Cullowhee, N.C. – Idle since last Thursday after a home Southern Conference doubleheader against VMI and after rain ultimately canceled the series finale, Western Carolina baseball returns to action on Tuesday evening, visiting mountain-rival UNC Asheville at Greenwood Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Tuesday's game is slated to be
broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats available
online through a link at CatamountSports.com. Admission at UNCA's Greenwood Field is free courtesy of Ingles.
Western Carolina (12-18, 3-5 SoCon) has dropped three-straight games entering the week with two requiring extra-innings – a 9-8 loss in 13 innings to USC Upstate last Tuesday (April 4) in the midweek and game one of the doubleheader last Thursday in SoCon play against VMI, falling 14-11 in 10 innings.
All told, the Catamounts have mounted furious rallies in their last four games with just one resulting in a win – the 15-14 road win at Mercer where WCU scored eight runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to rally past the Bears. WCU scored five runs in the ninth inning including a third-straight game with a grand slam home run by
Pascanel Ferreras to tie the game before falling the USC Upstate. In game one last Thursday, WCU scored eight runs in the eighth inning and carried an 11-9 lead into the ninth before falling in extras, 14-11, to VMI. Most recently against the Keydets, WCU overcame a 7-2 deficit with a six-run sixth inning, but were outscored 9-to-4 over the final third of the game in the 17-12 loss.
UNC Asheville represents the fifth different Big South Conference opponent on WCU's 2023 schedule to date. The Catamounts are 3-3 in those matchups including a three-game sweep of Radford, road losses at Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb, and a home loss last week in extra innings to USC Upstate. The Catamounts visit USC Upstate next Tuesday (April 18) before hosting Gardner-Webb (April 25), UNCA (May 3) and Presbyterian (May 9) to wrap-up midweek home-and-home series.
WCU is sixth in the SoCon standings after three weekends of play, though all eight teams have not completed three series. The Catamounts are batting .275 collectively with 290 base hits including 51 doubles, five triples, and 39 home runs – fourth in the SoCon. On the mound, WCU ranks fifth in the SoCon with 241 strikeouts including 91 strikeouts looking, second-most in the league.
Ferreras continues to rank tied atop the SoCon RBI leader list with a team-best 36 runs driven in, while
James Hinson paces the conference in slugging percentage at .747, including eight home runs, tied for third in the league. Ferreras has the longest active hitting streak at five games.
Brandon Butterworth, who ranks tied for second in the SoCon with three triples, enters the week having reached base safely in a team-best 18-straight games with
Zach Ketterman and
Nate Stocum stretching their active RBS streaks to nine-consecutive.
Junior RHP
Dawson Elder will make his first start of the season on Tuesday. It'll be just the fourth of his career and his first since 2021. WCU is expected to throw multiple pitchers on Tuesday evening.
About the UNCA Bulldogs:
UNC Asheville enters the week 18-13 overall after dropping 2-of-3 in Big South Conference play at Gardner-Webb last Thursday and Friday. The Bulldogs have lost three of their last four overall, but boast a 14-4 seasonal record at home. At 5-7 overall in league play, UNCA sits in sixth place in the Big South after being picked fifth in the 10-team league in preseason polling.
As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .285 collectively, second in the Big South. The team has collected 309 hits – averaging right at 10 per game – with 96 extra-base hits including 57 doubles, seven triples, and 32 home runs. UNCA is averaging 7.7 runs per game while surrendering just 6.1 runs on an average of 8.8 hits per game with 237 strikeouts collectively as a pitching staff.
Robbie Burnett leads four Bulldog regulars with batting averages over .300 on the season, fourth in the Big South Conference with a .389 average and a team-best 10 home runs including four last week alone. Dylan Bacot is batting .370 on the year with a Big South-best 14 doubles and has a conference-leading 43 RBI which ranks him 23rd nationally.
Western Carolina vs. UNC Asheville – The Series:
The Catamounts continue to lead the all-time series with their mountain-rival Bulldogs, 53-25 – but UNCA has held the upper hand recently in the series with wins in eight of the last nine meetings dating back to 2015. WCU is 21-12 in Asheville all-time with meetings split between the on-campus Greenwood Field and historic McCormick Field, home of the Asheville Tourists minor-league squad.
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Tuesday's road game comes amidst a stretch where six of seven games will be played at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee as the Catamounts host preseason SoCon favorite Wofford this Friday through Sunday, April 14-16.
Following the Wofford series at home, WCU has a road-heavy schedule as 10 of its next 12 will be played on the road. WCU plays the backend of the nonconference home-and-home at USC Upstate (April 18) before a weekend, three-game road series at the College of Charleston (April 21-23). The two home dates against Gardner-Webb (April 25) and UNC Asheville (May 3) are sandwiched around a weekend road SoCon series at ETSU (April 28-30), followed by a road series at Samford (May 5-7).
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 (12-18) at UNC Asheville (18-13)
Tuesday, April 11 | 5:00 pm |
Coverage: ESPN+ |
LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – Jr. RHP
Dawson Elder (0-0, 18.00 ERA; 2 app., 0 GS, 1.0 IP, 1K, 3BB)
UNCA – Jr. RHP Cole Bates (0-0, 9.08 ERA; 12 app., 2 GS, 16.2 IP, 13K, 8BB)
