Season Record: 5-7 (L-1)
 
Last Week (1-3):
Wed., March 2 – L, vs. Middle Tennessee, 10-5 – AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Fri., March 4 – L, vs. Stony Brook, 5-4 – Cullowhee
Sat., March 5 – W, vs. Stony Brook, 9-8 – Cullowhee
Sun., March 6 – L, vs. Stony Brook, 3-2 – Cullowhee
 
The Week Ahead:
After playing 10 of its first 12 games at home, the Catamounts hit the road for their next five games including four this coming week in the Palmetto State. WCU is scheduled to travel to Clinton, S.C., to face Presbyterian (7-5) on Wednesday before traveling to Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. – the site of the 2022 SoCon Baseball Championship – for three games in the 2022 First Pitch Invitational hosted by Michigan State. WCU faces Kansas on Friday, tournament host Spartans on Saturday, and the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday in the tournament finale.
 
Presbyterian (7-5) is riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping Bellarmine at home last weekend. The Blue Hose has won five of its last seven overall with eight of the squad's first 12 games coming at home this season. The defending Big South champions were picked fourth in the preseason conference polling. WCU has won five of the seven series meetings between the two schools dating back to 1992, splitting the most recent home-and-home with both teams winning on the road.
 
Kansas (4-6) is slated for a pair of games at Charleston Southern in the mid-week before heading to Greenville, S.C. Picked ninth in the nine-team Big 12 baseball preseason poll, the Jayhawks play 22 of their first 23 games on the road and are amidst an eight-day road swing. The Catamounts won the only other series meeting between the two on the baseball diamond, 5-3, back in 2020 at the same event.
 
Michigan State (5-5) has won two of its last three but overall has lost four of its last six on the season and is scheduled to play Clemson at Fluor Field on Wednesday evening. Three Spartans were selected to the Big Ten Baseball Preseason Honors List. WCU and Michigan State have split a pair of series meetings, winning at Fluor Field in 2019 and falling to the Spartans in 2020.
 
Cincinnati (6-4) visits Indiana on Tuesday before heading to South Carolina for the Michigan State-hosted tournament this weekend. The Bearcats took 3-of-4 from Northwestern last weekend at home. Cincinnati was picked third in the 2022 American Athletic Conference preseason poll led by AAC Preseason Player of the Year, outfielder Paul Komistek as three Bearcat outfielders were named all-conference. WCU will face another AAC-member when it travels to Houston March 25-27. The Catamounts are 1-2 all-time against Cincy on the diamond, upending the Bearcats back in 2013 at the same tournament at Fluor Field with a pair of road losses in 2016 and 2017.
 
Wed., March 9 – WCU at Presbyterian, 5 p.m. (updated) – Clinton, S.C. – PC Live Stats
Fri., March 11 – WCU vs. Kansas, 6 p.m. – Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
Sat., March 12 – WCU vs. Michigan State, 2 p.m. – Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
Sun., March 13 – WCU vs. Cincinnati, 5 p.m. – Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
 
NOTE: Be sure to keep track of any weather-related schedule changes online at CatamountSports.com or through WCU Athletics' social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports) and Twitter (@Catamounts or @CatamountBSB).
 
Catamount Baseball Diamond Notes:

• Western Carolina halted a six-game slide with a walk-off, extra-inning victory back on Saturday against Stony Brook, but dropped the series with the Seawolves in Sunday's finale, 3-2 – a third, one-run game between the two programs meeting for the first time on the baseball diamond; 
• WCU enters the week leading the Southern Conference in five statistical categories including on-base percentage (.419), runs scored (110), RBI (91), HBPs (25) and tied with VMI with 123 base hits … the Catamounts also rank second in the SoCon with 68 walks; 
• Catamount Friday starter Zebby Matthews struck out a season-high 10 batters in the series-opener against Stony Brook last week … Matthews has increased his strikeouts in each of his three starts from seven, to nine, to 10 most recently … Entering the week, the Cullowhee, N.C., native leads both WCU and the Southern Conference with 26 strikeouts on the season including a league-high tying nine strikeouts looking; 
• WCU's 116 strikeouts rank third in the SoCon this season and include 31 strikeouts looking; 
• WCU reliever Tristen Campbell made three appearances last week, tossing 6.0 innings of scoreless, four-hit relief out of the bullpen … the Cheraw, S.C., native struck out three over the six frames and earned the victory with an inning of work in WCU's extra-inning, walk-off victory over Stony Brook on Saturday; 
• After being limited to one base hit in Sunday's finale against America East Conference favorite Stony Brook, WCU's longest active hitting streaks were reset … Freshman Brandon Butterworth, who earned his first collegiate start over the weekend, has the squad's longest active streak at three games … Butterworth extended his hitting streak with his first career extra-base hit with a double on Saturday; 
• Even with the lack of base hits on Sunday, WCU does have a pair of double-digit reached base safely streaks still intact … Senior OF Bryson Parks and sophomore SS Pascanel Ferreras are both riding 12-game streaks, reaching base in each of WCU's 12 games to start the season … Dating back to last year, Ferreras has reached in 18-consecutive games after closing the season with six-straight in 2021 that include his outstanding performance in the conference tournament;
• To date this season, Western Carolina is 0-6 when scoring five-or-fewer runs in a game … the Catamounts have outscored their opponents in six of the nine innings this year including a 31-2 advantage in the sixth inning alone … However, WCU has been outscored 14-4 in the fourth inning and 10-5 in the ninth.