CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball opens up its final five-game road swing of the 2024 season on Tuesday with a doubleheader against former Southern Conference rival Appalachian State at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium in Boone beginning at 4 p.m. Coverage of both games with the Mountaineers is available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and with live stats through CatamountSports.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Western Carolina (14-27, 5-10 SoCon) at Appalachian State (17-24, 4-14 Sun Belt)
WHERE: Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium (Boone, N.C.)
WHEN: 4:00 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 hits the road after claiming a 13-5 run-rule victory in its series finale with preseason SoCon favorite UNCG on Saturday afternoon at the Catamount Softball Complex. In the victory over the Spartans, the long ball was the difference for WCU as junior Tessa Juett deposited two homers and freshman Becka Wonsick hit a grand slam to help propel the Catamounts to the win.
Coming into the week, the Catamounts are riding a four-game home run streak, led by Wonsick who has homered in each of her last three games. Juett has added a pair of blasts, and freshman Maya McPherson also tallied one in the midweek against Gardner-Webb. In last week's five games for WCU, senior Jeralynn Wells led the offensive attack with a 6-for-14 (.429) performance at the dish, while freshman Sydney Dirks was 7-for-17 (.412).
In the circle, redshirt sophomore Taylor Norton threw 9.2 innings last week, allowing three earned runs and striking out six. Juett tossed a team-high 16.1 innings with a win and 23 strikeouts. Juett also did it with the bat last week with her two homers in Saturday's win against UNCG.
Three Catamount regulars maintain an average over .300 entering Tuesday's midweek action with SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate Lily Bell hitting a team-best .368 with 53 hits and 29 runs scored. Bell is fourth in the conference in batting average, fourth in base hits, and the conference leader with 25 stolen bases. The Woodstock, Ga. native has recorded 16 multi-hit games, including hits in 12 of her last 14 games, with seven multi-hit contests in that stretch.
Juett (.322) and McPherson (.305) each hold a plus-.300 averages as both have three-plus homers, with McPherson up to four homers. Juett has tripled her homer count after her two-homer game on Saturday. Baldwin sits in a tie for sixth in doubles with nine two-baggers, as 17 of her 40 hits have gone for extra bases, adding two triples and six homers. Baldwin also leads the team with 32 RBIs, ranking her sixth in the SoCon.
In the circle, Juett remains atop the SoCon with 129 strikeouts. The Berea, Ky. native sits 10th in the program's single-season record book headed down the stretch in the 2024 season. Juett is tied for the league lead in wins with 11, second in complete games with 12, and holds the top spot in the SoCon with 136.1 innings pitched.
Appalachian State holds a 17-24 record including a 4-14 mark in Sun Belt play. The Mountaineers were swept in conference play over the weekend at home by James Madison, preceded by a run-rule victory over N.C. A&T on the road last week. App State has struggled to defend its home field in 2024, posting just a 2-9 mark in Boone thus far.
Tuesday's action marks the third SoCon foe in 2024 for the Mountaineers, including ETSU, whom they defeated three out of four times, and UNCG, in which Appalachian State defeated in Greensboro back in mid-March.
The Mountaineers are led offensively by the Sun Belt leader in average Kayt Houston with a .426 average as she's tallied 58 hits and driven in 28 runs with 14 doubles and eight homers. Houston has earned a conference Player of the Week award in the 2024 season. USC Upstate transfer Peyton Darnell checks in with a .358 average with 44 hits, including ten doubles and nine homers with a team-high 35 RBIs. Grace Barrett rounds out the qualified hitters for App State with a .317 average as she's totaled 26 runs, six doubles, and four homers.
Appalachian State is led in the circle by Sejal Neas, who has a record of 8-12, totaling a 3.47 ERA. She has recorded 86 strikeouts in 109 innings. Delani Buckner is 2-6 in 15 appearances with a 3.71 ERA for the Mountaineers. Kaylie Northrop has totaled seven wins in her 22 outings in the circle for App State.
In her seventh season at Appalachian State and 25th overall as a head coach, Shelly Hoerner directed the Mountaineers, who were ranked 12th in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll. Houston was named to the league's preseason all-conference team.
Appalachian State holds a 29-12 lead in the all-time series with Western Carolina despite the Catamounts claiming each of the last two all-time meetings with a 9-0 victory in Cullowhee during the 2023 season. The Mountaineers and Catamounts have split the previous four meetings in Boone with the Catamounts using a three-run homer from Bailey Huneycutt to claim the eight-inning victory over App State in 2022. In last year's meeting, WCU rode the power of a three-run homer from Myra Twitty and a grand slam from Natalie Henry to propel Western Carolina to a 9-0 run-rule win.
Following Tuesday's action in Boone, the Catamounts hit the road for the final time in Southern Conference action beginning on Saturday, April 27, at 2 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. CST with a doubleheader against Samford from the Samford Softball field. The three-game set with the Bulldogs wraps up on Sunday, April 28, with a 2 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. CST first pitch from Birmingham. All three games will have coverage] through live stats available at CatamountSports.com and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
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