Cullowhee, N.C. – Mountain-rival UNC Asheville pays a visit to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium on Wednesday evening as Western Carolina baseball returns home for the backend of a midweek nonconference home-and-home with the first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.
Wednesday's game is slated to be
broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) and also carried over the air regionally on television on The CW 62 (Asheville / Greenville / Spartanburg / Anderson) with WSPA-TV sports director Pete Yanity and MLB veteran Lary Sorenson on the call.
Live stats will be available through links at CatamountSports.com.
Western Carolina (16-26) looks for the two-game, regular-season series sweep over the Bulldogs for the first time since 2014 on Wednesday after downing UNCA 13-4 at Greenwood Field back on April 11. That victory was WCU's first over the 'Dogs since a road win in 2019. The Catamounts seek their first home win in the series since 2014 having dropped five straight in Cullowhee.
In the first meeting between the two,
Brandon Butterworth plated five runs with a three-hit performance including a three-run home run and the Catamounts held home-standing UNC Asheville off the scoreboard after the fourth inning. WCU used a pair of three-run innings in the first and sixth, and rode a four-run third inning to the victory.
Jordan Starkes added a solo homer and both
Zach Ketterman and
James Hinson tripled as a part of a two-hit outings as WCU out-hit UNCA, 12-to-8.
The Catamounts enter Wednesday's game after dropping the weekend conference series at ETSU last weekend, winning the opener 12-10 thanks to a five-run third inning that included a grand slam home run by
Kyle Harbison – the fifth grand slam hit by Western Carolina this season. WCU rallied from an early deficit before dropping game two – the front end of a Saturday doubleheader – 14-13. The Buccaneers claimed the series with an 8-1 win in the series finale.
Pascanel Ferreras leads WCU with a .313 batting average and 40 RBI, one more than Ketterman (39).
Nate Stocum has taken over as the team's home run leader with 11 round-trippers on the season, one more than
James Hinson (.281, 10 HRs, 28 RBI). Stocum has driven home 38 as WCU has six players with 20-or-more RBI this season.
About UNC Asheville:
The Bulldogs (21-19) have been idle since April 25, suffering a 13-0 home loss to Wofford, and have dropped four-straight games including a three-game road series at Winthrop April 21-23. UNCA is just 5-12 away from home this season.
UNCA is batting .275 collectively as a team, fourth in the Big South Conference, with 380 base hits – 9.5 per game – including 73 doubles, seven triples, and 40 home runs. The squad is on pace for its best offensive output since 2013. The Bulldogs have 288 runs scored, averaging 7.2 runs per game while surrendering a .273 batting average against while limiting the opposition to 6.6 runs a game.
Robbie Burnett continues to rank among the Big South leaders with a team-high .379 batting average, though he was held in check with a 1-for-4 effort with a double and a walk in the first meeting. Cameron Johnson collected UNCA's lone multi-hit game back in mid-April with a double in a 2-for-5 effort.
Western Carolina vs. UNC Asheville – The Series:
The Catamounts continue to lead the all-time series with their mountain-rival Bulldogs, 54-25 – but UNCA has held the upper hand recently in the series with wins in eight of the last 10 meetings dating back to 2015. WCU is 30-12 in series meetings held in Cullowhee dating back to 1985.
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Following Wednesday's midweek match-up with UNCA, the Catamounts close out a road-heavy portion of their schedule by traveling to Birmingham, Ala., to face the Samford Bulldogs in a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend. Action gets underway Friday, May 5, at 5 pm ET / 4 pm CT and continues Saturday, May 6, at 3 pm ET / 2 pm CT and Sunday, May 7, at 2 pm ET / 1 pm CT.
Each game is slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats by StatBroadcast available through
links at CatamountSports.com.
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 (16-26) vs. UNC Asheville (21-19)
Wednesday, May 3 | 5:00 pm |
Coverage: CW62 / ESPN+ |
Live Stats | Buy Tickets
Projected Pitching Match-up:
UNCA – Sr. RHP Ryan Douglas (6-0, 4.41 ERA; 10 app., 10 GS, 51.0 IP, 55K, 23BB)
WCU – Fr. RHP
Brandon Eldridge (0-3, 12.46 ERA; 5 app., 1 GS, 8.2 IP, 8K, 7BB)
