Cullowhee, N.C. – On the heels of a three-game season-opening sweep of Iona at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, Western Carolina baseball hits the road for the first time this week. The Catamounts open a four-game road swing on Wednesday afternoon as they visit USC Upstate at Harley Park in Spartanburg, S.C. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday's game is slated to be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with both
live streaming audio and
live stats links available online at CatamountSports.com.
WCU looks for its second 4-0 start to a season in the last three years on Wednesday when it visits the Spartans. The Purple & Gold also began the 2022 season with four straight wins over Niagara before USC Upstate halted the season-opening win streak in Spartanburg.
Western Carolina twice rallied from deficits with unanswered scoring runs in securing the three-game sweep of the Gaels at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium on opening weekend. The Catamounts erased a two-run margin in the first inning to take Friday's season opener before exploding for a season-high 16 unanswered runs to overcome a three-run deficit in Saturday's series-clinching 16-3 win. In Sunday's finale, the Catamounts dug out of a four-run hole with a pair of three-run frames in the fifth and seventh to sweep the series with an 8-4 win.
The Catamounts batted .337 (35-for-104) collectively as a team on opening weekend with 17 extra-base hits including nine doubles, a triple, and seven home runs. The squad added 27 freebies including 22 walks and five HBPs. WCU has scored 35 runs, averaging 11.7 per game to date in the trio of wins.
Seven WCU regulars with at least two games played enter the week batting over the .300 threshold, paced by junior transfer infielder
Trent Turner at .500 (8-of-16) with two doubles and a home run.
Nate Stocum has a team-best three home runs – the second-most in the SoCon to date – as part of his .400 average as all four of his base knocks have gone for extra bases for a 1.400 slugging percentage. He also has a team-best seven RBI, just ahead of Turner with five.
James Hinson,
Zach Ketterman, and
Jack Spyke each additionally homered over the weekend for the Catamounts.
On the mound, the Catamount pitching staff surrendered just 12 runs – nine of which were earned – over 27 total innings with a team ERA of 3.00. The staff limited Iona to a .189 batting average against over the weekend. WCU averaged 10 strikeouts per game, tallying 30 between the three games with weekend starter
Spenser Hamblen leading the team with six strikeouts. Ten of the 12 Catamount arms to have toed the rubber so far have at least one strikeout with eight recording multiple K's in their appearances.
USC Upstate (0-3) dropped its season-opening series at home against a Kentucky Wildcats squad that was receiving votes in the preseason national rankings. UK claimed the series by a combined margin of 23-to-10, dropping decisions of four, three, and six runs. The Spartans are batting .230 (23-of-100) as a team through the first three games with eight extra-base hits including four homers, three doubles, and a triple.
Spartan pitchers managed 26 strikeouts against Kentucky, surrendering 23 runs on 30 hits with 10 extra-base hits allowed in six doubles and four home runs. Upstate has a 6.33 collective team ERA over 27 innings. The Spartans were picked to win the 2024 Big South regular-season crown.
USC Upstate landed seven players on the Preseason All-Big South Conference team in the preseason including four position players and three pitchers. Redshirt senior outfielder Daniel Gernon, redshirt senior infielder Grant Sherrod, junior designated hitter Jace Rinehart Jr., and junior utility player Noah Sullivan represented the Spartans as position players. Those four were joined by starting pitchers senior Mathieu Curtis and senior Henry Proger, and reliever Jake Cubbler as preseason all-conference selections.
Cubbler, who finished second in the voting for the Big South's preseason Pitcher of the Year award, was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year initial watch list. He joined WCU's tandem of
Jackson Reid and
Ryan White on the same preseason list. Cubbler struck out eight over five innings in his season debut. All nine arms used by Upstate recorded a strikeout.
The runner-up in last year's Big South Conference regular season and tournament, USC Upstate was picked to win the 2024 conference championship this year, earning seven of the possible nine first-place votes from the league's head coaches. It's the first time the Spartans have garnered the top preseason nod on the baseball diamond
Western Carolina has won nine of the 13 all-time series meetings (9-4) including five of the seven played in Spartanburg (5-2). The two teams split the midweek home-and-home series a year ago, both winning on the road. The Spartans outlasted WCU 9-8 in 13 innings on April 4 before WCU throttled Upstate 13-1 in the return meeting on April 18. All told, the last four meetings have been evenly split, 2-2 – though the Catamounts have won eight of the last 10 overall dating back to 1987.
Wednesday represents the front end of a nonconference home-and-home that nearly bookends the season. Upstate returns the game in Cullowhee in the midweek late in the season on May 1.
Following Wednesday's road match-up, the Catamounts head to Tallahassee, Fla., for a three-game nonconference series against Florida State. The Seminoles opened the season with a pair of wins over Butler, winning 11-0 and 15-5 at home at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium. FSU visits instate foe Jacksonville on Tuesday before hosting the Catamounts. Game times in Florida are 5 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday with broadcast coverage on the ACC Network Extra (
paid subscription required) and the Watch ESPN app.
Keep track of everything related to WCU Athletics and Catamount baseball including any game day schedule changes through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).
2024 Catamount Baseball – Western Carolina at USC Upstate
Projected Pitching Match-Up:
Wednesday, Feb. 21 | 3:00 pm | Coverage: Catamount Sports Network (audio) |
Live Stats
Upstate – Fr. RHP Darin Kuskie (1st appearance)
WCU – R-Jr. LHP
Dylan Wheeler (1 app., 1-0 – 3.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 K, 0 BB
