CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball returns home for its first series on its home field in nearly a month as the Catamounts welcome in Southern Conference preseason favorite UNC Greensboro to the Catamount Softball Complex for a three-game weekend set. With an unfavorable weekend forecast, the series has been shifted to Friday-Saturday beginning with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday before a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Coverage of all three SoCon games is available through live stats online at CatamountSports.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: UNCG (25-20, 7-5 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (13-25, 4-8 SoCon)
WHERE: Catamount Softball Complex (Cullowhee, N.C.)
WHEN: 6:00 p.m. (Friday) | 1:00 p.m. (DH on Saturday)
LIVE STATS: Sidearm Stats (All Three Games)
AUDIO: Catamount Sports Network (All Three Games)
TWITTER: @CatamountSB
GAME NOTES
Western Carolina plays its first home series since March 29-30 as the Catamounts return to the diamond after a pair of tight one-run defeats to Big South foe Gardner-Webb on Tuesday in Boiling Springs. Junior Tessa Juett totaled a season-high 11 strikeouts in her game one start which helped the Berea, Ky. native gain seventh place in the program's career record book for strikeouts with 279 in her time in Cullowhee.
Freshman Sydney Dirks posted a pair of multi-hit games to lead WCU's offense, including a double in game one, a run scored, and a stolen base in the finale. Classmate Maya McPherson connected on her fourth home run of the season in the nightcap, tying the game in the fifth. Freshman Lily Bell had base knocks in both games, adding a pair of stolen bases in the opener. With her two steals in game one, Bell took second place in WCU's single-season record book for stolen bases in a season with 24. She maintains her spot atop the Catamount offense when it comes to batting average as she enters the weekend with a team-high 49 hits, tallying 28 runs scored and a team-best 24 stolen bases. The Woodstock, Ga. native has hits in 10 of her past 11 contests, including five multi-hit games in that stretch. She begins the weekend tied for fourth in the league in average, fifth in hits, tied for ninth in runs, and is atop the conference in stolen bases.
Bell's classmate McPherson sits second on the squad with a .311 average. She's picked up at least one hit in nine of her past ten games including a career-high four hits last week against Wofford. She also tallied a pair of homers in that stretch. Senior Savannah Baldwin begins the weekend tied for fifth in the SoCon with nine doubles, as 17 of her 37 hits have gone for extra bases so far in 2024.
In WCU's first four conference series, McPherson is pacing the Catamounts with a .382 batting average. The Lancaster, Calif. native is tied for the team-high with 13 hits and Bell, who's matched McPherson through 12 league contests. Sylva native Kennedy Stewman sits at .344 with 11 hits, and Jeralynn Wells is at a .306 average in SoCon games, connecting on a team-best three homers.
Juett holds the top spot in the circle in the SoCon with 117 strikeouts after setting a new season-high with 11 strikeouts on Tuesday against Gardner-Webb. She's also second in the league in wins and is tied for the top spot in complete games with 11, matching Samford's Jordyn Partain. Juett has also done it at the plate and in the circle, holding a .308 average. The Berea, Ky. native has tallied seven extra-base hits with four doubles, two triples, and a homer.
UNCG makes the trek to Cullowhee with a 25-20 record including a 7-5 showing in SoCon play. The Spartans have dropped three of their past four including a midweek loss to No. 3 Duke on Wednesday and defeats in two of three conference games against Chattanooga last weekend.
At 145, the Spartans' RPI is the second-best in the SoCon entering the weekend. UNCG has played numerous Power Five schools throughout 2024 including South Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and the aforementioned Blue Devils.
UNCG is led offensively by the two-time defending SoCon Player of the Month in Brooklynn Maxwell as she holds a conference-best .417 average with a league-high 63 hits that includes ranking tied for the second-most doubles in the SoCon with 13, adding five triples, and 13 homers with 36 runs knocked in. Maxwell has also recorded a team-high 13 stolen bases. Her 13 homers also place her second in the league. She's upped her average in league play to .432 with four doubles and three homers in the Spartans 12 league matchups.
Jessie Shipley and Tori Dalehite have a .342 average, as Shipley has 13 doubles, four triples, and five homers. Grace Loftin joins the double-figure homer group, with Maxwell adding 11 for the Spartans. UNCG begins the week atop the SoCon in triples (12), homers (63), RBIs (213), slugging percentage (.490) and walks (177). Maxwell and Anna White have received SoCon Player of the Week honors throughout the 2024 season.
Salem Ward leads the Spartans pitching staff with a 6-6 record totaling a 2.75 ERA as she's recorded 56 strikeouts in 68.2 innings. She sits third in the SoCon with her ERA and is one of two pitchers who earned Pitcher of the Week honors from the league, joined by Maddie Spell who carries the most pitching wins into the weekend for UNCG with eight coming in a team-high 22 games with a 3.15 ERA.
UNCG is led by four-time SoCon Coach of the Year Janelle Breneman, who's in her 12th season in Greensboro. The Spartans were tabbed to win the league in the 2024 conference preseason poll led by five honorees on the Preseason All-Conference teams selected including Maxwell, Spell, Jorde Chartrand, Ryann Jones and Grace Loftin.
The Spartans have seized control of the head-to-head series with Western Carolina. They lead the all-time series 38-20, including wins in each of the last 12 matchups, the most recent coming in the 2023 SoCon Championship, when UNCG earned the 1-0 win. Western Carolina is looking to break a seven-game skid on Friday in matchups held in Cullowhee, as the Catamounts haven't downed the Spartans in Cullowhee since April 2016.
Following Saturday's action in Cullowhee, the Catamounts open their final road swing of the 2024 regular season on Tuesday, April 23, at 4 p.m. with a doubleheader against mountain rival Appalachian State from Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium. Coverage of both games with Mountaineers is available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and with live stats through CatamountSports.com.
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