JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Behind another strong pitching performance from junior Tessa Juett and timely hitting from freshman Maya McPherson, Western Carolina softball grabbed a 3-0 shutout over the host ETSU in Southern Conference action on Sunday afternoon at Betty Basler Field.

The freshman pair of McPherson and Lily Bell led the offense with two hits apiece with McPherson driving in a pair of runs. Juett also added an RBI in WCU's series finale win. With her stolen base on Sunday, Bell becomes the third Catamount in program history to record 20 steals in a season, joining Brooklynn Brewington who did it twice in both 2022 (33) and 2023 (22). 

Juett finished off a strong week with her third complete game, tallying five strikeouts while scattering five hits and allowing three walks in the shutout win. She finished the week with a 4-0 record, allowing just four earned runs in 24.2 innings with 28 strikeouts as opponents batted a mere .163 in the four outings. 

Bell opened the Sunday's game with her 40th hit of the season and wasted little time advancing to second on her 20th stolen of the year before ETSU quickly stopped the threat.

Sydney Dirks drew a one-out walk in the second inning, but a fielder's choice and ETSU recorded a caught stealing to keep WCU off the scoreboard after 1.5 frames. Juett mowed down the hosts 1-2-3 again in the second with a pair of strikeouts as part of the home half of the second inning. 

McPherson worked a two-out walk in the third inning followed by Bell tallying her second single of the afternoon. Mattie Mentel lined a first-pitch single to left as WCU looked to get a run across, but ETSU cut down on a play at the plate to keep it scoreless. 

ETSU (7-25, 1-8 SoCon) broke into the hit column in the home portion of the third with a one-out single, but a fielder's choice and another punch out from Juett kept the game scoreless after three frames. 

In the fourth, Western Carolina (12-20, 3-6 SoCon) broke the scoreless tie as after singles from Taylor Waitley, Dirks, and Jeralynn Wells were followed by Juett drawing a bases-loaded walk to put WCU on the board. McPherson added an RBI single to give the guests a 2-0 lead after 3.5 innings.

Juett worked around a one-out walk and two-out single in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts to keep the WCU lead at two after four frames. 

Mentel and Waitley both drew walks in the fifth, but a strikeout and fly out allowed the hosts to keep the score 2-0. Juett worked around back-to-back one-out singles followed by a walk with a pop-up to keep the hosts off the scoreboard as the rubber match moved to the sixth inning. 

Juett helped her own cause with a two-out single followed by McPherson's single to center field. An ETSU error allowed Juett to score and make it 3-0. 

ETSU grabbed a one-out single in the sixth, but a pop up and fly out quickly erased the threat, pushing the contest to the seventh and final frame. 

After WCU was erased 1-2-3 in the top half of the seventh, Juett worked around a two-out walk without harm to secure her fourth win of the week, and the Catamounts locked down the series win over ETSU. 

Juett (9-9) went the distance for the Catamounts, scattering five hits en route to her fourth victory of the week. She tallied five strikeouts in recording her ninth complete game of the season and 30th of her career in the Purple and Gold. 

Cameron Lauretta (1-3) got the start for ETSU, going 4.0 innings and allowing two runs on seven hits. She tallied three walks in Sunday's series finale. Kendall Thackston went the final three innings, allowing one unearned run on a pair of hits with three strikeouts. 

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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