Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina softball begins a four-game holiday road swing on Tuesday with a trip to the Palmetto State to battle Big South foe USC Upstate in a single game from Cyrill Softball Stadium in Spartanburg. The first pitch from the Hub City is slated for 3 p.m. as Tuesday's action will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available through CatamountSports.com.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Western Carolina (20-23, 4-8 SoCon) at USC Upstate (32-11, 7-5 Big South)
WHERE: Cyrill Softball Stadium (Spartanburg, S.C.)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 15 – 3 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Sidearm Stats
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
FOLLOW THE ACTION
TWITTER: @CatamountSB
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts look to rebound from a tough weekend in Southern Conference play as Wofford's top pitching staff in the league picked up the three-game sweep in Cullowhee. Junior Rylee Butler led the WCU offense, going .400 (4-of-10) at the plate with a pair of doubles, and sophomore Becka Wonsick connected on a big fly in the series opener that tied the game late.
Sophomore Lily Bell is among the nation's leaders in hits, batting average, and stolen bases. She enters the week leading the SoCon in batting average (.443), base hits (58), and on-base percentage (.519), while ranking second in the league in stolen bases (24). Bell set history in the WCU program as the Woodstock, Ga. surpassed former Catamount Brooklynn Brewington (2022-23) for most stolen bases in program history, now up to 58 career steals. Bell has hits in 12 of the last 15 games with a team-high 20 multi-hit games while reaching base safely in 39 of the team's 43 games.
Infielder Maya McPherson starts the weekend fifth in the league in runs batted in (37), leads the squad with nine doubles, and is second on the team with six home runs. Sophomore Sydney Dirks has a team-best eight home runs after her most recent homer against Chattanooga. She is tied for sixth in the league in long balls.
Butler comes in on a hot stretch at the plate over the past 10 games as the Tuscaloosa, Ala. native has a .387 (12-for-31) average while totaling three doubles and five RBIs in the stretch for WCU. She's reached base safely in each of her past six games, with four multi-hit games over the stretch for the Catamounts. Butler also flashed the leather in right field with numerous catches to keep runs off the scoreboard last weekend against Wofford.
Freshman Amanda Fulton is tied for third in the SoCon with 10 complete games and is tied for sixth with nine victories. She also begins the week in fifth in strikeouts per seven innings (6.3), sixth in walks allowed per seven innings (2.5), and fifth in overall strikeouts (85). Juett is third in the league in strikeouts per seven innings (6.6), fifth in complete games (9), and third in total strikeouts (104) as she became the third player in the league to surpass 100 strikeouts this weekend against the Terriers.
As a team, WCU is fourth in the SoCon with a .285 batting average, including the fourth-most hits (312) and the fourth-most home runs (28) as part of the ranking fourth in slugging (.412). On the base paths, the Catamounts are third in stolen bases (59), while on the pitching side, WCU is third in strikeouts (226), including the second-most looking with 63. The Catamounts are tied for fourth in shutouts (4) and third in complete games (23).
Scouting the Opposition – USC Upstate Spartans:
USC Upstate (32-11, 7-5) enters Tuesday's tilt off of a three-game league sweep of Charleston Southern last time out to move back above .500 in Big South games. The Spartans have been red-hot lately in league action, with wins in six of their previous nine, including five of six. WCU marks the fourth team out of the SoCon that USC Upstate has squared off with, joining Furman, Wofford, and ETSU.
WCU and USC Upstate have six common opponents in the 2025 season: North Carolina A&T, Winthrop, Presbyterian, Georgia, ETSU, and Wofford. The Spartans have a 7-5 mark compared to a 8-7 mark for the Catamounts. The Spartans also enter Tuesday's tilt with an impressive 21-3 record on their home field.
Freshman Sophia Kardatzke leads the Spartans offense with a .400 batting average with 58 hits, including a team-high 13 doubles and 10 homers, along with 41 RBIs and 19 steals. Kardatzke also carries a 4-4 record with a 2.90 ERA in the circle into play on Tuesday as the freshman standout has earned three Big South Freshman of the Week awards.
Senior outfielder Denver Lauer holds a .390 average with 57 hits, including seven doubles, two triples, and six homers, and has knocked in a team-high 51 runs. Junior outfielder Taliyah Thomas sits at a .373 average with 11 doubles, 50 runs scored, and a team-high 29 steals.
The Spartans feature one of the top offenses in the country with a .343 batting average (18th in NCAA), 75 doubles (10th), 404 hits (11th), 3.02 SB per game (sixth), and 130 steals (fifth).
USC Upstate is led in the circle by sophomore Sierra Maness, who is 17-5 with a 1.91 ERA and a team-high 14 complete games, including a pair of shutouts and a pair of saves. Maness has a team-high 92 strikeouts in 128 innings of work as she's garnered a pair of Big South Pitcher of the Week accolades.
USC Upstate was picked to win the seven-team Big South under the direction of Chris Hawkins, a 1989 alum of USC Upstate. Hawkins has tabulated 1,129 wins in his time in Spartanburg, which ranks ninth among active NCAA Divison I head coaches. Lauer, Thomas, senior infielder Alanna Deal, and Maness each were named to the league's all-conference team, with Maness being tabbed as the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Series History vs USC Upstate:
USC Upstate holds a commanding 29-3 lead in the all-time series with Western Carolina as the Spartans have taken each of the past seven meetings from the Catamounts, including a 6-4 decision a season ago in Cullowhee. WCU is looking for its first win in the series in games contested in Spartanburg on Tuesday. In 2024, Maya McPherson was one of two Catamounts to connect on homers in the tight 6-4 defeat to Upstate as Tessa Juett made the start and went 3.0 innings, allowing one earned run but didn't factor into the decision.
On Deck for Western Carolina:
Following the midweek visit to Spartanburg, the Catamounts head to the Peach State for a three-game holiday weekend set with Mercer beginning on Friday, April 18. The Catamounts and Bears open play with a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday before the series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday, with all three games being contested at the on-campus Sikes Field.
Friday's twin bill is slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with all three games having live stats provided at CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount softball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsb), or go to www.CatamountSports.com
