Catamount Baseball Hosts League-Leading Samford

Series altered to Friday doubleheader (3 pm) and single-game on Saturday (3 pm)

Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina continues its eight-game homestand, hosting the Southern Conference-leading Samford Bulldogs for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. Due to the threat of rain on Saturday, the teams will now play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. with game two to begin 45 minutes after the opener, and the series finale slated for a single-game on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m.

Both teams had winning streaks snapped by teams from the SEC in the midweek. WCU dropped a two-run, 14-12 decision to third-ranked Tennessee in Cullowhee to halt its five-game win streak, while Samford fell at Alabama 19-3, ending an eight-game run. The Catamounts enter Friday's opener having won four-straight SoCon games while the Bulldogs are winners of six straight league games.

Each game is slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.

Projected Weekend Pitching Match-Ups:
Friday (Gm1): WCU – So. RHP Zebby Matthews (3.19, 5-1) vs. SAM – Jr. LHP Samuel Strickland (3-2, 3.61)
Friday (Gm2): WCU – R-Jr. RHP Ryan Mitschele (2-2, 6.03) vs. SAM – R-Sr. RHP Jesse McCord (3-3, 5.49)
Saturday: WCU – R-Jr. RHP Tristen Campbell (1-0, 2.79) vs. SAM – Sr. RHP Zach Hester (1-2, 5.81)

Scouting Samford:

Samford was the preseason favorite in the Southern Conference polls by both the head coaches and voting media;
Headlined by the preseason SoCon Player of the Year in infielder Brooks Carlson, Samford put a league-best seven players on the preseason first and second teams with three first-team selections including Friday afternoon starter Samuel Strickland and first baseman Sonny DiChiara … Game three starter Zach Hester was a second-team preseason selection as was catcher Kaden Dreier, outfielder Ayrton Schafer, and DH Tyler McManus;
Samford enters the weekend batting .263 collectively as a team – fifth in the SoCon – with 49 doubles (5th), two triples (7th), and 22 home runs (5th) … the Bulldogs are averaging 6.5 runs per game on 8.8 hits per game … the Bulldogs have drawn a SoCon-leading 161 walks this season and rank fourth in the SoCon in on-base percentage;
Slugger Sonny DiChiara is tied for second in the SoCon with eight home runs and a league-leading 31 walks drawn … Max Pinto is tied for fourth with 38 base hits and tied for ninth with 27 runs scored;
Samford's pitching staff has a collective ERA of 6.02, sixth in the SoCon … the Bulldogs lead the SoCon with 309 strikeouts over a league-best 288.2 innings of work with 86 strikeouts looking, tied for the second-most in the conference;
Samford reliever Carson Cupo was dubbed the SoCon Pitcher of the Month in March … Cupo is tied for the most relief appearances in the SoCon this season (17) and is 4-0 with two saves.

Western Carolina vs. Samford – Series History:

Western Carolina trails Samford in the all-time series, 18-22 … the Bulldogs have won six-straight over the Catamounts in the head-to-head series including all four meetings back in the 2019 season that featured a 5-4 victory in 10 innings in the conference tournament … Samford has won eight of the last 10 overall in the series;
WCU leads the series in games played in Cullowhee, 10-5 – but the Bulldogs have won two-straight at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium entering the weekend, downing WCU in 2-of-3 in 2018;
Samford has won the regular-season series between the two squads for three straight seasons … WCU last won the three-game set back in 2016, winning four of the five meetings that year including claiming the regular-season series in Cullowhee with two wins and then downing the Bulldogs twice in the conference tournament on the way to the championship;
This season's mid-April meetings between WCU and Samford mark the earliest between the two since meeting on the same weekend back in the 2016 season in Cullowhee;
Just four of the previous 40 series meetings have gone to extra innings.

Did You Know…?

The two head coaches in the weekend SoCon series have combined for nearly 900 career wins … Samford's Casey Dunn has 519 career victories – the most by a Bulldog head coach – while Bobby Moranda is WCU's all-time winningest head coach with 370 career victories … the two skippers combine for 889 wins.

Ticketing Note at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium:
Pursuant to the current state of North Carolina Executive Orders for outdoor venue attendance and using physical distancing guidelines through university standards, a very limited number of seats have been made available for spectators at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium this spring with priority given to the parents of competing student-athletes. At this time, there are no additional single-game ticket sales for home games available.

Additional Catamount Diamond Notes:

Western Carolina enters the weekend ranked a SoCon-leading 37th in the most recent NCAA RPI … Four of WCU's opponents to date are among the top 100 nationally in RPI: Tennessee (3), Charlotte (21), St. John's (79), and Gardner-Webb (95) … Three of WCU's upcoming opponents are also among the top 100: Wake Forest (56), Mercer (71), Samford (87);
Western Carolina enters the week LEADING the nation in scoring, averaging 9.4 runs per game (244 runs in 26 games) … WCU also LEADS the NCAA in on-base percentage at .435 and batting a SoCon-leading .313, WCU ranks seventh nationally;
Six Catamount regulars are batting over the .300 threshold this season … WCU boasts FIVE of the top 10 batting averages in the SoCon this season including Will Prater's SoCon-leading .452 average, which ranks him fourth nationally … Joining Prater in the SoCon's top 10 are Daniel Walsh (3rd, .373), Justice Bigbie (4th, .373), Daylan Nanny (6th, .365) and Luke Robinson (9th, .352);
Justice Bigbie and Will Prater lead the SoCon in on-base percentage, reaching base safely 50-percent of their plate appearances … Daniel Walsh is second with a .495 on-base percentage … Bigbie has scored a SoCon-best 38 runs this season while Luke Robinson is third with 33 runs;
Junior Daylan Nanny enters the weekend riding a career-best 26-game reached base safely streak that includes a career-long 14-game hitting streak … Nanny is tied for second in the SoCon with 11 doubles this season, tied for 28th nationally while his 0.42 doubles per game average is 24th in the NCAA;
Will Prater has reached base safely in 11-straight games while Luke Robinson has reached in 10-consecutive … Justice Bigbie has an eight-game hitting streak;
The Catamounts have been hit by a pitch a SoCon-leading 56 times this season, tied for the sixth-most in the NCAA … Immanuel Wilder and Luke Robinson have both been plunked 10 times this season, tied for the third-most in the NCAA … Wilder's 42 career HBPs currently ranks SECOND in the school record books, just WO shy of matching career record-holder Barrett Shaft (44, 2005-08);
WCU is 15-0 this season when leading after seven innings – and 16-0 when leading after eight innings;
Sophomore RHP Zebby Matthews, who earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week accolades last week, ranks fourth in the SoCon in ERA at 3.19 … Matthews has a team-best 41 strikeouts including 16 strikeouts looking, tied for third in the SoCon;
Reliever Davis Tyndall has a team-high 15 appearances on the year, tied for the fifth-most in the SoCon … Zach Franklin is third in the league with 10 games finished this season.

On Deck for the Catamounts:
Western Carolina concludes an eight-game homestand by hosting Wake Forest out of the ACC on Tuesday, April 20. The game is set to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com. Game times and broadcast plans are subject to change.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount baseball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).

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