CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Natalie Henry, Bailey Huneycutt, and Myra Twitty each homered for Western Carolina and Tessa Juett struck out a career-high 13 batters as the Catamounts split a nonconference doubleheader against Radford on Wednesday. WCU won the first game 10-4 and dropped the nightcap 7-6 at the Catamount Softball Complex.
 
The Catamounts are 10-16 overall and return to Southern Conference play this weekend at home against Samford.
 
Game 1: Western Carolina 10, Radford 4
WCU plated six runs in the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie and take the first game of the twinbill.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Myra Twitty led off the second with a single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. After a hit batter, Jeralynn Wells lined a double to left-center field to score Twitty and give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
 
In the WCU third inning, Natalie Henry was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a Bailey Huneycutt base hit with one out. Twitty then crushed a 1-2 offering over the fence for her team-leading fifth home run of the season and a 4-0 Catamount lead.
 
Radford got on the board in the fourth inning as Rachel Smith doubled and scored on an Abby Wilson base hit to slash the Catamount lead in half. The Highlanders tied the game at 4 in the fifth inning with a Natalie Jones two-run home run.
 
The Catamounts took control of the contest with their six-run fifth inning. Taylor Waitley drove in the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk followed by a Brooklynn Brewington double that scored two runs. Natalie Henry's three-run home run put the finishing touches on the mammoth frame.
 
Twitty finished 2-for-3 with a single, home run, two runs scored, and three RBI. Brewington had a 2-for-4 performance in the contest, finishing with a single, double, run scored, and two RBI. Wells tallied a pair of hits, going 2-for-4 with a single, double, and RBI. Henry drove in three runs with her home run and also scored twice. Huneycutt, Bailey Treadway, and Samantha Reele each collected a hit.
 
Makenzie Martin earned the win, giving up one run on three hits with two strikeouts in 3.0 innings of relief. Taylor Norton gave up three runs on four hits with two strikeouts in 4.0 innings as she pitched into the fifth.
 
Smith and Cori McMillan both tallied two hits to lead Radford offensively. Malorie Reeves took the loss, allowing five runs with four walks in 2/3 of an inning.
 
Game 2: Radford 7, Western Carolina 6
Catamount starter Tessa Juett struck out 13 batters, becoming just the sixth player in program history to record 13 or more strikeouts in a game. However, timely Highlander hitting a four defensive miscues led Radford to the split with the 7-5 victory.
 
For Juett, her career-best 13 punchouts are tied for fifth-most in a game by a Catamount hurler.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Lexie Roberts got the Highlanders on the board with a double in the second inning. In the Radford fourth, Qween Edmonds drove in three runs with a double and scored on a Natalie Moya base hit for a 5-0 Highlander lead.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Bailey Huneycutt saw 11 pitches before driving a solo home run to center field to get WCU on the board. Later in the inning, Kennedy Stewman drove in two runs with a double and scored on a bases loaded hit batter to bring WCU within a run, 5-4.
 
Kari Shedrick drove home a run on a single in the fifth inning. The Highlanders added an insurance marker in the seventh for a 7-4 lead.
 
WCU didn't go quietly in its half of the seventh, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a Huneycutt single. Mattie Mentel worked a bases-loaded walk to make the score 7-5 with no outs before a double play brought home a run. Jeralynn Wells gave the Catamounts runners on first and second with two outs before Edmonds snagged a hot shot off the bat of Stewman in the hole at second base to rob her of a hit, a potential game-tying RBI, and secured the win for Radford.
 
Huneycutt and Wells both finished with multi-hit games to lead the Catamount offense. Stewman's two RBI were a new single game career-best and also led the team in the game.
 
Juett (3-6) went the distance but took the loss, allowing seven runs, five earned, on 10 hits with two walks and 13 strikeouts.
 
Shedrick, Lexie Roberts, and Cori McMillan led Radford offensively with two hits. Reeves (1-8) earned the win, allowing two runs on one hit in 2.1 innings. Chloe Greene picked up her second save, giving up one hit and a walk in 1.0 innings.
 
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