CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball embarks on a five-game road swing that begins Thursday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against North Carolina Central from Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, N.C. Coverage of Thursday's doubleheader with the Eagles is available on NCCU Sports Network and with live stats through CatamountSports.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Western Carolina (8-19) at N.C. Central (9-25)
WHERE: Thomas Brooks Park (Cary, N.C.)
WHEN: 3:00 p.m. (Doubleheader)
LIVE STATS: Sidearm Stats
LIVE VIDEO: NCCU Sports Network
TWITTER: @CatamountSB
Western Carolina returns to the road after a Southern Conference weekend at home that saw the Catamounts run into Mercer's red-hot offense, dropping two of three matchups to the visiting Bears.
Sophomore Taylor Waitley connected on her first career homer on Friday night in walk-off fashion, allowing WCU to earn the 4-2 win and head coach Jim Clift to collect his 250th career victory in Cullowhee. The Catamounts were led in the circle by Taylor Norton who tossed a complete game with five strikeouts, allowing two runs to get the win.
Entering the week, freshman Lily Bell sits in second place in the league with 14 stolen bases and is tied for fifth in WCU's single-season program record book for steals in a season. She is also eighth with a .367 batting average and a team-high 33 hits, which includes the first career triple she tallied against Mercer last weekend.
Senior Savannah Baldwin is tied for sixth in the SoCon with seven doubles on the season. On Sunday, she tied the team-high with her fourth homer. Baldwin and Jeralynn Wells each have four homers to lead the squad, which ranks fourth in the SoCon with 20 homers on the season. Baldwin also paces the Catamounts with 20 runs driven in.
Tessa Juett heads into Thursday's action ranked second in the league with 66 strikeouts and is tied for third with six complete games for WCU. Juett also ranks in a tie for ninth in the league with five victories.
N.C. Central enters play on Thursday with a 9-25 record. The Eagles are coming off a 1-2 weekend at home against Coppin State in MEAC action. NCCU has dropped four of its last five overall with a three-game sweep against Norfolk State preceding the slide.
Jaylah Barr leads the Eagles' offense with a .330 average including six doubles, three homers, and 16 runs driven in. Jai'lyn Edwards has a .293 average, 10 runs scored, three doubles, two homers, and nine runs knocked in. Hailey Batista leads NCCU with four homers.
Jaden Davis leads the NCCU staff in the circle with a 5-12 record in 18 appearances, totaling 17 starts and 11 complete games. Davis has 62 strikeouts in 98.0 innings. Ashanti Eubanks has three victories in 21 appearances with nine starts as Eubanks has totaled 47 strikeouts.
NCCU went 19-35 in 2023 with a 12-7 mark in MEAC play. The Eagles advanced to the NCAA tournament as the automatic qualifier before falling to #14 Georgia and Boston in the postseason. Cat Tarvin is in her fourth year leading the Eagles, which were picked second in the league's preseason poll including five votes to win the league. Seven players were named to the two all-conference teams announced by the league.
Western Carolina holds a 10-2 lead in the all-time series with N.C. Central including a 13-4 victory on March 10 in Cullowhee during the final day of the Catamount Classic. WCU used the long ball in that contest to its advantage as Baldwin connected on a pair of big flies, along with Wells, Kennedy Stewman, and Maya McPherson hitting homers in the victory. The Catamounts have taken five of the six prior meetings from the Eagles on the road.
Following Thursday's doubleheader in Cary, the Catamounts travel to Johnson City for a three-game SoCon set against ETSU. The series begins with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, from Betty Basler Field. It wraps up on Sunday with a 1 p.m. start. All three contests will have live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
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