Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball hits the road for three nonconference games over two days this weekend, traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face the 13th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the David F. Couch Ballpark. The Catamounts and Demon Deacons are scheduled for first pitch at 6 p.m. on Saturday before a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Each game will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required) and through the Watch ESPN app with live stats through StatBroadcast available through a link at CatamountSports.com. Game dates and times are subject to change.
 
The weekend series marks WCU's final regular-season nonconference road games.
 
About Western Carolina (23-19, RPI #105):
The Catamounts are coming off a home loss in the midweek to USC Upstate, surrendering the two-game seasonal series to the Spartans. WCU has won two straight road games, winning last weekend's SoCon series over Wofford in Spartanburg. The Catamounts are in fifth place in the conference standings, percentage points behind Wofford despite last weekend's series victory.
 
Batting .291 collectively as a team, four WCU regulars are batting over the .300 threshold led by senior Zach Ketterman at .351 – 15th in the SoCon. Ketterman, named SoCon Player of the Month in April on Friday, is one of two Catamounts with double-digit home runs with 12. Classmate Nate Stocum is tied with junior Trent Turner with a team-high 55 base hits including 31 for extra bases, leading the team with 14 doubles and 17 home runs. Stocum ranks second in the SoCon in homers and fourth in slugging percentage. Mason Holton (.321) and Hayden Friese (.314) round out WCU's foursome batting .300+ with Trent Turner – tied with Stocum with 55 base hits – batting .297 overall with 13 doubles.
 
WCU's Active Hitting Streaks:
Nate Stocum – 17 games
Zach Ketterman – 4 games
James Hinson – 4 games
Kyle Harbison – 2 games
James Hinson – 2 games
 
WCU's Active Reached Base Safely Streaks:
Nate Stocum – 17 games
Zach Ketterman – 16 games
Drew Needham – 7 games
Mason Holton – 4 games
Jack Spyke – 4 games
Hayden Friese – 3 games
Kyle Harbison – 2 games
James Hinson – 2 games
 
Catamounts in the National Rankings:
Doubles – 102 – 15th-t (1st in SoCon)
Double-Plays – 43 – 9th-t (1st in SoCon)
Double-Plays Per Game – 1.02 – 7th-t (1st in SoCon)
Home Runs – 68 – 47th-t
Sacrifice Bunts – 29 – 31st
 
Jonathan Todd – Saves, 7 – 22nd-t (2nd in SoCon)
Nate Stocum – Home Runs, 17 – 31st (2nd in SoCon)
Kyle Riesselmann – Sacrifice Bunts, 8 – 27th-t (2nd in SoCon)
 
About #13 Wake Forest (29-16, RPI #14):
One of seven ACC teams currently among the national Top 25, the Demon Deacons enter the week riding a two-game win streak, bouncing back after dropping 2-of-3 in ACC play at Notre Dame with a neutral field 10-9 win over Appalachian State in Shelby and a road tally over High Point in a slugfest, 15-12. Wake has posted an 18-7 record at home this season. Picked as the preseason favorite in both the division and overall, the Deacs are fourth in the ACC's Atlantic Division entering the week.
 
Wake Forest hits .275 collectively as a squad with five regulars hitting above the .300 mark with two additional players batting above .300 through 25 games played. Seaver King (.324) leads the team, just ahead of Adam Tellier (.323) and Jake Reinisch (.322) on the year. With 80 home runs hit this season, five Demon Deacons have double-digit homers led by Nick Kurtz with 18 round-trippers. The four additional batters with double-figure home runs also have double-digit doubles.
 
Wake Forest has become a pitching factory over the last several years – and this year's squad is no exception. Led by game-one starter and Tennessee transfer Chase Burns (8-1) with an NCAA-best 127 strikeouts, Wake ranks fourth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.6.
 
Projected Pitching Matchups:
Saturday, May 4 | 6 p.m. | Coverage: ACC Network Extra | Wake Audio | Live Stats
WCU: Sr. RHP Gavin Mortenson (16 app., 9 GS – 2-4, 5.28 ERA, 44.1 IP, 43 K, 25 BB)
WAKE: Jr. RHP Chase Burns (11 app., 11 GS – 8-1, 3.26 ERA, 69.0 IP, 127 K, 21 BB)
 

• Mortenson is expected to make his team-leading 10th start of the season and the 37th of his collegiate career dating to 2021. The Summerfield, N.C., product ranks ninth in the SoCon with a 5.28 collective ERA while also ranking seventh in opposing batting average (.257).

