Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball makes a brief stop at home on Tuesday evening, hosting the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in the backend of a midweek nonconference home-and-home at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, presented by Catamount Peak Apartments. 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.
Western Carolina (15-23) is amidst a three-game losing skid after dropping all three games over the weekend at Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) preseason favorite, the College of Charleston. The Catamounts are, however, riding back-to-back victories in midweek play over Big South opponents, the league in which Gardner-Webb competes. WCU powered past UNC Asheville 13-4 on the road back on April 11, and most recently, avenged an earlier 13-inning home defeat to USC Upstate by throttling the Spartans 13-1 in Spartanburg a week ago.
The Catamounts will likewise look to avenge an early-season loss at the hands of Gardner-Webb as the Runnin' Bulldogs upended Western Carolina 14-4 in Boiling Springs, N.C., back on March 1. The loss was a part of WCU's 2-7 start to the season and was followed by a weekend sweep over Eastern Kentucky by the Purple & Gold.
Pascanel Ferreras tied the first meeting with his second RBI single to knot the game at three in the top of the fifth inning before Gardner-Webb erupted for six runs in what proved to be the decisive bottom of the frame, tacking on a four-spot in the 10-run victory. Ferreras and
Kyle Riesselmann combined for four of WCU's nine singles in the road loss
WCU is expected to start Taylorsville, N.C., junior RHP
Dawson Elder who will climb the mound for his second start of the season and the fifth of his collegiate career. Elder has four seasonal appearances including the one start with a 6.75 ERA and no decisions over 6.2 innings to date. He is coming off a season-long 3.2 innings of hitless relief with four strikeouts last Tuesday at USC Upstate.
Gardner-Webb (26-13) comes to Cullowhee winners of four of its last five overall, claiming a crucial Big South Conference series at Presbyterian over the weekend to remain inside the top quartet of Big South with just four of the 10 teams qualifying for the league's postseason tournament. The Runnin' Bulldogs rank second only to league-leader Campbell with a .283 team batting average having collected 370 hits including 82 doubles, 10 triples, and 45 home runs. As a staff, Gardner-Webb leads the Big South with a 4.16 team ERA and are fourth with 333 total strikeouts.
On Monday, GWU's Curtis Robison was dubbed the Big South Baseball Player of the Week after batting .417 (10-of-24) with five doubles, a triple, and four RBI. Robison ranks fifth in the Big South with a team-leading .357 batting average including a conference-best 15 doubles. He is one of five regulars with a batting average above the .300 threshold.
With match-ups dating back to 1970, WCU leads the all-time series with Gardner-Webb, 18-11-1, though the Runnin' Bulldogs have won two-straight, both coming at home. The Catamounts have won the last two meetings played in Cullowhee, both occurring during the 2022 season.
Following Tuesday's stop at home, the Catamounts head back out on the road this weekend in a return to Southern Conference play in visiting mountain-rival ETSU (17-20, 4-8 SoCon) in Johnson City, Tenn. Coming off a SoCon series win at The Citadel, the Buccaneers visit common foe Radford on Tuesday night looking for the two-game, midweek seasonal sweep of the Highlanders. WCU swept Radford in a three-game weekend set in Cullowhee back in mid-March.
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