Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina opens its Southern Conference season – its 47th on the baseball diamond – this weekend as the Catamounts travel to in-state league rival UNC Greensboro at the on-campus UNCG Baseball Stadium. The three-game series opens Friday (March 24) at 6 p.m., with the first pitch at 2 p.m. on Saturday (March 25) and 1 p.m. on Sunday (March 26).
 
Admission for all regular-season home games at UNCG is free. Each game is slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats through StatBroadcast available online at CatamountSports.com. (Game links below and on the 2023 WCU Baseball Schedule page).
 
Western Carolina (9-12) saw its season-long tying three-game win streak snapped on Tuesday night with a 7-0 loss at No. 12 Tennessee in Knoxville. The Catamounts were held to four base hits and were unable to move a runner past second base in the shutout loss to the Volunteers. Kyle Riesselmann reached base twice with WCU's lone extra-base hit on a double and was also hit by a pitch.
 
WCU is 7-5 in its last 12 games after opening the season 2-7. The Catamounts have scored three-game weekend series sweeps in its last two home series, taking all three games against ASUN-foe Eastern Kentucky and sweeping Radford out of the Big South last weekend in Cullowhee. As a team, the Catamounts are batting .270 collectively as a team, averaging 5.9 runs on 9.0 hits per game with 60 extra-base hits including 32 doubles, four triples, and 24 home runs – second-most in the SoCon.
 
The Catamounts are seeking their first victory in a true road game, winless in four-midweek games away from Cullowhee. The three-game set at UNCG is also the first road weekend series for WCU as the Catamounts have played at home in four of the first five weekends of the season with three games at Fluor Field in neutral field tournament play.
 
UNCG (11-10) halted a four-game seasonal slide on Wednesday by downing cross-town rival North Carolina A&T 6-4 at historic War Memorial Stadium. The Spartans were swept at home last weekend by West Virginia, outscored by a combined 40-to-3 over the three home games. UNCG has played the bulk of its schedule at home, hosting 18 of its first 21 games on campus with an 8-10 record.
 
Batting .281 collectively as a team, the Spartans are averaging 6.7 runs per game on an average of 9.9 hits per game, likewise with 60 extra-base hits including 39 doubles, four triples, and 17 homers. Four Spartan regulars are batting above the .300 threshold, led by sophomore Kennedy Jones (.345) who was selected to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List. Jones and junior third baseman Mitchell Smith (.325 ) were both preseason first-team All-SoCon selections, with catcher Dallas Callahan landing on the second team.
 
Defending champions of the SoCon in 2022, the Spartans were picked third in the preseason SoCon coaches' poll receiving one first-place vote and were tabbed fourth in the media tabulation with a pair of first-place nods.
 
SoCon Statistical Similarities:
Both WCU and UNCG are among the SoCon leaders in fielding double plays – the Spartans have turned a league-best 21 just ahead of WCU's 17. However, the two squads are also the top two in errors committed entering league play – UNCG has committed 37 while the Catamounts have been tagged with 33 miscues.
 
Western Carolina vs. UNCG – The Series:
The Catamounts and Spartans have met 80 times previously on the baseball diamond with a series dating back to 1992 with WCU trailing in the series, 37-43. The Spartans hold a slim 23-22 edge in games held in Greensboro. UNCG swept the four meetings a year ago as the Spartans won all three games in Cullowhee in the regular-season finale last spring, and UNCG held off a WCU late-inning rally to score a 9-7 victory at Fluor Field, ousting the Catamounts from the SoCon tournament. The Spartans have won six of the last seven series meetings.
 
Southern Conference Opening Weekend:
All eight SoCon teams are in action as league play opens this weekend: Samford visits ETSU, VMI is at Wofford in Spartanburg, and Mercer visits The Citadel in addition to the WCU-UNCG series.
 
Up Next:
Following this weekend's conference-opening series at UNCG, the Catamounts continue their seven-game road swing by traveling to Macon, Ga., to face the Mercer Bears. (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 (9-12) at UNCG (11-10)

Game 1 – Friday, March 24 | 6:00 pm | Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – Jr. LHP Kyle Riesselmann (1-1, 4.43 ERA; 22.1 IP, 24K, 5BB)
UNCG – Sr. RHP Jake Wolf (1-1, 2.87 ERA; 31.1 IP, 18K, 11BB)
 
Game 2 – Saturday, March 25 | 2:00 pm | Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – R-So. LHP Dylan Wheeler (2-0, 0.82 ERA; 11.0 IP, 13K, 6BB)
UNCG – Fr. RHP Jay Miller (1-3, 4.11 ERA; 30.2 IP, 14K, 12BB)
 
Game 3 – Sunday, March 26 | 1:00 pm | Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – TBD
UNCG – TBD