Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball caps a five-game road swing with the first of five regular-season nonconference meetings with the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. first pitch at Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium.
 
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
In addition to Tuesday's match-up, WCU and Gardner-Webb are scheduled to meet for a split three-game weekend series April 4-6 with the first two meetings in Cullowhee and Sunday's finale back in Boiling Springs. The fifth scheduled meeting is Tuesday, April 29, at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
The Catamounts (7-9) head to Boiling Springs after dropping 2-of-3 in Atlanta to Sun Belt Conference-foe Georgia State, while Gardner-Webb (9-8) halted a two-game slide by sweeping three from Youngstown State at home over the weekend with victories by two, three, and four runs, respectively.
 
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – R-Sr. RHP Cannon Pickell (0-0, 10.38) vs. GAWB – R-Soph. RHP Gavin Schmitt (0-1, 10.38)
 
About WCU's Starter:

• Cannon Pickell (pronounced PICK-kell) is in his third season in Cullowhee, though he was sidelined by injury in 2023 and did not play … Returned from well over a year off the mound in 2024 to make 12 appearances with a pair of starts;
• After struggling with command in his fiery right arm last season – 27 walks against nine strikeouts – Pickell has fanned 12 against just seven walks entering the week;
• Tuesday's start at Gardner-Webb will be just the third for the hard-throwing right-hander who sill consistently touch mid-to-upper 90s on his fastball.

 
About Western Carolina:
The start of the 2025 season has been the definition of back-and-forth for the Catamount baseball team. Since winning consecutive games in the home opener against USC Upstate (Feb. 18) and the series opener against Big Ten Conference foe Maryland (Feb. 21), WCU has alternated a win against a loss in back-to-back games ever since, going 6-6 over its last 12 games.
 
Among WCU's seven victories are three against teams from the Big Ten Conference, taking two from Maryland and last week's neutral field victory over Michigan State at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.
 
Gardner-Webb represents the third WCU opponent picked among the top three in its respective conference preseason poll. Upstate and Rider were both picked as the preseason runners-up in the Big South and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), respectively, with GWU dubbed third behind USC Upstate.
 
The Catamounts are batting .336 as a team – the second-best mark in the SoCon behind VMI (.345) – and have 65 extra-base hits, also second in the league trailing ETSU (67) by two. WCU has a league-best 40 doubles and ranks fourth with 20 home runs as a club. WCU's team ERA is elevated over 10, essentially stemming from one game – the Saturday meeting with Maryland where the Terps scored 35 runs on 27 hits.
 
Individually Speaking:

• Brandon Langley was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week giving WCU back-to-back weeks with a weekly honor from the league office … Mason Holton was the conference's Player of the Week on March 3 … Langley – the Canadian-born right-hander nicknamed Moose – struck out 10 over five scoreless relief innings last week, earning the win over Michigan State and a save at Georgia State;
• WCU has four among the SoCon's top six in base hits – Hayden Friese and Trent Turner are tied for second with a team-high 26 base knocks, while Mason Holton and Brayden Corn are tied with 23 hits apiece;
• Elijah Smith leads the Catamount RBI race – one of seven players with double-digit runs batted in … Smith's total of 24 includes two grand slams and a walk-off, three-run homer against Maryland for his first career round-tripper;
• Sunday starter Davis Wright (0-2) has a team-best 25 strikeouts and has pitched well enough to win both of his starts … Friday starter Dusty Revis has 16 Ks with Langley third on the squad with 14 and Pickell with a dozen.

 
Hitting Double-Digits:

• Western Carolina has scored double-digit runs in nine of its 16 seasonal games this year, posting a 6-3 record in those outings … the Catamounts scored a season-high 27 runs in a seven-inning victory over Rider in the series opener;
• WCU has collected double-figure hits 12 times this season, though its streak of nine-straight games with double-digit base knocks was snapped in the midweek against Michigan State with just eight total hits … WCU had a season-high of 17 hits twice – vs. Rider in Cullowhee and at Georgia State;
• The Catamounts have collected multiple doubles in 12 games this season with three-or-more two-base hits seven times, including a season-high six doubles the road win at Georgia State on March 8 … WCU had multiple triples (2) against Michigan State;
• WCU has multiple home runs in five games with a season-best four in a losing effort against Rider (L, 16-15) in game one of the Saturday doubleheader;
• Catamount hitters have drawn double-digit walks three times to date – 11 against Maryland and 11 against Rider, with a season-high 17 free passes in game two of the Saturday DH against Rider … WCU has drawn 9-or-more walks three times this season.

 
Doubling Down at the Plate:

• WCU leads the SoCon with 40 doubles entering the week, a mark that ranks the Catamounts tied for 12th nationally overall. The 2.5 doubles per game average has the Catamounts tied for 21st nationally;
• Elijah Smith is tied for the SoCon lead with a team-best eight doubles, followed by four individuals with four doubles apiece.

