Softball Travels to Mercer This Weekend

Second road conference road series of the season

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball travels to Macon, Ga. this weekend for a three-game Southern Conference series at Mercer. The Catamounts and Bears will tangle in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday and a single game Sunday also at 1 p.m. All three contests will be streamed on ESPN+.

GAME NOTES

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CATAMOUNTS:

Western Carolina and Mercer meet for the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th times this weekend. The Bears hold a 14-7 advantage over the Catamounts and have won the last three meetings. In the latest meeting, at the 2019 SoCon Championships, the Bears sent the Catamounts home from the tournament with a 7-4 win. Western Carolina is 3-8 at Mercer taking one of the three-game series in 2019 in Macon winning the opening contest 3-2. Since Mercer joined the SoCon, Western Carolina is 6-9 against the Bears.
Western Carolina had its school record 11-game winning streak snapped with a game one loss at Presbyterian on April 14. The 11-straight wins snapped a record of 10 consecutive set in 2006.
Junior Bailey Huneycutt leads the team with a .400 batting average which also paces the SoCon. She also tops the SoCon with 36 hits, second in runs scored (25) and is tied for second for home runs with eight.
Huneycutt has reached base safely in the last 17 games and her teammate senior Kailey McNeil has been on base in the last 10 games.
For the season, sophomore pitcher Savannah Rice leads the team with nine wins, has made 21 appearances, starting 17, tossed, and tossed 102 innings. Rice is 7-0 in games where she had a decision and has one save. In the 10 games at home, over the last two weeks, Rice had a 1.64 ERA with two shutouts, 38.1 innings pitched, and 27 strikeouts. In conference-only games, she is 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA, 14 strikeouts, four complete games, two shutouts in 28 innings pitched.
At the plate, in the conference-only games, Huneycutt is hitting a scorching .579 with 11 hits, nine runs, three doubles, three home runs, and six RBI. She also has a 1.211 slugging percentage and a .680 on-base percentage.
As the collegiate softball world touts North Texas pitcher Hope Trautwein's perfect game striking out 21 batters, the Catamounts have one of their own from the high school level. Jayme Eilers struck out all 15 batters she faced for a five-inning perfect game shortened by the 10-run rule on May 26, 2017, when her high school team Sterling, in Sterling, Ill., defeated Dixon 10-0.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT BEARS:

Mercer took two of three games against Chattanooga to take its first SoCon series of the season and are 3-3 in conference play.
The Bears are currently on a two-game winning streak.
Danielle Castleberry leads the Bears at the plate with a .364 batting average with 35 hits, 15 runs scored, seven doubles, and 16 RBI.
In the circle, Madi Joice paces the Bears' pitching staff with a 3.08 ERA in 17 appearances and eight starts and a 5-5 record. She has tossed 75 innings and struck out 36.
As a team, the Bears have hit 10 home runs and given up 32 which equate to an interesting series since WCU has hit 31 long balls on the season.

For all the updates on Catamount softball follow @catamounts (Twitter) and recaps please follow go to www.catamountsports.com and for in-game updates please go to @CatamountSB (Twitter).

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Players Mentioned

#62 Jayme Eilers: P; 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R

#35 Bailey Huneycutt: SS; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#17 Kailey McNeil: C; 5' 7"; Senior; R/R

#00 Savannah Rice: P; 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#62 Jayme Eilers
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R
: P

#35 Bailey Huneycutt
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: SS

#17 Kailey McNeil
: 5' 7"; Senior; R/R
: C

#00 Savannah Rice
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R
: P