Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball opens a five-game swing away from the friendly confines of Childress Field / Hennon Stadium this week, beginning on Tuesday evening as the Catamounts rekindle an instate matchup with the Charlotte 49ers. The first pitch from Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium and Phillips Field is set for 6 p.m.
 
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Western Carolina (4-7) looks to get back into the win column in the midweek after being swept by Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia State in Cullowhee over the weekend. The Catamounts were unable to carry the momentum from last Tuesday's walk-off victory over mountain rival UNC Asheville, dropping all three to the Panthers to account for the current three-game slide.
 
Transfer infielder Trent Turner continues to lead the Catamounts with 19 hits, tied for the second-most in the Southern Conference. The Waynesville, N.C., product quickly collected 18 hits through the first eight games of the season but was limited to just one single over the three games against Georgia State. He's one of five Catamounts to hold a .300-plus batting average through the first three weeks of the regular season, joined by Kyle Riesselmann (.417), Hayden Friese (.389), Cameron Murray (.364), and Jack Spyke (.308).
 
As a team, the Catamounts are batting .253 collectively through the first 11 games, posting 75 runs on 93 base hits for averages of 8.45 hits and 6.8 runs per outing. Of WCU's 93 hits, 40 have gone for extra bases including 26 doubles – third in the SoCon and tied for 44th nationally – and are fifth in the conference with a dozen home runs.
 
Defensively, the Catamounts have turned a SoCon-leading 11 double plays, tied for 22nd nationally through the first three weeks of the regular season.
 
Charlotte enters the week at 6-6 overall, dropping. The 49ers took a game in their early-season three-game series against ACC-foe Virginia Tech and two from West Virginia. The squad is also perfect in the midweek as they throttled Davidson 24-1 in eight innings and edged SoCon-foe Wofford, 3-2, last Tuesday. Charlotte has dropped two straight, falling in its series at Old Dominion last weekend.
 
The 49ers enter the midweek tilt batting .239 as a whole with 65 runs on 91 hits to date, averaging 5.4 runs on 7.6 base hits per game. Charlotte has recorded 31 extra-base hits including 17 doubles, a triple, and 13 home runs, led by Carson Bayne with three doubles and three homers on a .250 average. As a staff, the 49ers have compiled a team ERA of 4.90 with 136 strikeouts against 50 walks, boasting just over 11 strikeouts per game with four walks per outing.
 
In its first season with the new conference affiliation, Charlotte was picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference behind another instate foe, East Carolina.
 
Western Carolina and Charlotte meet for the 20th time on the baseball diamond in a series that dates back to 1980. The Catamounts lead the series, 12-7, and are riding a two-game win streak after taking the most recent meetings in 2021. WCU has won eight of the last nine between the two instate squads with just six of those meetings coming since 2009. A combined 14 of the first 19 series meetings have been played in the Queen City with WCU leading the series on the road, 8-6.
 
Following the midweek road game at Charlotte, the Catamounts travel to Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., this weekend – site of the 2024 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases – for 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. Each game is scheduled to be broadcast through the Greenville Drive's YouTube channel with tickets available through the Greenville Drive
 
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 Charlotte
Projected Pitching Matchups:
 
Tuesday, March 5  |  6 pm  |  Coverage: ESPN+ | LiveStats
WCU: Sr. RHP Jonathan Todd (4 app. – 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 7 K, 2 BB)
Charlotte: Jr. LHP Chase Carson (4 app., 1 GS – 0-0, 7.36 ERA, 3.2 IP, 5 K, 3 BB)