Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball wraps up the 2023 regular season this week with a west coast trip, visiting No. 10 Oregon State for a three-game nonconference series at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. Games on Thursday and Friday are set for 5:35 p.m. PT / 8:35 p.m. ET starts with the regular-season finale scheduled for Saturday with the first pitch at 1:05 p.m. PT / 4:05 p.m. ET.
 
Each game of the three-game series is slated to be video streamed online through the Pac-12 Insider (paid subscription required) with  https://osubeavers.com/watch/?Live=11110&type=Livelive streaming audio through OSUBeavers.com heard via the Varsity Network, which is available for users with smartphones and tablets. Download the free Varsity Network app for the live game broadcast. Live stats for each game will also be available through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Notes to Lead Off:

• Western Carolina has won four of its last five games overall entering the regular season's final week;
• Western Carolina is 19-9 this season when scoring six-or-more runs – and just 2-20 when held to five or fewer;
• Western Carolina and Oregon State meet for the first time on the baseball diamond, but the Catamounts have played four of the 11 baseball-playing schools currently in the Pac-12 Conference;
• WCU enters the week 7-3 all-time against the Pac-12 including a 4-1 record against Washington State, 2-1 against USC, 1-0 against Stanford, and 0-1 against Arizona State back in 1994 in an NCAA regional;
• Oregon State represents the third nationally-ranked opponent on WCU's schedule this season, falling at No. 14 North Carolina and No. 12 Tennessee.

About Western Carolina:
Western Carolina played just an inning and a third of its mid-week nonconference road game at SEC-foe Georgia on Tuesday before rain and storms chased the teams from the field. Pascanel Ferreras doubled home Nate Stocum who drew one of three walks in the top of the first for the early lead. The Bulldogs pushed across three runs in the bottom of the frame with one out before the game was halted and eventually canceled.
 
The Catamounts are coming off a 3-1 week, winning three of its final four regular-season home games for a 13-12 mark at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. WCU took 2-of-3 from The Citadel in SoCon play, its first conference series win since taking 2-of-3 at league-leading Mercer in Macon, March 31 through April 2. Along the way, the Catamounts also earned their first extra-inning win of the year with Friday's 13-inning victory over The Citadel, now 1-3 in extras. WCU's lone loss last week came in a one-run affair on Saturday to The Citadel, its fifth, one-run defeat in SoCon play this season.
  
Additional WCU Diamond Notes:

• Utility player Jack Spyke – who has seen action at five different positions this year – 1B, 2B, 3B, OF, C – is riding a team-best nine-game hitting streak entering Tuesday's game at Georgia;
• In addition to Spyke, WCU outfielder/DH Cole Jones also has an active nine-game reached base safely streak … Jones missed the final two games of The Citadel series with an injury and his status for this week is unknown;

More on Brandon Butterworth:
Sophomore 2B Brandon Butterworth matched his career-high with four base hits in Sunday's series finale against The Citadel, collecting two singles, a double, and his career-best fifth home run of the season. It was his second, 4-hit performance of the season, also collecting four base knocks in the midweek win against UNC Asheville.
 
Butterworth legged out his SoCon-leading seventh triple of the season against The Citadel last weekend, a mark that ranks him tied with four others for third nationally. Butterworth also matched a WCU single-season record with his seventh triple, tying former Catamount Tracy Biggs who had seven triples back in 1999. Butterworth is chasing former Catamount infielder Bradley Strong (2012-15) who finished with a school-record 18 career triples.

About Oregon State:
Ranked as high as No. 10 in the latest D1Baseball.com poll, the Beavers (36-16) were upset on Tuesday night in their final midweek nonconference game against Portland, falling 14-8 at home where they are 20-6 on the season.
 
Oregon State is batting .281 as a team – ninth in the Pac-12 – with 168 extra-base hits including 95 doubles, seven triples, and 66 home runs – one shy of matching a school single-season record. As a pitching staff, OSU ranks second with both a 4.30 collective team ERA and 498 strikeouts and has allowed just 41 home runs, the fewest in the Pac-12. The Beavers also boast a Pac-12-leading .981 fielding percentage with a league-low 36 errors on the season.
 
WCU / Oregon State - Common Ties:
Two current WCU administrators also spent part of their careers in Corvallis. Current Catamount Athletics Director Alex Gary – a former WCU baseball player – was a Senior Associate Athletics Director for Development at OSU. WCU's current Deputy Athletics Director / COO Kyle Pifer was the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance before returning to the east coast and Cullowhee, spending eight years on the Oregon State staff.
 
On Deck for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts head to the 2023 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., May 24-28. WCU will open play on Wednesday, May 24, as No. 5 and No. 8 seeds play at 3 p.m., followed by the No. 6 and No. 7 seed playing at 7 p.m., in two single-elimination games.
 
Both WCU (8-12) and VMI (9-11) have completed regular-season play. Mercer (13-5) hosts Samford (12-6) for three games with the SoCon regular-season title on the line. The league-leading Bears lead the Bulldogs by just one game heading into the final series. ETSU (8-10) hosts UNCG (8-10) and The Citadel (7-11) welcomes Wofford (9-9).
 
Two losses by The Citadel against Wofford would keep the Bulldogs behind WCU in the standings. WCU could overtake either ETSU or UNCG in the event of a series sweep by either the Buccaneers or Spartans. But if ETSU and UNCG split the series to get to nine wins would finish ahead of the Catamounts.
 
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).
 
Western Carolina (21-29) at Oregon State (36-16) – Projected Pitching Match-ups:
Thursday, May 18
WCU – RHP Jonathan Todd (2-3, 8.454 ERA; 14 app., 7 GS, 38.1 IP, 36K, 24BB)
OSU – RHP Ben Ferrer (1-1, 3.03 ERA; 17 app, 1 GS; 32.1 IP, 37K, 6BB)
 
Friday, May 19
WCU – LHP Kyle Riesselmann (1-3, 7.96 ERA; 12 app., 11 GS, 46.1 IP, 35K, 12 BB)
OSU – RHP Jacob Kmatz (4-4, 4.39 ERA; 13 app., 13 GS, 67.2 IP, 60K, 22BB)
 
Saturday, May 20
WCU – TBD
OSU – Trent Sellers (6-5, 5.28 ERA; 13 app., 13 GS, 61.1 IP, 93K, 30BB)