 
Sunday, May 5 | Game 1 of DH – 1 p.m. | Coverage: ACC Network Extra | Wake Audio | Live Stats
WCU: Sr. RHP Dante Visconti (17 app., 5 GS – 3-0, 6.03 ERA, 37.1 IP, 32 K, 16 BB)
WAKE: Jr. LHP Josh Hartle (11 app., 11 GS – 4-2, 5.68 ERA, 52.1 IP, 56 K, 20 BB)
 

• In his second season since transferring from Florida Atlantic, Visconti was pressed into a starting role in the second half of the season. He has tossed at least four innings over his last four starts and is coming off a season-high six strikeouts at Wofford last weekend. Over his 30 appearances at WCU, the Florida native has made eight starts.

 
Sunday, May 5 | Game 2 of DH – 4 p.m. | Coverage: ACC Network Extra | Wake Audio | Live Stats
WCU: Fr. RHP Davis Budd (12 app., 6 GS – 2-1, 6.43 ERA, 35.0 IP, 33 K, 16 BB)
WAKE: TBD
 

• A true freshman, half of his appearances this year have been starts – six of his 12. He heads to Winston on the heels of his career-long 6.2 innings of work against Wofford, limiting one of the nation's top-scoring squads to a run on just two hits with five strikeouts against two walks.

 
Western Carolina vs. Wake Forest – Series History:
The Catamounts and Demon Deacons meet on the baseball diamond for the 14th time. WCU trails in the all-time series, 5-8. Wake has won the last three series meetings dating back to 2015, scoring all of its runs in the third inning to claim the most recent meeting 7-5 back in 2022 at Couch Ballpark. WCU has dropped six of the previous 10 series meetings played in Winston.
 
Last Time We Met (3/15/22) – Catamount Returners:
WCU senior Nate Stocum (2-for-5) doubled among his two hits with classmate Zach Ketterman reaching twice on a pair of walks, both recording runs. Cameron Murray caught for the Catamounts, finishing 1-for-3 with a double. Current assistant coach Seth Graves was likewise 1-for-3 with a run-scoring double in the second inning as Western Carolina grabbed an early 3-0 lead through two complete ahead of Wake's seven-run third.
 
WCU vs. Nationally Ranked:
The Catamounts face their second nationally-ranked opponent of the season, visiting third-ranked Tennessee on April 23. WCU has not won a game against a nationally-ranked opponent since upsetting No. 20 NC State in Raleigh during the 2017 season.
 
Southern Conference vs. the Atlantic Coast Conference:
Western Carolina has played 12 of the current 14 members of the ACC all-time, having never met Boston College or Pitt on the diamond. The Catamounts are a collective 62-165 against the current memberships with Clemson (81, 16-65) representing the most-played. Wake Forest represents the second ACC foe on WCU's baseball schedule as WCU played three at Florida State back in late February.
 
The SoCon is 3-10 against teams from the ACC this season with UNCG earning two of the victories, upending then No. 1 Wake Forest and winning at No. 12 NC State. Mercer most recently upset No. 5/7 Florida State back on April 16.
 
Founded in 1921, The Southern Conference gave rise to two of the NCAA's current Power Five conferences – the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1932 and the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. The SoCon is the nation's fifth-oldest athletics conference. Only the Big Ten (1896), the Missouri Valley (1907), the Pacific 10 (1915), and the Southwestern Athletic (1920) are older in terms of origination. Eight current ACC schools can trace their conference lineage to the Southern Conference. Clemson (1921-53), Duke (1928-53), Georgia Tech (1921-32), North Carolina (1921-53), NC State (1921-53), Virginia (1921-37), Virginia Tech (1921-65), and Wake Forest (1936-53) were each members of the SoCon.
 
On Deck for Western Carolina:
Following the weekend's scheduled three-game set against the Deacs, Western Carolina returns home for its final five-game homestand that includes a pair of midweek matchups against Big South Conference opponents – Gardner-Webb (May 7) and Presbyterian (May 14) – and the final home SoCon series against Mercer (May 10-12) on Catamount baseball alumni weekend and Senior Day.
 
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