CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After a dominant 9-0 defeat of former Southern Conference archrival Appalachian State on Tuesday at home, the Western Carolina softball team returns to league play on the road this weekend with a three-game series at Mercer. The Catamounts and Bears open with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. at Sikes Field before closing out the series on Sunday with the first pitch at 1 p.m.
 
All three games of the series will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Additionally, free live stats for all three games will be available online via a link on CatamountSports.com.
 
The Catamounts scored nine runs on nine hits on Tuesday against the Mountaineers including a three-run home run by Myra Twitty and a walk-off grand slam by Natalie Henry with two outs in the fifth inning which ended the game by the run rule. Brooklynn Brewington led the Catamounts with three hits and scored twice. Left-hander Tessa Juett held App to just two hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts in a five-inning complete-game victory.
 
WCU enters the weekend with a 14-19 overall record and a 3-6 league mark. After being swept by Furman in the league-opening series, the Catamounts responded by taking the series against Samford before dropping a hard-fought road series at Chattanooga on April 6-7.
 
Mercer is 15-28 overall after splitting a road doubleheader against Georgia Southern on Wednesday. In fourth place in the SoCon standings, the Bears have a 5-4 record in conference play after winning two of three against Furman and sweeping Chattanooga. Mercer was swept by Samford in Birmingham, Ala., to open league play back in late March.
 
Entering the weekend both Brewington and Mercer's Rebecca Laudino lead the SoCon in batting average at .381. Bailey Huneycutt ranks fifth in the league with a .363 batting average. Laudino paces the conference with 53 hits, though Mercer enters the weekend with a league-worst .233 team batting average and 5.48 team ERA.
 
The Catamount and Bears have met 28 previous times with Mercer holding a slim 16-12 edge. WCU has won the series in each of the past two seasons.
 
WCU hosts its final SoCon series of the 2023 season next weekend, April 29-30, against mountain-rival ETSU.
 
For the latest information on Catamount softball, follow @catamounts and @catamountsb on Twitter or go to www.CatamountSports.com.