Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score

The Basics:
Score: Mercer 4, Western Carolina 1; Western Carolina 4, Mercer 3
Records: Western Carolina 15-26, 4-9 SoCon; Mercer 22-29, 8-9 SoCon
Location: Macon, Ga.

MACON, Ga. -- Hunter Gibbons and Courtney Price each broke school records as Western Carolina softball split Saturday's doubleheader at Mercer. The Catamounts dropped game one 4-1 before the Catamounts bounced back to hold on and take game two 4-3 at Sikes Field.

Both records were snapped in the fourth inning of game two, during the Catamounts four-run inning. Gibbons hit her 15th double of the season to take over first place for doubles while Price scored her 109th career run to be the newly minted record-holder for runs.

Turning Point:
With Mercer clinging to a 1-0 lead, after scoring a run in the bottom of the first, the Bears posted three insurance runs in the third inning to take the win 4-0.

How it Happened:
Mercer opened the game scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. The Bears added three runs in the bottom of the third to hold a 4-0 lead. The Catamounts avoided the shutout scoring a run in the top of the fifth. Price hit a lead-off single to right center field beginning three straight singles by Catamounts as Erica Hayes and Kara Salvo followed with singles. Price scored courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Cheyenne Mathews. WCU had a rally attempt in the top of the seventh when E. Hayes led off with a single but Mercer turned a double play and a Catamount fly out ended the game.

Inside the Box Score:
- Senior pitcher Courtney Buchanan got the start for WCU and tossed a complete game. She allowed four runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out three. She falls to 6-9 on the year.
- Western Carolina had six hits in the game while Mercer had seven.
- E. Hayes led the Catamounts with a pair of hits.
- Each team left five runners on base.

Turning Point:
Western Carolina broke open a scoreless game scoring four runs in the top of the fourth inning and weathered three straight runs by Mercer, in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, to hold on to win 4-3.

How it Happened:
Ashlyn Long led off the fourth inning, for the Catamounts, with a single to right field. Abigail Daniels put down a sacrifice bunt and reached base on a Mercer error advancing to second on the play while Long moved to third. Gibbons hit a two-RBI double, breaking the single-season doubles record, scoring Long and Daniels for the first two Catamount runs of the game. Madison Armstrong groundout for the first out of the inning but Gibbons moved to third on the play and went around to score on a passed ball. Price was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on an E. Hayes ground out. Price went on to steal third and score on the Bears' second passed ball of the inning for the Catamounts' fourth run of the inning. Mercer went on to make the game interesting scoring a single run in the ensuing next three innings, the fourth, fifth and sixth inning. With WCU leading 4-3, Mercer attempted a rally but the Catamounts got its second three-up three-down inning of the game, including a strikeout, a ground out and a fly out to end the game.

Inside the Box Score:
- Freshman pitcher Kinsey Liscio got her third straight start tossing three innings giving up one run on five hits, walked four and struck out four.
- Sophomore hurler Lily Hayes relieved Liscio in the fourth inning and picked up the win improving to 6-8 on the year. Hayes tossed four innings of hitless ball but did give up two runs, one earned and struck out six. In three of her four innings, L. Hayes got a strikeout to end the inning. She also overcame six walks in her four innings pitched.
- Western Carolina scratched together just two hits in the game, one by Gibbons and one by Long, while Mercer had five.
- Liscio and L. Hayes combined for 10 walks in the game.
- Each team had an error in the game.
- Western Carolina turned its 22nd double play of the season. A key one in the second inning when the Bears lined out to third base with bases loaded and Armstrong stepped on third base for the third out when a Bear runner was off the bag.

News & Notes:
- Western Carolina is 5-3 over the last eight games. In those last eight games, Gibbons is hitting .440 with 11 hits, four doubles, a homerun and seven RBI.
- Gibbons is on a four-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in the last eight games. - Gibbons broke the school record for doubles in a season with her 15th on the year in the fourth inning of the second game against Mercer. With no outs and two runners on, she hit a two RBI double to put WCU up 2-0.
- Price's 109th career run scored was courtesy of a Mercer passed ball - it was the fourth run scored by the Catamounts in the fourth inning of the second game against the Bears.
- Western Carolina's 22 double plays this season ranks second in the WCU record books for double plays in a season. The record is 23 set by the 2016 team.
- The Catamounts have 65 doubles, as a team this season, which is tied for second place in the WCU record books. The record is 66 set by the 2012 club.
- Gibbons 38 RBI this season ranks ninth in the WCU record books for RBI in a season.
- Western Carolina has hit at least one double in 21 of the last 22 games.
- Western Carolina is 3-2 in its last five SoCon road games.
- Salvo picked up her 70th career walk in the doubleheader against Mercer and needs two more walks in her career to take over first place.
- With the doubleheader split against Mercer on Saturday, WCU is 3-1 against the Bears in the last four games. WCU is also now 2-2 against the Bears, in Macon, Ga., in the last four games.

Up Next:
Western Carolina will play its second Southern Conference rubber match of the season when the Catamounts face the Mercer Bears at 1 p.m. Sunday. Officially WCU is actually playing its third conference rubber match but the decisive series game against ETSU, on April 23, was cancelled due to inclement weather.

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