Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball opens a four-game homestand to conclude the home portion of its 2023 schedule, returning to the friendly confines of Childress Field / Hennon Stadium on Tuesday to host the Presbyterian Blue Hose in the backend of a midweek, nonconference home-and-home series. The first pitch of Tuesday's game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Coverage of Tuesday's game is available through
online audio from the Catamount Sports Network with air time around 4:45 pm, through
live stats online at CatamountSports.com with updates available on social media through Twitter using the handle, @CatamountBSB.
Western Carolina (18-28) posted a 2-2 record last week, upending mountain-rival UNC Asheville 19-7 in the midweek before taking one at league-leading Samford in Sunday's series finale. The Catamounts have won three of their last four midweek games dating back to April 11, each coming against a member of the Big South Conference.
The Catamounts batted .313 as a team last week with two regulars –
Cole Jones and
Jack Spyke – both batting over .400. Jones paced the Catamounts with a 7-for-16 effort at the plate with two doubles and a home run with four RBI, while Spyke (6-for-15) collected six singles.
Zach Ketterman recorded five of WCU's 31 RBI on the week, tallying a pair of doubles, with
Brandon Butterworth also doubling as a part of a team-high tying seven hits.
Freshman RHP
Ryan White earned both of WCU's victories on the week on the mound, tossing 2.2 innings in both outings while holding both UNC Asheville and Samford scoreless over 5.1 total innings with just two base hits allowed.
Entering the week, three Catamounts have belted double-digit home runs this season paced by
Nate Stocum with 12, followed by
James Hinson (11) and
Pascanel Ferreras (10). Ketterman is just behind with eight round-trippers this spring. Stocum has the team's best active eight-game reached base safely streak, one ahead of Jones that includes a four-game hit streak. Spyke holds the team's longest active hitting streak at five straight games.
About Presbyterian:
The Blue Hose (18-30) have dropped five straight, losing two of three in Big South Conference play at USC Upstate two weekends ago before dropping all three games at No. 11 Miami (Fla.) most recently. Presbyterian has surrendered double-digit runs in four-straight games and has been outscored by a count of 48-to-8 during that same stretch.
Brody Fahr leads Presbyterian – and ranks sixth in the Big South – with a .347 batting average that includes a team-best 60 hits with 10 doubles, three triples, and four home runs. The Blue Hose is batting just .241 collectively as a team, 10th in their conference. Duncan Howard has a PC-best 14 home runs to rank tied for first in the Big South, just ahead of teammate Charlie McDaniel who is tied for fifth with 11 homers.
First Meeting: Presbyterian 3, WCU 0:
Western Carolina's offense was limited to just three singles while stranding seven runners on base in a 3-0 nonconference road loss to Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. The Blue Hose posted a trio of solo markers between the second, third, and eighth innings in the winning effort.
Pascanel Ferreras reached base twice with a single and a walk, with
Cole Jones and
Brandon Butterworth also singling. Freshman LHP Mason McDaniel struck out eight over six scoreless innings in the start.
Western Carolina vs. Presbyterian – The Series:
WCU and Presbyterian meet for just the 11th time on Tuesday with the Catamounts leading the series, 6-4. All told, the two teams have split the last six meetings dating back to 2016 with PC winning the last two series meetings – the first consecutive losses by the Catamounts to PC in series history. WCU leads the all-time series at home 4-2, but has dropped the last two series meetings in Cullowhee – an 11-8 loss in 10 innings in 2022 and a 6-0 defeat in 2017.
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Following Tuesday's midweek matchup with Presbyterian, the Catamounts welcome The Citadel to Cullowhee this weekend for a three-game SoCon series which includes the "Whee Love Canton Day" presented by Ingles and Champion Credit Union on Saturday, May 13, and Senior Day on Sunday, May 14. Game times are 5 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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).
Tuesday, May 9 | 5:00 pm |
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Coverage: Listen to CSN LIVE |
Live Stats
Projected Pitching Match-up:
PC – So. RHP Fenix DiGiacomo (3-4, 5.58 ERA; 14 app., 7 GS, 36K, 18BB)
WCU – Fr. RHP
Brandon Eldridge (0-3, 10.12 ERA; 6 app., 2 GS, 10K, 9 BB)
