CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Coming off a midweek nonconference doubleheader sweep at North Carolina Central, Western Carolina softball closes out a road-heavy portion of the schedule as the Catamounts step back into Southern Conference play on Saturday with a trip to mountain-rival ETSU. The three-game set opens Saturday with the first pitch of a doubleheader at 1 p.m. at Betty Basler Field in Johnson City. The series wraps up on Sunday with a 1 p.m. start. All three games will have live stats provided through CatamountSports.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Western Carolina (10-19, 1-5 SoCon) at ETSU (6-23, 0-6 SoCon)
WHERE: Betty Basler Field (Johnson City, Tenn.)
WHEN: 1 p.m. (Sat. DH) | 1 p.m. (Sunday)
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast (Sat. G1) | Stat Broadcast (Sat. G2) | Stat Broadcast (Sun.)
TWITTER: @CatamountSB
Western Carolina looks to continue its winning ways, coming off Thursday's doubleheader sweep of N.C. Central in Cary by the scores of 9-1 and 7-5. Junior Tessa Juett tossed a complete game in Thursday's opener including 4.1 no-hit innings before closing out game two with 3.2 scoreless innings to help WCU claim the two road contests.
At the plate, WCU was paced by junior Mattie Mentel, who tallied a 5-for-8 (.625) doubleheader performance at the dish as freshman Sydney Dirks went 3-for-5 (.600). Senior Savannah Baldwin went 4-for-7 (.571) with four runs scored and three RBI. Lily Bell swiped four bags in the sweep to run her seasonal total to a team-high 18.
Bell enters the weekend atop the conference and 25th nationally with 18 stolen bases following her four thefts in Thursday's contests with the Eagles. With the three steals in game one, Bell moved into a five-way tie for second place in the WCU's single-game program record book for steals in a game. The Woodstock, Ga. native sits in a tie for fourth in the SoCon with a .367 average as her team-high 36 hits rank in a tie for eighth in the league.
With her two victories on Thursday, Juett moved into a tie for fifth in the league with seven wins to date in the 2024 campaign. The Berea, Ky. native also checks into the weekend with the second-most strikeouts in the SoCon with 80 punchouts as she's also tied for second in complete games with seven.
In WCU's first six conference games, Kennedy Stewman is pacing the squad with a .400 batting average. The Sylva native has six hits and three runs scored thus far. Savannah Baldwin begins the weekend with a .389 average. The senior has a team-high seven hits in 18 at-bats including a homer and three runs knocked in.
ETSU has a 6-23 record entering the weekend, winless in its first six SoCon matchups in 2024. In their most recent on-field action, the Bucs split a doubleheader with Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, earning a 5-4 win in nine innings after falling 11-2 in the opener.
Tuesday's win over the Runnin' Bulldogs broke ETSU's five-game seasonal skid which included being swept by Chattanooga over the Easter holiday weekend. Gardner-Webb is the only common opponent thus far as the Bucs have dropped three of four to Gardner-Webb with WCU dropping one as part of the Catamount Classic last month.
Cameron Young leads the Bucs' offense with a .367 average, tied with Catamount freshman Lily Bell. Young is tied for second in the conference with 10 doubles and has knocked in 13 runs. Riley Nayadley sits at .357 entering the weekend with two doubles and two homers as Nayadley has knocked in a team-high 14 runs. Sara Muir leads ETSU in the power category with four homers and 12 runs knocked in.
Muir holds the lead for the ETSU pitching staff as she's earned three wins over eight outings, which includes seven starts for the Bucs. Taylor Suchy holds the lead in pitching for the Bucs with a 4.93 ERFA and has tallied a team-high 33 strikeouts over 55.1 innings pitched.
ETSU went 17-37 in 2023 with a 6-12 mark in SoCon play. The Bucs advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 SoCon tournament before ultimately falling to the league's runner-up, Samford. Cheryl Milligan is in her second year at the helm for ETSU, which was picked seventh in the league's preseason poll. Young and Nayadley were named to the league's preseason all-conference team, announced before the 2024 season.
ETSU holds a 24-19 lead in the all-time series with Western Carolina including a 3-1 victory in the 2023 SoCon Tournament to eliminate WCU from the postseason a season ago. Before that defeat, the Catamounts had a five-game win streak over the Bucs that included a three-game sweep in Cullowhee during the 2023 regular season. During the 2023 series with the Bucs, Natalie Henry had a 3-for-3 day as part of a four-hit weekend that saw the now-junior drive in three runs with a homer.
Following Sunday's series finale in Johnson City, the Catamounts return home to host Big South co-favorite USC Upstate in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9 from the Catamount Softball Complex. Both contests with the Spartans will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and feature live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
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