Cullowhee, N.C. – Rained out in the midweek, Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference play this week with a special Thursday through Saturday series against The Citadel Bulldogs from Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. The series between the SoCon's top two championship programs is currently set to open with a 6 p.m. start on Thursday (March 28), with an adjusted 5 p.m. start on Friday, and the first pitch on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Each game is slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
Game times are subject to change – check CatamountSports.com and social media (@catamounts, @catamountbsb) for any weather-related schedule alterations.
Western Carolina (11-11) remains eager to get back on the field following last Sunday afternoon's extra-inning loss in Southern Conference play to ETSU that allowed the Buccaneers to claim the weekend series. The Catamounts rallied from a 6-1 deficit, tying the game with a three-run home half of the ninth to force overtime in the series rubber match. Showing resiliency, WCU again rallied from a solo home run in the top of the 10th inning to tie and extend the game before eventually falling in the 12th with the tying marker on second base.
The consecutive weekend losses to ETSU at home snapped WCU's seven-game seasonal win streak that saw the Catamounts claim neutral-field victories over Michigan State (W, 9-5) and Western Michigan (W, 18-6 – 7 inn.) and a three-game sweep of the Ivy League's Harvard Crimson in Cullowhee – a common foe of this week's opponent as The Citadel split a doubleheader in taking 2-of-3 from the Crimson. WCU also completed the nonconference midweek sweep of mountain-rival UNC Asheville (W, 14-5) before claiming the series opener against the Bucs last Friday.
Entering the slate of league games this week that sees six of the eight teams squaring off in conference play, the Catamounts rank second in the SoCon with 35 home runs, only trailing Samford which has hit 41 over 24 games. WCU is also third with 49 doubles. Defensively, the Catamounts have turned a SoCon-leading 23 double plays, four more than second-place The Citadel with 19 which ranks WCU tied for 17th nationally.
Individually,
Nate Stocum continues to lead the league with his 12 home runs, boasting the second-best slugging percentage at .790 and ranks fifth with a team-leading 30 RBI. Transfer middle infielder
Trent Turner ranks second in the conference with 37 base hits including eight doubles, tied for the third-most, while also leading the SoCon having taken part in fielding 18 double-plays with a league-best 65 assists.
On the mound, two Catamounts have collected a team-high 20 strikeouts this season coming in differing roles. Senior RHP
Gavin Mortenson – who is expected to get the start in Thursday's opener – has made three starts in tossing 17.2 innings to collect his 20 Ks, while Todd has 10 relief appearances among his 11 on the year to post 20 strikeouts over 13.2 innings.
Freshman RHP
Davis Budd (0-0, 5.06) is penciled in as the projected starter for Friday's game two against the Bulldogs. The Acworth, Ga., product has made six appearances this season with one start that came in the midweek at UNC Asheville. Budd has twice tossed a career-long 3.0 innings – against Georgia State (March 2) and at UNCA (March 19), and most recently, he matched his career-best with three strikeouts over 2.1 relief innings against ETSU last Saturday.
The home-happy Bulldogs return to the banks of the Ashley River and Joe Riley Park where The Citadel has played 18 of its 23 games on the season, boasting a 14-4 record. The Cadets have not left the Palmetto State to date this season and have only left Charleston County for four games – a midweek 7-1 loss at then No. 21 South Carolina in Columbia and dropped all three games of its SoCon-opening series in the Upstate at Wofford last weekend.
The Citadel (15-8, 0-3 SoCon) halted its second three-game slide of the season with a 4-0 blanking of Lowcountry foe Charleston Southern on Tuesday, 4-0. The Bulldogs scored all the runs they would need in the opening four frames and limited the Bucs to four base hits in scoring its third victory among the four scheduled games with its Charleston neighbor.
The Citadel has scored 165 runs over 23 games, averaging 7.17 per game – a mark that drops to 4.4 in true road games to date. Batting .296 collectively as a team, the Bulldogs have 223 hits including 71 for extra-bases with 47 doubles – fourth in the SoCon – rank second with nine triples and have just 15 home runs – though a lot has to do with the prevailing coastal winds and the pitcher's park in which they play. The Citadel has surrendered an average of 6.4 runs on 9.6 hits per game with 69 extra-base hits allowed.
The Bulldogs were picked eighth in the eight-team SoCon in the preseason. Three Cadets landed on the preseason All-SoCon first team including Thursday's projected starting pitcher junior RHP Sam Swygert (5.28 ERA, 20 K), who is slated to match up with WCU's preseason first-team All-SoCon pitcher
Gavin Mortenson. Sophomore reliever Will Holmes, who has been limited to two relief appearances to date, and junior shortstop Sawyer Reeves (.326, 19 RBI) were also recognized in the preseason.
Saturday's projected starter Ben Hutchins is among the Bulldog leaders with a 3.46 ERA, posting a 3-2 record and two saves over nine appearances with just one previous start. Friday starter Landon Slemp (6.19 ERA, 2-2) joins Swygert with a team-best six starts.
Offensively, Javier Crespo leads two Bulldog regulars hitting .400-plus with a .417 batting average with a team-best 35 hits including four doubles, a triple, and a home run with 21 RBI. Wells Sykes is batting .400 with 30 knocks including five doubles and three triples. Thomas Rollauer and Anthony Hausner have a team-high eight doubles apiece with Hausner joined by Travis Lott with a team-best four homers.
WCU and The Citadel have met 168 times previously on the baseball diamond with the Catamounts leading the series 98-70. The Bulldogs have won 41 of the 78 meetings in Charleston all-time as WCU is 37-41 in the Lowcountry. WCU has won the last four series with The Citadel after taking 2-of-3 in Cullowhee last spring and has won six of the last seven meetings in Charleston dating back to the series finale in 2018 (
lost the series, two games to one).
After the weekend series in Charleston, the Catamounts continue their eight-game stretch away from home with a midweek tilt at Big South foe Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, April 2. WCU's road swing also includes a visit to Presbyterian (April 9) and a trio of neutral field games against Akron (April 5-7) at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
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 The Citadel
Thursday, March 28 | 6 p.m. | Coverage: ESPN+ |
LiveStats
WCU: RHP Gavin Mortenson (9 app., 3 GS – 0-1, 4.08 ERA, 17.2 IP, 20 K, 12 BB)
The Citadel: RHP Sam Swygert (6 app., 6 GP – 3-0, 5.28 ERA, 29.0 IP, 20 K, 12 BB)
Friday, March 29 | 5 p.m. | Coverage: ESPN+ |
LiveStats
WCU: RHP Davis Budd (6 app., 1 GS – 0-0, 5.06 ERA, 10.2 IP, 11 K, 6 BB)
The Citadel: RHP Landon Slemp (6 app., 6 GS – 2-2, 6.19 ERA, 32.0 IP, 20 K, 14 BB)
Saturday, March 30 | 1 p.m. | Coverage: ESPN+ |
LiveStats
WCU: TBA
The Citadel: RHP Ben Hutchins (9 app., 1 GS – 3-2, 3.46 ERA, 26.0 IP, 19 K, 5 BB)
