Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina concludes a season-long, eight-game homestand on Tuesday evening, hosting Wake Forest out of the Atlantic Coast Conference at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
 
Tuesday's game was slated to be the backend of a midweek nonconference home-and-home, but the opener in Winston-Salem back on March 3 was postponed due to COVID protocols within the Demon Deacons' program. In addition to the online video stream, live stats will be available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Western Carolina (20-9) posted a 2-2 record last week, nearly upsetting the third-ranked Tennessee Volunteers in falling 14-12 in Cullowhee before recovering to down SoCon-leading Samford in 2-of-3 over the weekend at home. The Catamounts batted .324 collectively as a team last week with 46 hits including 11 doubles, a triple, and two home runs, scoring 36 runs – an average of right at nine runs per game.
 
Entering Tuesday's game, seven Catamount regulars are batting .300-or-better on the season including junior Will Prater who is batting a SoCon-leading .419 which ranks him 12th nationally. Prater is joined by Daylan Nanny and Justice Bigbie, both at .365 on the season, followed by Daniel Walsh (.363), Luke Robinson (.350), Pascanel Ferreras (.303), and Seth Graves (.300). The Catamounts also boast four of the top 10 on-base percentages in the league this season with Walsh (.500), Bigbie (.486), Nanny (.475), and Graves (.469) ranking among the conference leaders.
 
WCU carries a 15-3 home record into Tuesday night's nonconference meeting. The Catamounts are batting .343 and averaging 10.6 runs per game at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium this season while limiting the opposition to 5.9 runs per game on a .266 collective batting average against.
 
Wake Forest (12-17) comes to Cullowhee having dropped two-straight in ACC play at Duke over the weekend. Since the calendar flipped to April, the Demon Deacons have lost eight of their 11 games with the three victories coming at Louisville, at Appalachian State, and the opener over Duke, 11-0, last Friday. Wake is batting .243 collectively as a team with two starters – Lucas Costello (.318) and Brock Wilken (.301) – batting over .300.
 
The Deacs are averaging just over 5.75 runs per game and have hit an ACC-leading 44 home runs as a team, tied for the 19th-most in the NCAA this spring. Wake is 6-8 in true road games this season.
 
Projected Pitching Match-Up:
WCU – Fr. RHP #44 Carson Lowder (0-0, 4.97) vs. WAKE – Fr. RHP #40 Reed Mascolo (2-1, 1.40)
 
Series History – Western Carolina vs. Wake Forest:

• Western Carolina trails Wake Forest in the all-time head-to-head series, 5-6, in a series that dates back to 1971 … the Deacons claimed the most recent series meeting 10-2 in a neutral field contest in Wilmington back in 2015;
• WCU's most recent victory over Wake Forest came in a neutral field meeting at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C., outlasting the Deacs, 3-2, in 12 innings back in May of 2014 … Bradley Strong bounced a run-scoring single up the middle in the top of the 12th inning to score Danny Bermudez … Tyler Powell struck out two to retire the Demon Deacons in order in the bottom of the 12th inning;
• The Catamounts have only hosted the Demon Deacons in Cullowhee one time prior – a 7-2 WCU victory back in the 2013 season … WCU outhit Wake, 14-to-8, including an 8-to-2 edge in extra-base hits in the victory.

Did You Know…?
Western Carolina head baseball coach Bobby Moranda spent six seasons in the Demon Deacons' dugout as an assistant coach before making the move to Atlanta and Georgia Tech. Moranda helped Wake Forest to back-to-back ACC Championships in 1998 and 1999 with a third title coming in 2021. Guiding the Demon Deacon pitchers, Wake threw two no-hitters and 10 of his pitchers over his six years were selected in the MLB draft including six that advanced to the Majors.
 
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 week ranked a SoCon-leading 28th nationally in NCAA RPI … X of WCU's seasonal opponents continue to rank inside the top 100 nationally in RPI: Tennessee (4), Charlotte (18), Samford (76), UNC Wilmington (92), Wofford (93) and Kennesaw State (100) … Wake Forest ranks 63rd in RPI entering the week;
• WCU ranks SECOND in the nation in scoring 9.2 runs per game (268 runs in 29 games) … the Catamounts LEAD the NCAA in on-base percentage at .432 and are sixth nationally in batting average, hitting at a SoCon-leading .309 clip
• Defensively, WCU ranks 16th nationally in double-plays per game, averaging 0.93 double plays per game … the Catamounts have 27 double-plays in 29 games this season;
• Junior Daylan Nanny enters the week carrying a career-long 29-game reached base safely streak having reached in each game this season to date … Nanny also boasts a 17-game hitting streak that dates back to March 12 and includes 10 multi-hit games;
• Junior Will Prater has reached base safely in 14-consecutive games including a five-game hitting streak while Luke Robinson (14) and Zach Ketterman (11) also have double-digit reached base safely streaks going … Robinson and Seth Graves both have six-game hitting streaks that are active;
• The Catamounts have been hit by a pitch a SoCon-leading 58 times this season, tied for the ninth-most in the NCAA … Immanuel Wilder has been plunked a SoCon-leading 11 times this year giving him 43 career HBPs, SECOND in the school record books just ONE shy of matching career record-holder Barrett Shaft (44, 2005-08) … Luke Robinson has been hit by a pitch 10 times;

On Deck for the Catamounts:
Western Carolina opens a seven-game road swing following Tuesday's midweek clash with Wake. WCU travels to Johnson City, Tenn., and ETSU this weekend looking to halt a three-game slide against the Buccaneers. The Catamounts will also visit former SoCon-foe Elon (April 28) in midweek before facing UNCG (April 30-May 1) in league action on the road trip.
 
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