Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina softball returns to Southern Conference play on Friday with a three-game road series at Mercer from Sikes Field in Macon, Ga. The first pitch on the holiday weekend series is slated for 4 p.m. on Friday, with a doubleheader scheduled before a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.

Both games on Friday are slated to be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available throughout the weekend at CatamountSports.com. 

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Western Carolina (20-24, 4-8 SoCon) at Mercer (23-22, 3-8 SoCon)
WHERE: Macon, Ga. (Sikes Field)
WHEN: Friday, April 18 – 4 p.m. (DH) | Saturday, April 19 – 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast (Fri. G1) | Stat Broadcast (Fri. G2) | Stat Broadcast (Sat.)  
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Fri. G1) | ESPN+ (Fri. G2)
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION
TWITTER: @CatamountSB
GAME NOTES
 
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts fell in midweek action to the Big South Conference's second-place team and perennial power USC Upstate on Tuesday. In the defeat, sophomore Maya McPherson picked up her team-high 10th double as classmate Sydney Dirks added her seventh two-bagger of the season. Senior Tessa Juett joined the extra-base hit barrage with a triple of her own.

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 (.448), base hits (60), and on-base percentage (.522), while ranking in a tie for first in the league in stolen bases (25). Bell has hit 13 of the last 16 games with a team-high 21 multi-hit games while reaching base safely in 40 of the team's 44 games.

Infielder Maya McPherson starts the weekend fifth in the league in runs batted in (39), leads the squad with 10 doubles, and is second on the team with six home runs. McPherson's 10 doubles put her in a tie for ninth in the league entering play on Friday. 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 five games as the Tuscaloosa, Ala. native has a team-high .438 (7-for-16) average while totaling a pair of doubles and three RBIs in the stretch for WCU. She's reached base safely in four of her past five games, with a pair of multi-hit games over the stretch for the Catamounts.

Bell is third in the league with 16 hits in SoCon play, boasting a .444 batting average, third in the conference. She's also tied for fourth in runs scored with 12 and is ranked second in on-base percentage at .535. The Woodstock, Ga. native is also third in stolen bases with seven over the first four series in SoCon play. Butler begins the weekend in a tie for fifth in hits with 14.

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 weekend in fifth in strikeouts per seven innings (6.3), fifth in walks allowed per seven innings (2.5), and fifth in overall strikeouts (86). Juett is fourth in the league in strikeouts per seven innings (6.7), fifth in complete games (9) and third in total strikeouts (106).

Juett is third in league play with 35 strikeouts, and Fulton sits fifth with 27 strikeouts. Fulton also paces the SoCon with 13 strikeout looking's in her 26.1 innings of work in conference play.

Scouting the Opposition – Mercer Bears:
Mercer (23-22, 3-8) enters the weekend off a 4-2 midweek win over in-state foe Georgia Southern on Tuesday afternoon. The Bears come in hot, winning four of five, including a two-of-three series win last weekend over ETSU. WCU and Mercer have eight common opponents in the 2025 season: Georgia State, Jacksonville, North Florida, Samford, Chattanooga, Georgia, Wofford, and ETSU.

Redshirt senior outfielder Hallie Langford paces the Bears' offense with a .356 batting average with 52 hits, including a team-high 12 doubles and a pair of homers. Langford has scored a team-best 43 runs and tallied a team-leading 20 stolen bases. Senior infielder Tori Hedgecock sits with a .345 batting average as the senior slugger has nine doubles and a team-high 11 homers with 43 RBIs to pace the Bears and a .724 slugging percentage.

Mercer is led in the circle by sophomore Gabby Ellis, who is 6-5 with a 3.05 ERA and three complete games. Ellis has 40 strikeouts in 73.1 innings of work. Redshirt junior Hannah Pitts has matched Ellis in the circle with six wins of her own and five complete games to the tune of a 3.69 ERA. Pitts leads Mercer with 55 strikeouts in 72 innings and is one of two pitchers with four saves for the Bears, joined by junior Grace Taylor. The Bears have a league-high 11 saves, led by Taylor and Pitts with four apiece.

Mercer was picked third in the eight-team SoCon Preseason Poll under the direction of fourth-year head coach Lindsay Fico. Hedgecock and Taylor were named to the league's preseason all-conference team, with Hedgecock garnering first-team honors and Taylor receiving second-team recognition.

Series History vs Mercer:
Mercer holds a slight edge in the all-time series with a 20-16 advantage as the two teams split the four meetings during 2024. Mercer took two run-rule wins in Cullowhee, with the Catamounts winning 4-2 in the middle contest. Western Carolina also tallied a 10-2 victory in the SoCon tournament to eliminate the Bears. Mercer has a slight edge in Macon with a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series, but the Catamounts have taken 2-of-3 in each of the past two series from Macon.

In 2024, Lily Bell tallied six hits over the four games with the Bears, including a triple to go along with three stolen bases. Bell also knocked in three while scoring four runs. Tessa Juett did it with the bat last year against the Bears, hitting a pair of homers while also tallying the win in the SoCon tournament. Becka Wonsick tallied three hits and scored a pair of runs with a double.

On Deck for Western Carolina:
Following the weekend visit to Macon, the Catamounts return home for the final time in the 2025 season with a visit from chromatic rival Furman beginning on Saturday, April 26. The Catamounts and Paladins open the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader before battling Furman for a 1 p.m. series finale at the Catamount Softball Complex the following afternoon.

All three games are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats provided at CatamountSports.com.

Before first pitch of Sunday's home finale, the Catamounts will recognize the 2025 senior class of Tessa Juett, Imara Harrell, Mattie Mentel, Makenzie Martin, and Natalie Henry for their contributions to the WCU Softball program over the past few years.

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.