 
Turning Double-Plays:

• After pacing the SoCon in double-plays turned a season ago, the Catamounts are at it again with 14 double plays turned over the first 16 seasonal games – one more than ETSU with 13;
• The Catamounts are tied for 44th in the NCAA with an average of 0.88 double plays turned per game;
• Trent Turner has been a part of turning 10 double-plays to lead the team with Trey Spees helping flip seven.

 
We're Going Streaking:
Western Carolina boasts two players with double-digit game hitting streaks and five players that have reached base in double-figure consecutive games. Left-side infielders Trent Turner and Mason Holton have 12 and 10-game streaks, respectively, while Trey Spees leads the four double-figure reaching base streaks.
 
Hayden Friese carried a nine-game reached base safely streak into this season, where he extended it 15 additional games before it was snapped in Sunday's finale at Georgia State after an 0-for-4 outing. His career-long RBS streak ended after 24-straight games.

Catamount Active Hitting Streaks:
12 games – Trent Turner
10 games – Mason Holton
9 games – Jack Spyke
4 games – Jaylen Jones, Noah Quarless
2 games – Elijah Smith

Longest Active Reached Base Safely Streaks:
16 games – Trey Spees
14 games – Trent Turner
11 games – Cole Jones, Elijah Smith
10 games – Mason Holton
9 games – Jack Spyke
4 games – Jaylen Jones, Noah Quarless


Misc. Catamount Diamond Notes:

• WCU is perfect on the season (4-0) when leading after both seven and eight innings;
• The Catamounts have not won a game in which they did not hit a home run (0-5) – and the win percentage is better with just one round-tripper (5-1) than when multiple home runs (2-3) by WCU;
• Western Carolina has allowed at least one home run in every game this season, including a season-high four by Maryland (Feb. 22).

About the Opposition – Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs:
Gardner-Webb snapped a two-game slide – and a stretch where it lost four of five – by sweeping Youngstown State at home last weekend. Of the 17 games played to date, 12 have been home dates for the Runnin' Bulldogs with just five total games away from Boiling Springs – at South Carolina, three at Appalachian State, and a meeting in Fayetteville against East Carolina.
 
Gardner-Webb enters the week batting .276 collectively as a team with 147 hits including 46 for extra bases with 24 doubles, four triples, and 18 home runs. The 'Dogs have scored 133 runs over 17 games, averaging 7.8 per contest with 114 RBI. Conversely, Gardner-Webb is limiting opponents to a .272 average against with 123 hits and 53 for extra bases including 33 doubles, three triples, and 17 home runs while surrendering an average of 7.2 per contest.
 
Five GWU regulars are batting above the .300 mark led by Dale Francis Jr., a redshirt senior transfer from Erskine who is hitting .356 (21-of-59) with three doubles and a Big South Conference-leading nine home runs and 30 RBI. He's followed by Garrett Macias (.325, 13-of-40) and Matt Ilgenfritz (.317, 19-of-60), with the latter legging out a team-best four doubles. Ryan kennel (.262) is second on the team with 21 RBI as four have knocked in double-digit runs.
 
The Runnin' Bulldog pitching staff has a 6.80 collective ERA with 173 strikeouts against 104 walks in 139.0 total innings of work. A combined 16 different arms have been used by Gardner-Webb to date with starts scattered between eight.
 
Two-thirds of Gardner-Webb's potential outfield was named preseason All-Big South in Nick Capozzi (.186, 11-for-59) and Lawson Knight (.250, 15-for-56). They were joined by reliever Devin Pressley who is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA over six relief appearances and 5.2 innings.
 
Gardner-Webb was picked third in the Big South Conference preseason poll, just behind defending champion High Point and predicted runner-up USC Upstate, who the Catamounts have faced twice this season, splitting the two meetings.

Western Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb – The Series:
The Catamounts and Runnin' Bulldogs have met 33 times previously on the baseball diamond with WCU leading the series 19-13-1 that includes a 10-6 road record in the series. The last 10 meetings have been evenly split with five wins and five losses aside. Last year, the road team won both meetings in the midweek home-and-home as the Catamounts won 6-4 in Boiling Springs, WCU's lone victory in the last five meetings.
 
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Western Carolina opens an eight-game homestand with weekend visits from Eastern Illinois (March 14-16) and VMI (March 21-23) for the Southern Conference opener, with mid-week visits from Big South foes Presbyterian March 18) and mountain-rival UNC Asheville (March 25). This weekend's nonconference series against the EIU Panthers is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on Friday, 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, and concluding with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday (subject to change based on weather forecasts).
 
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