Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball looks for its first road victory of the season as it steps out of the conference in the midweek on Tuesday, traveling to Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., to face the nationally-ranked Tennessee Volunteers. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., as the Catamounts open a seven-game road swing that also includes the first two weekends of Southern Conference play.
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+ (
paid subscription required) with live audio and live stat links available online at CatamountSports.com.
No. 12 Tennessee represents the second nationally ranked opponent for WCU this season as the Catamounts fell in the midweek at No. 14 North Carolina back on March 7, dropping an 8-4 decision in five innings as the game was halted due to a power issue with the stadium lighting at Boshamer Stadium. WCU led twice over the first two innings in that match-up against the Tar Heels.
To date, WCU is 1-3 against Power Five conference opponents with a win over Big 12 foe Kansas with two losses to Michigan State (Big Ten) and North Carolina (ACC). The Catamounts also have SEC-foe Georgia and Pac-12 opponent Oregon State on their 2023 schedule.
Western Carolina (9-11) completed its second-consecutive nonconference series sweep at home last weekend, taking all three games against Big South Conference member Radford at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The Catamounts swept Saturday's doubleheader with a pair of come-from-behind victories, scoring four in the ninth of a 9-8 game one with
Cole Jones driving in the game-winning run and
Zach Ketterman hitting a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning in a 4-3 victory in the nightcap. On Sunday, WCU tallied its first shutout victory in just over a year with a 9-0 win over the Highlanders.
Catamount catcher
Kyle Harbison led the team with a .444 average over the weekend while
Zach Ketterman hit .357 and drove in six of the Catamounts' 20 runs as both he and classmate
Pascanel Ferreras collected a pair of two-run home runs in Saturday's doubleheader sweep. Harbison and outfielder
Nate Stocum both have modest four-game active four-game hitting streaks entering the week – Stocum has reached base successfully in 16-straight games while Ketterman has reached in 15 in a row.
WCU is 7-4 in its last 11 games after opening the season 2-7.
Tennessee (15-6) saw a four-game winning streak halted last weekend as it was swept on the road at Missouri. The Volunteers dropped Friday's opener 9-1 and were swept in a pair of seven-inning games on Sunday, falling 7-4 and 7-1. Former Catamount
Zach Franklin, a graduate transfer on the Mizzou roster, tossed five relief innings with six strikeouts to score the win in game one of Sunday's twin bill.
The homerun-heavy Volunteers are batting just under .300 collectively as a team entering the week at .294, averaging eight runs per game with 44 total homers in 21 contests. Tennessee is a glimmering 14-1 at home at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season with the lone loss coming 7-6 to Boston College in 10 innings back on March 7. Since 2020, UT is 95-17 at home overall.
The Vols rank 12th in the D1Baseball.com, USA Today Coaches, and NCBWA polls. Tennessee cards in at No. 11 in the most recent Baseball America poll, No. 13 in the Perfect Game tabulation, and a low of No. 22 in the Collegiate Baseball ranking this week.
Series History – Western Carolina at Tennessee:
Western Carolina and Tennessee meet for the 32nd time on the baseball diamond on Tuesday with the Catamounts trailing in the all-time series, 7-25. Tennessee has won eight-straight dating back to splitting the two meetings in 2010 with WCU winning three consecutive from 2008-10. Tennessee has won 18 of the 22 meetings held in Knoxville (18-4).
Last year, the No. 1 ranked Vols scored in bunches to down the Catamounts 11-1 in midweek action. That UT squad advanced to the Super Regionals it hosted in Knoxville.
Familiar Face in Western Carolina - Tennessee Match-Up:
Western Carolina's first-year head coach
Alan Beck spent a year on Rocky Top as a part of former head coach Todd Raleigh's staff. Beck was the Director of Baseball Operations under Raleigh in the 2008 season, Raleigh's first in Knoxville.
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Following Tuesday's game at Tennessee, the Catamounts play six-straight Southern Conference games away from Cullowhee beginning this weekend at UNCG (March 24-26) and the following weekend at Mercer (March 21-April 2).
Keep track of everything related to Catamount baseball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).
2023 Catamount Baseball – Western Carolina (9-11) at #12 Tennessee (15-6)
Tuesday, March 21 | 6:30 pm |
Tickets |
Coverage: SEC Network + |
Listen Live (UT Audio) |
LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – Jr. RHP
Dante Visconti (2-1, 6.19 ERA; 16.0 IP, 18K, 10BB)
UT – Jr. LHP Zander Sechrist (0-0, 0.77 ERA; 11.2 IP, 12K, 1BB)
