Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina concludes a six-game nonconference road swing this weekend as the Catamounts travel to the Queen City to face Conference USA foe Charlotte at Hayes Stadium / Phillips Field beginning Friday at 3 p.m. The three-game set continues with a 3 p.m. start on Saturday ahead of a 1 p.m. first pitch in the series finale on Sunday.
Fans can follow the series with live streaming audio and live stats through Charlotte.
WCU (5-3) enters the week after dropping 2-of-3 at Colonial Athletic Association favorite, UNC Wilmington, last weekend. The Catamounts hit .266 collectively with junior second baseman
Daniel Walsh batting .462 (6-of-13) with a grand slam home run and five total RBI while freshman third baseman
Zach Ketterman hit .429 (6-of-14) with a double and two runs driven in. Fifth-year senior
Luke Robinson batted .417 (5-of-12) with a homer while junior
Daylan Nanny drove in four on four base hits in the series.
Walsh leads WCU on the season with a .444 batting average (12-of-27) with three extra-base hits including a double and two home runs with 11 RBI, while
Justice Bigbie, who collected SoCon Player of the Week honors on Feb. 22, is just below the .400 threshold at .393 with 11 hits including three home runs and a team-leading 15 RBI. Robinson has six extra-base hits among the 11 hits collected, matching Walsh with 11 runs driven in.
WCU's weekend rotation is keyed by sophomore RHP
Zebby Matthews (2-0) who collected SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out seven in 7.0 scoreless innings in the series-opener against CAA-favorite UNCW. Matthews, a Cullowhee native, has a 0.64 ERA with just one earned run allowed over 14.0 innings with 11 strikeouts against one walk. Matthews earned his fifth win for the Purple & Gold in just his sixth appearance since transferring to WCU.
The Catamounts head to Charlotte having dropped three of their last four games after sweeping CAA-foe Towson in a four-game set on opening weekend.
Charlotte (6-1) had its season-opening, six-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday at fellow SoCon-foe UNCG with a 9-7 loss in its first road game of the season. The 49ers pushed across five runs in the top of the eighth inning to grab a 7-4 lead but surrendered a five-spot in the home of the same frame in the losing effort. Charlotte swept three-game series over both Morehead State and William & Mary to open the year.
The 49ers were picked fifth in the East Division in the Conference USA preseason polling. Charlotte is batting .324 collectively as a team with 15 doubles and 18 home runs while averaging 10.8 runs per game, ranking fifth in the country in scoring. Equally as impressive is what the 49er pitching staff has done, limiting its first three opponents to a .139 collective batting average while surrendering an average of just 3.3 runs per game with 90 strikeouts.
Sophomore infielder Austin Knight and junior Craig Keuchel are both batting over .400 on the season with four home runs apiece and a combined 26 RBI. Freshman first baseman David McCabe was selected as the C-USA Hitter of the Week on March 1 and is batting .323 with four home runs and 10 RBI.
The three-game weekend series against Charlotte marks the first meetings between the two UNC-system schools since 2010. Including an active six-game winning streak, WCU has won 10 of the 16 all-time meetings against the 49ers including a slim 6-5 edge in games played in Charlotte. Five of the six Catamount wins in the current winning streak have been by four runs or fewer.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to the six-foot requirement between seating pods, the capacity at Hayes Stadium has been set at 181 fans. The vast majority of that allotment will be for family members of 49ers baseball student-athletes, as well as coaches' families and guests. Per Conference USA guidelines, an allotment of tickets will be set aside for visiting teams for C-USA games. The very limited remainder of seats will be distributed to students (on-line reservation required) and university guests, with priority given to Grand Slam Club members.
Projected Pitching Match-Ups:
Friday: So. RHP
Zebby Matthews (WCU) vs. So. RHP Andrew Lindsey (CHAR)
Saturday: Fr. RHP
Gavin Mortenson (WCU) vs. So. RHP Bryce McGowan (CHAR)
Sunday: R-Jr. RHP
Ryan Mitschele (WCU) vs. R-Jr. RHP Matt Brooks (CHAR)
Additional Catamount Diamond Notes:
- Western Carolina enters the weekend ranked 20th nationally in runs per game, scoring an average of 8.9 per contest … WCU has 71 total runs scored, tied for ninth among the national leaders … WCU is batting .294 collectively as a team, second in the SoCon, and inside the national Top 50;
- Defensively, Western Carolina has turned a SoCon-leading nine double plays this season, tied for the eighth-most in the NCAA entering games this week;
- Justice Bigbie enters the week riding a 17-game reached base safely streak that dates back to the abbreviated 2020 season … the Chesapeake, Va., native reached in the final nine games last spring before the COVID shutdown and has reached successfully in all eight games this season to date … Bigbie is among SIX Catamounts that have reached base safely in all eight games to date this season
- Bigbie entered the week ranked tied for third nationally with 15 RBI through the first eight games this season … He has a team-best five multi-RBI games;
- Western Carolina has hit 12 home runs through its first eight games this season – tied for 11th nationally … Of that dozen, four have been grand slam homers including two by Daniel Walsh and one apiece by both Justice Bigbie and Luke Robinson;
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