Truitt scored the go-ahead run.
• UNCG led the way in hits, 6-3, and had no errors compared to WCU's one.
• Both sides left eight runners on base.

RECORDS:
UNCG: 21-31, 9-11 SoCon
WCU: 27-26, 9-11 SoCon

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UP NEXT
The Spartans will face the Catamounts again on Sunday starting at 2:00 p.m. The winner of Sunday's ballgame at UNCG Baseball Stadium with secure the fifth seed for the SoCon Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, next week.

All regular season baseball home games are free admission. The concessions at UNCG Baseball Stadium are open. Bringing in outside food is not permitted and pets are not allowed into the stadium.