Cullowhee, N.C. – Delayed a day because of Friday's weather-related cancellation and after halting a three-game slide with Wednesday night's walk-off win over mountain-rival UNC Asheville, Western Carolina baseball returns to the diamond on Saturday to open a three-game nonconference series against Georgia State from Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
Saturday's regularly-scheduled doubleheader is set to begin at Noon with game two to follow approximately 30 minutes afterwards. The three-game set concludes Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. All three games are slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Returning from a three-game series loss at ACC-foe Florida State last weekend, Western Carolina halted a four-game road losing skid on Wednesday by downing UNC Asheville 6-5 in Cullowhee. James Hinson collected his second extra-base hit of the game, adding a two-run double to his second-inning solo home run to tie things at five apiece in the home half of the ninth inning. Three batters later, Mason Holton drew a bases-loaded walk that brought the game-winning run home.
 
Hinson plated three runs among his two base knocks and was joined by junior transfer shortstop Trent Turner with multiple hits as the latter finished 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a double. WCU's three remaining hits among the eight collected were spread between three players with Hayden Friese, Jack Spyke, and Kyle Harbison each singling.
 
Hard-throwing RHP Jonathan Todd (1-0) earned the victory out of the bullpen, striking out three against a walk in an inning and two-thirds of hitless, scoreless relief.
 
Entering the weekend, Turner continues to pace the Catamount lineup with a .462 batting average that ranks him third in the Southern Conference early on. The Waynesville, N.C., transfer boasts a team and SoCon-best 18 base hits including four doubles to tie him for second in the conference. Behind Turner's eight two-baggers, WCU is second in the league with 20 total doubles. Among the Catamount regulars, four are batting above the .300 threshold including Cameron Murray (.429, 3-for-7), Hayden Friese (.417, 5-for-12), and Jack Spyke (.321, 9-for-28). Friese also boasts a team-best .588 on-base percentage while Nate Stocum has a team-best three home runs and has drawn 10 freebies with a team-high nine walks and an HBP.
 
Defensively, WCU has turned nine double plays on the season, matching The Citadel for the most by a squad in the SoCon this season to date.
 
Entering the third weekend of the 2024 regular season, second-year head coach Alan Beck and pitching coach Derek Beasley will again shuffle the weekend starting rotation. Redshirt sophomore transfer RHP Dusty Revis (1-0) will get the ball in game one on Saturday with redshirt junior LHP Dylan Wheeler (1-0) expected to start game two. A transfer from Mars Hill, Revis has made three relief appearances on the year with eight strikeouts without a walk, and he earned a victory in his WCU debut against Iona. Last week's Friday starter – junior transfer RHP Spenser Hamblen (1-1) – will toe the rubber in Sunday's series finale.
 
Georgia State (2-6) has equally split its opening eight games between home and the road, posting 1-3 marks aside. The Panthers have dropped 2-of-3 in their first two weekend series at New Orleans and at home against Seton Hall to open the year. The team opened the season on the road for the first time since 2010. Georgia State also has a pair of road losses to instate foes Georgia (L, 15-0) and Georgia Tech (L, 10-0).
 
Offensively, the Panthers are coming off a season where they ranked 14th nationally with a program-record 110 combined home runs. A total of 79 of those round-trippers return this season with five players on the roster that hit 10 or more homers last spring. Georgia State's offense is led by senior first baseman Luke Boynton who is hitting .355 this spring with a team-best five home runs to add to his career total of 33 – tied for seventh in Panther baseball history. He's joined by shortstop Matt Ruiz (.308, 10 HRs in 2023), outfielder JoJo Jackson (.319, 13 HRs in 2023), infielder Dylan Strickland (.302, 12 HRs in 2023) and catcher Colin Hynek (.264, 10 HRs in 2023) as double-digit home run hitters last season.
 
On the mound, Georgia State only returns a combined five starts from a season ago for former MLB pitcher turned pitching coach Chad Bell. Two of the scheduled weekend starters are transfers – Rob Evans from Chipola Junior College and Tyler Roche from St. John's. The Panthers' top reliever is sophomore RHP Brady Jones who went 2-2 with four saves as a freshman last year.
 
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Brad Stromdahl, Georgia State posted back-to-back 30-win seasons in 2022 and 2023 – the first for the Panthers program since winning 30+ in four consecutive seasons between 2008-11. The Panthers were picked to finish 11th in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference, just a point behind 10th-place James Madison.
 
In the weekend series, two names and faces may be familiar to fans following the action. Catamount two-way player Kyle Riesselmann, who pitches and patrols centerfield, began his playing career at Georgia State before transferring to WCU ahead of the 2023 season. For the Panthers, fifth-year graduate transfer Henry Koehler who began his career at Davidson, has a familial tie to WCU. Koehler's older brother Matthew Koehler played at WCU from 2015-19, finishing his career ninth in program history with nine triples.
 
Following the three-game set against Georgia State, WCU plays its next five away from Cullowhee, opening with a midweek road game at Charlotte on Tuesday, March 5, before traveling to Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C., next weekend in tournament play. The Catamounts face Western Michigan on Fri., March 8, at 6 p.m. before battling event host Michigan State in a Saturday doubleheader at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., before facing VCU on Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m.
 
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 vs. Georgia State
Projected Pitching Matchups:
 
Saturday, March 2 (Gm1) | Noon | Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
Georgia State: Soph. LHP Rob Evans (2 app., 2 GS – 6.75 ERA, 8.0 IP, 9 K, 9 BB)
WCU: R-Soph. RHP Dusty Revis (3 app. – 5.79 ERA, 4.2 IP, 8 K, 0 BB)
 
Saturday, March 2 (Gm2) | Approx. 3:30 pm | Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
Georgia State: Fr. RHP Ross Norman (2 app., 2 GS – 0-0, 11.25 ERA, 8.0 IP, 3 K, 7 BB)
WCU: R-Jr. LHP Dylan Wheeler (3 app., 1 GS – 7.04 ERA, 7.2 IP, 5 K, 2 BB)
 
Sunday, March 3 | 1 p.m. | Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
Georgia State: Jr. RHP Tyler Roche (2 app., 2 GS – 1-1, 3.38 ERA, 10.2 IP, 8 K, 2 BB)
WCU: Jr. RHP Spenser Hamblen (2 app., 2 GS – 1-1, 6.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 7 K, 6 BB)