Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball opens a stretch Tuesday where 10 of its next 12 games will be played away from the friendly confines of Childress Field / Hennon Stadium as the Catamounts venture to Spartanburg, S.C., for the backend of a nonconference midweek home-and-home with USC Upstate at Harley Park. The Catamounts also have five straight outside of Southern Conference play beginning with the matchup with the Spartans.
The first pitch of Tuesday's game is scheduled for 5 p.m. with plans for the game to be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required). Live stats are also available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
USC Upstate (23-14) survived a five-run, ninth-inning rally by the Catamounts that included a
Pascanel Ferreras game-tying grand slam home run to edge the Catamounts 9-8 in 13 innings back on April 4 in Cullowhee. Ferreras and
Nate Stocum collected half of WCU's eight hits with dueling two-hit performances. Three Spartans led by outfielder Noah Rabon (4-for-7, 2 RBI), Ty Tilson (3-for-6), and Cole Caruso (2-for-6) combined for 13 base hits including five for extra bases for Upstate.
Western Carolina is coming off a 2-2-week, downing mountain-rival UNC Asheville on the road in the midweek 13-4 before dropping 2-of-3 to SoCon preseason favorite Wofford in Cullowhee over the weekend. The Terriers won 12-5 on Friday and took Sunday's series rubber match 17-6 in seven innings – but the Catamounts rallied from a 9-5 deficit over the final two innings with a
Drew Needham three-run homer in the eighth and a two-run, game-winning walk-off double by
Cole Jones in the ninth to stun Wofford 10-9.
Jones paced the Catamounts last week, splitting time between the outfield and designated hitter. He finished 7-for-15 (.467) with his seven hits including a double and a home run, scoring five runs with six RBI. Sophomore
Brandon Butterworth extended his active reached base safely streak to 21-straight with a triple on Saturday but injured his glove hand in a slide at home plate that forced him to miss Sunday's finale. He is listed as day-to-day with a left-hand injury.
In the latest SoCon statistics, Butterworth ranks second with four triples, while slugger
James Hinson ranks second in both slugging percentage (.742) and home runs (10). Ferreras clocks in fourth with a WCU-best 37 RBI while
Zach Ketterman is second with 28 total walks drawn this year.
WCU will start freshman LHP
Ryan White on the mound Tuesday. The Randleman, N.C., product has made 13 relief appearances in his rookie season with Tuesday representing his first collegiate start.
About USC Upstate:
USC Upstate dropped two of three in its Big South weekend series at UNC Asheville over the weekend and carry a two-game losing skid into Tuesday's match-up. The Spartans have dropped three of their last four overall and are 4-3 overall since last facing the Catamounts.
Coming off a 35-win season in 2022, USC Upstate was picked second in the Big South preseason poll.
The Spartans are slated to start RHP Caleb Costa for a second consecutive game against WCU. The freshman from Charleston worked around a walk with a strikeout in two innings of hitless, scoreless work in his first start at WCU.
Western Carolina vs. USC Upstate – The Series:
The Catamounts and Spartans have met 12 times previously on the diamond dating back to 1986 with WCU leading the series 8-4 with victories in seven of the last nine meetings. Just four of the series meetings have come in Upstate's NCAA Division I era (2007-present) with the two teams evenly splitting those, 2-2. Last year, the two split the midweek home-and-home by winning at home. Upstate looks for its first consecutive victories in the series history on Tuesday.
On Deck for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts continue the road swing through the Palmetto State this weekend, traveling to former SoCon member College of Charleston (22-13) for a three-game set this weekend, April 21-23, at Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The weekend matchups represent the first meetings between the two since 2013 when the Catamounts took 2-of-3 in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The Cougars play twice in the midweek, visiting No. 10/13 Coastal Carolina on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and cross-town rival The Citadel at Riley Park on Wednesday, April 19 (6 p.m.).
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 (14-20) at USC Upstate (23-14)
Tues., April 18 | 5:00 pm |
Coverage: ESPN+ |
LiveStats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
UPSTATE – RHP Caleb Costa (0-1 6.75 ERA; 8 app., 2 GS, 10.2 IP, 13K, 7BB)
WCU – Fr. LHP
Ryan White (1-0, 4.91 ERA; 13 app., 0 GS, 14.2 IP, 8K, 13BB)
