Charleston, WV (July 16, 2008) – In a rematch of the 2007 South Atlantic League Championship, the West Virginia Power scored 14 runs on 17 hits and took the first game of the series by landslide with a 14-4 victory over the Columbus Catfish on Wednesday night at Appalachian Power Park.

Zelous Wheeler reached on Greg Sexton’s fielding error with the bases loaded in the first inning to score Matt Cline. The Catfish tied the game in the third inning after throwing errors from Eric Fryer and Caleb Gindl allowed Henry Wrigley to score. The Power scored three times in the bottom of the third to take the lead and never looked back. Steffan Wilson ripped an RBI single, Anderson De La Rosa walked with the bases loaded and Curt Rindal knocked in the last run with a sacrifice fly. Wilson struck again in the fourth inning with a two-out double that scored Cline.

The Power sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs on four hits in the sixth inning. An errant throw from Wrigley allowed Cline to score the first run of the inning. Wilson drove in his third run of the game on a run scoring single before Caleb Gindl doubled in Fryer and Logan Schafer finished the inning with a two-run base hit.

The Power improved to 51-44 on the year and 19-7 in the second half with the win. The Catfish fell to 43-51 on the year and 16-8 in the second half with the loss. Four Power players turned in multi-hit games. Eric Farris went 3-for-6 for the second game in a row while Wilson and Gindl each paced the Power with four hits. The 6-9 batters for West Virginia combined to knock in nine of West Virginia’s 15 runs. Wilson extended his hitting streak to 10 games and he has reached safely in his last 15.

The Power will continue the four game series against the Columbus Catfish at Appalachian Power Park on Thursday night. Right hander Amaury Rivas (7-3, 3.49) will make the start for the Power and the Catfish will counter with right hander Jeremy Hall (4-2, 3.86). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.