* SCHEDULE UPDATE: * Game one of the three-game SoCon series has been bumped to a 6 p.m. first pitch at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium due to inclement weather and unfavorable forecasts.

Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball opens an eight-game homestand this weekend by hosting Southern Conference foe VMI for a three-game set at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The series gets underway with a doubleheader on Saturday scheduled for 2 p.m., with game three slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Sunday afternoon.
 
Each game of the series is slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), though game times and broadcast plans are subject to change. Check CatamountSports.com and WCU's social media outlets for any additional updates.
 
Western Carolina (15-7, 3-2 SoCon) enters the weekend in second-place in the SoCon's Red Division while VMI (6-17, 2-7 SoCon) is in fourth in the league's Blue Division. WCU has won consecutive games on the season, claiming the SoCon series finale at Wofford before downing Gardner-Webb 12-2 in nonconference midweek action. The Keydets have dropped five-straight games including being swept by Samford in league action last weekend and falling in the final two series match-ups at home against UNCG after edging the Spartans, 6-5, to win game one of that series.
 
The Keydets are batting .253 collectively as a team and are led by redshirt freshman Trey Morgan with a .358 average over 16 games played, sixth-best average in the SoCon, and are scoring an average of 5.2 runs per game. Redshirt sophomore OF Will Knight, a preseason All-SoCon first-team selection, is batting .310 collectively on the year and is coming off a weekend against Samford where he batted .571 (8-for-14) with two homers and seven RBI.
 
VMI has an 8.02 collective team ERA on the mound with opponents' batting .314 against the Keydets overall. Also from the league statistics, VMI has hit a league-worst 37 batters – a strength of the WCU squad which has been plunked a league-leading 52 times entering the weekend.
 
Projected Pitching Match-Ups:
Game 1: WCU – So. RHP Zebby Matthews (4-1, 3.62) vs. VMI – R-So. LHP Nathan Light (0-6, 7.79)
Game 2: WCU – R-Jr. RHP Ryan Mitschele (2-2, 4.82) vs VMI – R-Sr. RHP Jacob Menders (1-2, 7.11)
Game 3: WCU – So. RHP Corey Bright (0-0, 9.00) vs. VMI – TBA
 
WCU-VMI – Series History:

• Western Carolina leads the all-time series history with VMI 64-22 including a 32-9 overall record against the Keydets in Cullowhee;
• VMI took 2-of-3 in the most recent series played at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium in 2019 – both coming in extra innings – on the heels of sweeping the Catamounts at Gray-Minor Stadium in Lexington, Va., in 2018;
• The Keydets have won five of the last six series meetings after the Catamounts swept the series in both 2016 and 2017.

 
Additional Catamount Diamond Notes:

• Western Carolina enters the weekend ranked 17th nationally in the latest NCAA RPI ratings;
• Junior Will Prater enters the weekend leading the Southern Conference in batting average hitting at a .456 clip … Prater ranks 12th nationally in individual batting average – eighth nationally among players with at least 10 games played … Prater carries a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend;
• Led by Prater, WCU boasts FIVE of the top 10 individual batting averages in the SoCon this season … Joining Prater are Justice Bigbie (3rd, .373), Luke Robinson & Daylan Nanny (t-4th, .360), and Daniel Walsh (7th, .358);
• Junior Daylan Nanny carries an active 10-game hitting streak and a 22-game reached base safely streak into the weekend series … Nanny has reached base successfully in every game this season to date – and it's thought to be the longest active reached base streak in the SoCon … Nanny is tied atop the SoCon individual leader board with 10 doubles this season;
• Junior Daniel Walsh, who missed four games due to concussion protocols, continues to have reached base safely in 18-consecutive games this season – each game in which he has played;
• Junior Immanuel Wilder has been hit by a pitch 42 times in his Western Carolina career including 10 this season, tied with two others for the most in the SoCon and tied for 18th nationally … Wilder currently ranks SECOND in the WCU career record books, just TWO HBP's shy of matching record-holder Barrett Shaft (44, 2005-08);
• Junior Justice Bigbie LEADS the SoCon and ranks 28th nationally in on-base percentage (.518) while also pacing the league with 36 runs scored;
• Western Carolina is averaging 9.3 runs per game this season, second in the nation in scoring … the Catamounts have also been plunked a SoCon-leading 52 times through its first 22 games to rank tied for fifth nationally in HBPs;
• Defensively, the Catamounts have turned 19 double-plays this season … the squad's 0.86 double-plays per game average ranks tied for 32nd in the NCAA … Freshman Pascanel Ferreras has been a part of turning 16 of WCU's double-plays this season, the most among players in the SoCon;
• A combined 13 of Zebby Matthews' team-best 34 strikeouts have been looking … Matthews ranks tied for seventh in the SoCon in backwards Ks … Matthews has also picked off four runners this spring, tied for the most among league pitchers;

 
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