Greenville, S.C. – Western Carolina baseball looks to rebound on Friday afternoon as it awaits its next opponent in the weather-altered 2022 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases. Play is scheduled to resume on Friday morning with four games on tap at Fluor Field at the West End.
 
Inclement weather prompted SoCon officials to alter the tournament schedule, folding Thursday's scheduled games into Wednesday's schedule taking a two-game day and transforming it into the first of two, four scheduled games format. The Catamounts split a non-traditional doubleheader on Wednesday, advancing into the double-elimination bracket by upending No. 7 seed VMI in a win or go home, single-elimination game 4-1 before falling to third-seeded Samford 22-3 in seven innings in the nightcap of a four-game day.
 
WCU fell into the loser's bracket of the conference tournament and will need three wins to move into the conference tournament championship game needing two more wins for the program's 11th tournament crown.
 
Western Carolina (26-30-1) awaits the loser of Friday's 9 a.m. winner's bracket game between top-seeded Wofford and No 4 seed UNCG, which rallied past No. 8 The Citadel to win Wednesday's third game in walk-off fashion. The game is scheduled for approximately 4 p.m. on Friday at Fluor Field and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Whoever WCU faces on Friday afternoon, there will be some familiarity as the Catamounts faced both the Terriers and the Spartans in the final two regular-season series. The Catamounts split the three regular-season meetings with No. 1 seed Wofford in Spartanburg, falling in the opener, 15-4, before rallying behind the complete-game pitching effort of Gavin Mortenson to even the series with a 9-2 victory on Saturday. The Sunday series finale endured a couple of lengthy weather delays before ultimately being halted with a 2-2 tie after seven complete innings.
 
WCU closed the regular season by being swept at home by UNCG, outscored by combined 29-to-18 runs over the three-game set. The Catamounts dropped the opener 8-2 before being edged 5-3 in the second game. The regular-season finale saw WCU erase all but two runs of a 10-run deficit and eventually pull back within a run before falling, 16-13.
 
Over its first two games in the Southern Conference Tournament, the Catamounts are being paced by freshman Brandon Butterworth with four singles in a 4-for-6 effort (.667) with a couple of runs scored. Sophomore Pascanel Ferreras picked up where he left off in last year's event, starting the tournament 3-for-5 (.600) with a double and a home run, adding three walks to bolster a .750 on-base percentage. WCU also has doubles from Zach Ketterman, Bryson Parks, and Seth Graves, who has driven home a team-best three including two coming on sacrifice flies.
 
On the mound, Zebby Matthews struck out seven over a 6.1 inning relief effort against the Keydets after starter Zach Franklin punched out six over 2.2 innings with Mortenson striking out four over his 2.1 innings in the start against Samford. WCU used eight different pitchers over its first two games in the conference tournament.
 
Western Carolina vs. Wofford – All-Time Series:
Western Carolina leads the all-time series with Wofford 75-26-1, splitting the 2022 regular season with a win, loss, and tie. WCU tallied three-straight victories over the Terriers a season ago among the eight meetings in 2021 as the Terriers took 2-of-3 from WCU both in Spartanburg and in Cullowhee in division play before the Catamounts rode the momentum of winning game three of the series in Cullowhee to down Wofford in two meetings in the SoCon tournament in Greenville, S.C.
 
Catamounts vs. Wofford – SoCon Tournament:
Western Carolina is 5-0 all-time against Wofford in the SoCon Tournament including twice defeating the top-seeded Terriers in the 2021 tour
 
Western Carolina vs. UNCG – All-Time Series:
WCU trails UNCG in the all-time series history, 36-44, including three-straight losses during the 2022 regular season in Cullowhee … the Spartans have won six of the last 10 series meetings overall between the two in-state foes.
 
Catamounts vs. UNCG – SoCon Tournament:
Western Carolina and UNCG have only met five times previously in the SoCon tournament, trailing in the series, 2-3 … the Catamounts snapped a three-game winless drought by twice defeating top-seeded UNCG in the 2018 tournament in Greenville, S.C., which also marks the most recent meeting in the postseason.
 
 
SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
May 25 (Wednesday)
Game 1: #8 The Citadel 3, #5 ETSU 1 
Game 2: #6 Western Carolina 4, #7 VMI, 1
Game 3: #4 UNCG 7, #8 The Citadel 6
Game 4: #3 Samford 22, #6 Western Carolina 3 (7 inn.)
 
May 26 (Thursday)
No games scheduled (due to inclement weather)
 
May 27 (Friday)
Game 5: #4 UNCG vs. #1 Wofford, 9:00 a.m.
Game 6: #3 Samford vs. #2 Mercer, 12:30 p.m.
Game 7: #6 Western Carolina vs. Loser Game 5, 4:00 p.m.
Game 8: #8 The Citadel vs. Loser Game 6, 7:30 p.m. 
 
May 28 (Saturday)
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, Noon
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 3:30 p.m. 
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 9, 7:00 p.m.
 
May 29 (Sunday)
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, Noon
Game 13: Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser (if necessary), 40 minutes after Game 12