Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina continues a five-game road swing this weekend as it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to renew the mountain rivalry with East Tennessee State on the baseball diamond for a three-game Southern Conference series at Thomas Stadium. Friday's opener is scheduled for first pitch at 5 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday.
 
The weekend schedule will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats links available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Western Carolina (16-16, 2-4 SoCon) had its three-game win streak snapped on Wednesday evening with a 7-6 road loss at rival Appalachian State as the two split the nonconference home-and-home. The Catamounts took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning, but the Apps answered with four in the home half including a three-run home run to lead 7-4. WCU scratched out runs in the seventh and ninth innings and had the tying run on base when the game ended.
 
WCU has dropped two of three in its first two SoCon series, at home against VMI on March 21-23 and most recently at Mercer on March 28-29.
 
ETSU (22-9, 3-3 SoCon) enters the weekend well-rested after sitting idle during the midweek. The Bucs were last on the diamond last weekend, dropping two of its three-game set at home against preseason favorite UNCG. ETSU thumped the Spartans 17-3 in seven innings in the series opener before dropping a Saturday doubleheader in a pair of one-run defeats, 5-4 and 3-2.
 
Weekend Storylines:
Two of the SoCon's top three offensive teams meet in Johnson City this weekend when the Catamounts meet the Buccaneers. ETSU ranks second in the league with a .322 team batting average with WCU at .313. The two squads are even with 346 base hits apiece, tied for the second-most in the conference and rank second and third in runs scored – 279 for ETSU and 273 for Western Carolina.
 
The Catamounts lead the SoCon with 71 doubles – tied for 35th in the NCAA – while the Bucs have a conference-best 75 home runs, third-best in the country trailing just Georgia (92) and Tennessee (80). Defensively, WCU and ETSU have both flipped 25 double-plays this season, ranking tied for 57th nationally.
 
About Western Carolina:
WCU is amidst a streak where it plays nine of 12 games away from home, beginning in the midweek at Appalachian State on Tuesday and continuing this weekend at ETSU. WCU has struggled away from home, posting just three wins including one in a neutral-field contest. The Catamounts enter the weekend batting .312 collectively as a team with 345 base hits – tied for the second-most in the SoCon – including conference-leading 71 doubles, six doubles, and 36 home runs. WCU averages 8.5 runs on 10.8 hits per game.
 
Seven Catamount regulars are batting above the .300 threshold this season, led by Hayden Friese at .348 (46-for-132) to rank 10th in the SoCon. Outfielder Brayden Corn is 11th in the conference with a .346 seasonal average and Trent Turner ranks 13th at .341 and Jack Spyke is 14th having raised his average to .337. Elijah Smith (11) and Spyke (10) both have double-digit doubles to lead the team with three hitters – Turner, Friese, and Mason Holton – tied for the team lead with six home runs apiece.
 
WCU's pitching staff ranks sixth in the conference with 270 combined strikeouts including 87 strikeouts looking, the second-most in the SoCon. Weekend starter Davis Wright has a team-best 49 strikeouts – third-most in the league including the second-most 17 strikeouts looking.
 
Misc. Catamount Diamond Notes:

• 13 of WCU's 16 victories have come at home – the Catamounts are just 2-10 on the road, adding a neutral site victory over Big Ten foe Michigan State … WCU is batting .331 with 217 hits including 47 doubles, two triples, and 27 home runs in games played in Cullowhee … Conversely, WCU is hitting just .290 with 120 base hits including 23 doubles, two triples, and just eight home runs away from Childress Field / Hennon Stadium;
• Despite the road woes, Jack Spyke has thrived on the road with a .457 batting average including 16 hits – three doubles and two homers with a team-leading nine RBI on the road … Trent Turner is hitting .317 with four doubles, a triple, and a homer with seven RBI with Hayden Friese (.345) legging out a team-best five doubles on the road; 
• Western Carolina is 12-1 when leading after six innings this season – and unbeaten when leading after both the seventh and eighth innings; 

Active Hitting Streaks:
9 games – Elijah Smith
8 games – Jack Spyke
6 games – Wyatt Stanley
4 games – Brayden Corn, Trent Turner
2 games – Hayden Friese, Cole Jones
 
Active Reached Base Safely Streaks:
12 games – Mason Holton
9 games – Elijah Smith, Wyatt Stanley
8 games – Jack Spyke
4 games – Brayden Corn, Hayden Friese, Trey Spees, Trent Turner
2 games – Cole Jones
 
Scouting the Opposition – the ETSU Buccaneers:
Picked in a two-way tie for fourth with one first-place vote in the preseason Southern Conference coaches poll, ETSU has been one of the surprise teams this year – maybe to everyone but those in Johnson City. The Bucs are tied with Mercer and Wofford with a league-best 22 victories on the year and the league's top winning percentage (.710).
 
ETSU is batting .322 collectively as a team with nine regulars hitting over the .300 threshold, led by Cody Miller (.375) who has 20 extra-base hits – a team-high 11 doubles and nine home runs. Grant Gallagher (.320) leads the SoCon – and the nation – with 17 home runs with Cooper Torres (.352, 14 HRs) and Jamie Palmese (.269, 11 HRs) also with double-digit long balls.
 
ETSU has 145 total extra-base hits this season – 61 doubles, nine triples, and 75 homers – and is averaging nine runs on 11.2 hits per game to date.
 
The Buccaneers were hot out of the gates, winning 12 of their first 13 games. ETSU also has eight run-ruled wins this season – but enters the weekend amidst its second two-game slide of the season and has losses in three of its last four games overall.
 
Western Carolina vs. East Tennessee State – The Series:
Longtime rivals Western Carolina and ETSU have met 118 times previously on the baseball diamond with the Catamounts carrying a 71-47 series lead all-time. WCU holds a smaller edge in games played in Johnson City, leading 29-17 – though ETSU has won eight of the last 10 series meetings including taking 2-of-3 in Cullowhee a season ago. WCU has dropped two straight in the series in Johnson City.
 
Last season, the Catamounts won the series opener over the Bucs 8-4 in Cullowhee before falling 12-3 and a one-run, 9-8 loss in 12 innings in the series finale.
 
On Deck for the Catamounts:
Western Carolina concludes its five-game road swing on Tuesday (April 15) with a return trip to Clinton, S.C., to face Presbyterian. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Catamounts return home next Thursday through Saturday to host Wofford in SoCon play on Easter weekend in Cullowhee.
 
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