Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball continues Southern Conference play this weekend, traveling to Macon, Ga., for a three-game league series against the Mercer Bears at OrthoGeorgia Park. The three-game series opens Friday (March 31) at 6 p.m., with the first pitch at 2 p.m. on Saturday (April 1) and 1 p.m. on Sunday (April 2).
Friday's game is slated to be
broadcast on ESPN3 (
cable/satellite subscription required) with live stats through StatBroadcast available through
links at CatamountSports.com for all three games.
After taking its SoCon opener last Friday at UNCG by a score of 10-4, the Catamounts dropped the next two against its in-state league foe, falling 5-4 in 12 innings on Saturday before suffering an 11-8 setback in the series rubber match on Sunday. WCU held leads in all three of the series games, carrying a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth and taking a 4-3 advantage into the bottom of the 10th inning before falling 5-4 on Saturday. In Sunday's finale, WCU rallied from a 6-1 deficit to take an 8-6 lead into the home portion of the seventh inning before UNCG scored the game's final five runs in the 11-8 series-clinching victory.
Earlier this week, graduate transfer RHP
Nick Torres was selected as the SoCon Pitcher of the Week after tossing six shutout relief innings with seven strikeouts in scoring the win last Friday. The Woodstock, Ga., product held the Spartans to just two base hits with one walk in the win.
Torres is slated to start Friday's series opener against Mercer coming just two hours south of his hometown in his home state. He has 10 relief appearances on the year with Friday scheduled to be his first start in a Catamount uniform. The remainder of WCU's weekend rotation remains unannounced due to a variety of team injuries that have forced the Catamount coaching staff to shuffle personnel.
Offensively for WCU, two Catamounts have active double-digit reached base safely streaks – sophomore infielder
Brandon Butterworth has reached in 12-straight games while
James Hinson has been aboard in 11-consecutive games that include a current team-best four-game hitting streak. During his current four-game stretch, Hinson has four multi-hit games including a career-best four-hit outing Sunday at UNCG, and has batted .500 (10-for-20) during the streak. Three Catamounts –
Zach Ketterman,
Jordan Starkes, and
Nate Stocum – each have a three-game active hitting streak.
Mercer (17-9, 2-1 SoCon) likewise opened its SoCon slate on the road, taking 2-of-3 from The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., last weekend. The Bears claimed the series with a 7-3 win on Friday and a 4-3 decision on Saturday to clinch. The Citadel salvaged Sunday's game with a 6-2 win, powered by six runs scored in the middle third.
Mercer claimed its 17th victory in the midweek, powering past in-state foe Kennesaw State 15-6 thanks to a trio of big innings including a five-run first, four-run sixth, and a six-run seventh inning. Bear head coach Craig Gibson matched former Mercer skipper Barry Myers as the program's all-time winningest head coach with 648 career wins and eyes the all-time record with the squad's next win.
About the Mercer Bears:
Mercer has played 15 of its 26 games this season at home, posting a 9-6 overall record including losses in three of its last four played in Macon – a one-run, 12-11 loss to Georgia Southern on March 22 and losing 2-of-3 in nonconference play to Rutgers March 17-19.
Despite ranking at the bottom of the eight-team SoCon in team batting average at .270 collectively, the potent Bear lineup leads the league with 37 home runs on the year – 11 more than WCU (26). Mercer ranks fourth in the SoCon with 72 total extra-base hits and has the fifth-best slugging percentage at .438. On the mound, Mercer ranks sixth with a 6.34 collective ERA with a .278 batting average against. Bear pitching ranks second in the SoCon with 226 team strikeouts, 59 of which have been looking.
The Bears boast the league's best fielding percentage at .983, having committed a conference-low 16 errors while turning a SoCon-best 24 double plays.
Mercer was picked second in both the SoCon coaches and media preseason polls, collecting two first-place votes from the head coaches and six from the voting media. Three Bears landed on the preseason All-SoCon team
Western Carolina vs. Mercer – The Series:
The Catamounts and Bears have met 27 times on the baseball diamond since 2007 with Mercer holding a slim 14-13 series edge. The last two three-game series have both been sweeps – WCU winning all three games in Cullowhee in 2022 including a walk-off, 11-inning victory in the third game, and Mercer earning the sweep in 2021, also tallying an 11-inning victory. This weekend's three-game set represents the first series meeting in Macon, Ga., since 2019 when WCU took 2-of-3 from the Bears. Western Carolina has won six of the nine meetings held in Macon all-time (6-3) including four of the last five meetings.
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Following this weekend's conference series at Mercer, the Catamounts open a four-game home stretch next week beginning Tuesday, April 4 by hosting USC Upstate at 5 p.m. in nonconference action at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The homestand continues April 6-8 as WCU hosts VMI in SoCon play in a Thursday through Saturday set in Cullowhee.
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 (10-14, 1-2 SoCon) at Mercer (17-9, 2-1 SoCon)
Game 1 – Friday, March 31 | 6:00 pm |
Coverage: ESPN3 |
LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – Grad. RHP
Nick Torres (3-1, 1.71 ERA; 10 app., 0 GS, 21.0 IP, 18K, 5BB)
MER – Soph. LHP Colton Cosper (0-2 7.63 ERA; 8 app., 2 GS, 15.1 IP, 10K, 7BB)
Game 2 – Saturday, March 25 | 2:00 pm |
Coverage: LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – Soph. RHP
Matt Schepel (1-1, 4.50 ERA; 5 app., 5 GS, 24.0 IP, 24K, 3BB)
MER – RHP Ryan Lobus (3-1, 4.45 ERA; 6 app., 6 GS, 28.1 IP, 34K, 17BB)
Game 3 – Sunday, March 26 | 1:00 pm |
Coverage: LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – R-So. LHP
Dylan Wheeler (2-0, 1.23 ERA; 6 app., 2 GS; 14.2 IP, 15K, 11 BB)
MER – R-Sr. RHP Josh Farmer (2-2, 4.41 ERA; 6 app., 6 GS, 32.2 IP, 24K, 7BB)
