CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball concludes a road-heavy portion of its schedule on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Gardner-Webb from Brinkley Softball Stadium in Boiling Springs. Coverage of both games with the Runnin' Bulldogs is available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and with live stats through CatamountSports.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Western Carolina (13-23, 4-8 SoCon) at Gardner-Webb (27-16, 5-7 Big South)
WHERE: Brinkley Softball Stadium (Boiling Springs, N.C.)
WHEN: 3:00 p.m. (Tuesday DH)
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast (Game One) | Stat Broadcast (Game Two)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Game One) | ESPN+ (Game Two)
TWITTER: @CatamountSB
GAME NOTES
Western Carolina closes out its third five-game road swing in the past month with Tuesday's trip to Boiling Springs to battle Gardner-Webb in nonconference action. The Catamounts return to the field looking to rebound from a 1-2 weekend against Southern Conference newcomer Wofford as the Terriers claimed a 4-3 (10 innings) game on Saturday before a 7-2 win on Sunday that was preceded on Saturday by an 11-4 win for WCU.
In a four-game week that started against Big South foe USC Upstate last Wednesday, freshman Maya McPherson led the Catamounts offensively as she posted a .467 average, going 7-for-15 with two doubles and a home run. Classmate Lily Bell continued to rack up the hits, finishing the week with six to accompany six runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. Senior Savannah Baldwin tallied four hits over the week with all four going for extra bases with a double, triple, and two homers as she scored five runs and knocked in five.
In the circle, redshirt sophomore Taylor Norton threw 11.1 innings last week, allowing two earned runs and striking out four, while junior Tessa Juett tossed a team-high 13.1 innings with a win and 12 strikeouts. Juett also did it with the bat last week, picking up four hits in eight tries, including her second triple of the season.
Four Catamount regulars maintain an average over .300 entering Tuesday's midweek action with Lily Bell hitting a team-best .370 with 47 hits and 28 runs scored. Bell is third in the conference in average, fifth in base hits, and is also the conference leader with 22 stolen bases. The Woodstock, Ga. native has recorded a team-high 14 multi-hit games, including hits in 13 of her last 16 games.
Juett (.340), Mattie Mentel (.317), and McPherson (.313) each hold plus-.300 averages. Baldwin sits in a tie for fifth in doubles with nine two-baggers as 17 of her 36 hits have gone for extra bases, adding two triples and six homers. Baldwin also leads the team with 27 RBIs, which ranks her in a tie for fifth in the SoCon. Baldwin and Juett are tied for fourth in the conference, with a pair of triples leading the team.
In the circle, Juett moved into the top spot in the SoCon with 106 strikeouts becoming the fourth player in program history to post multiple 100+ strikeout seasons, accomplishing the feat in Spartanburg over the weekend. She's also second in the league in wins with ten and complete games with ten.
Gardner-Webb has a 27-16 record, including a 5-7 mark in Big South play. The Runnin' Bulldogs have been idle since April 7, when GWU fell 13-5 to Radford in six innings to conclude a league series with the Highlanders. Gardner-Webb has defended its home field throughout 2024, with a 17-8 mark in Boiling Springs thus far.
GWU has faced numerous SoCon foes in 2024, including ETSU who they defeated three out of four times, Mercer, who the Runnin' Bulldogs earned a pair of wins over, a split with Furman, a midweek win over Wofford having already earned a nonconference win over WCU back in early March.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are led offensively by Annicka McLaughlin with a .327 average as she's tallied 37 hits and driven in 11 runs. Adrienne Visintine sits at .314 with 38 hits, including five doubles and eight homers, with a team-high 33 RBIs. Araceli Pesqueira rounds out the qualified hitters for GWU with a .308 average as she's tallied a team-best ten doubles amongst her 32 hits. Gardner-Webb begins the week atop the Big South in average (.283), doubles (60), triples (10), and RBIs (211).
Two-time Big South Pitcher of the Week and a Player of the Week honor, Andrea Lyon leads the Runnin' Bulldogs pitching staff with a 9-6 record totaling a 2.32 ERA as she's recorded 99 strikeouts in 108.2 innings. Kalyn Kyle paces the staff in wins with an 11-5 record and a 2.55 ERA, as Kyle has posted 81 strikeouts in 77 innings. Similar to their work at the plate, Gardner-Webb holds the top spot in the Big South in numerous categories, including wins (27), ERA (2.83), and strikeouts (229).
Under the direction of Bailey Wigness in her third season, Gardner-Webb was picked in a fourth-place tie with Winthrop in the Big South preseason poll. Annicka McLaughlin was picked on the league's preseason All-Conference team.
WCU carries a 10-7 lead in the all-time series with Gardner-Webb despite the Runnin' Bulldogs claiming the most recent meeting back in early March by the score of 13-2 in the Catamount Classic. Gardner-Webb's win snapped a two-game win streak for the Catamounts and was just the Runnin' Bulldogs second victory in a six-game span in the series. In the most recent action in Boiling Springs between the two schools, the Catamounts earned a 16-4 run-rule victory before a 7-3 win in the finale of a doubleheader to claim the sweep in 2023.
Following Tuesday's action in Boiling Springs, the Catamounts return home for their first series in nearly a month beginning on Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader against UNCG from the Catamount Softball Complex. The three-game set with the Spartans wraps up on Sunday with a start time set for 1 p.m. from Cullowhee. All three games will have coverage through live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount softball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsb), or go to www.CatamountSports.com.
