Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina hosts two of the three games in this weekend's nonconference series against Gardner-Webb at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, meeting on the baseball diamond both Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. Game three of the series is slated to be played in Boiling Springs, N.C.
All three games of the series are slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with
live stats linked online at CatamountSports.com.
Western Carolina (14-15) enters the weekend having improved to 4-0 in midweek home games, downing Sun Belt Conference foe – and longtime archrival – Appalachian State 14-10 on Tuesday in Cullowhee. Gardner-Webb (14-16) saw its three-game win streak snapped in the midweek with an 11-1 loss at No. 19 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Runnin' Bulldogs swept Longwood in Farmville, Va., last weekend in Big South Conference play.
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts opened April with a win over App State – and are 5-5 over their last 10 games and seek to get above .500 with a step out of conference this weekend as part of five-straight non-league games. WCU is averaging 8.5 runs on 10.8 hits per game this season, having totaled 102 extra-base hits. The Catamounts are surrendering nine runs on 9.9 hits per contest.
WCU enters the week ranked third in the SoCon with a .314 team batting average that includes the second-most base hits (316) with a league-leading 61 doubles (t-44th in NCAA). The Catamounts are fourth with 35 home runs on the season and rank third in scoring with 246 runs. As a staff, WCU pitchers are tied for fourth with 247 combined strikeouts including a SoCon-best 84 strikeouts looking.
Davis Wright is third in the league with 42 strikeouts on the year and is tied for first with 15 strikeouts looking.
In the field, the Catamounts are second in the Southern Conference – and tied for 61st nationally – with 22 double plays, one behind ETSU (23) and one ahead of The Citadel (21).
WCU has three players inside the top 14 in the SoCon in batting including
Hayden Friese (10th, .353),
Trent Turner (11th, .350), and
Brayden Corn (14th, .339).
Elijah Smith is tied for fifth with a team-best 10 doubles and tied with Turner for the team lead with 29 RBI, 11th in the SoCon.
Misc. Catamount Notes:
- WCU is 10-1 when leading after six innings – and 9-0 when carrying a lead past the seventh and 10-0 when leading after eight complete … the Catamounts have rallied to win just three times in 17 attempts when trailing after six innings;
- The Catamounts have seven wins when hitting just one home run in a game (7-2) – hitting 2-or-more homers has resulted in a 4-6 overall record the 10 times it has happened;
Active Reached Base Safely Streaks:
Active WCU Hitting Streaks:
Scouting the Opposition – the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs:
Gardner-Webb enjoyed a four-game win streak with a trio of victories over Youngstown State and the midweek win over WCU. That was followed by a six-game losing skid that was snapped with the three-game sweep of Longwood last weekend.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are averaging 8.3 runs on 9.5 hits per contest with a .286 team batting average, having collected 93 extra-base hits. GWU is surrendering an average of eight runs per contest on 9.8 hits per game with a .291 batting average against.
Five GWU regulars are hitting over .300 on the season, led by Ryan Kennell (.359). Erskine transfer Dale Francis Jr. (.349) has a team-best 22 extra-base hits including a team-best 10 doubles, 12 home runs, and 44 RBI. Tanner Thomas (.314), Garrett Macias (.313), and Merik Carter (.304) are hitting above the .300 threshold.
Two-thirds of Gardner-Webb's potential outfield was named preseason All-Big South in Nick Capozzi (.204, 12 RBI) and Lawson Knight (.239, 18 RBI). They were joined by reliever Devin Pressley who is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA over 12 relief appearances and 13.0 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 faced twice this season, splitting the two meetings.
Western Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb – The Series:
The Catamounts and Runnin' Bulldogs have met 34 times previously on the baseball diamond with WCU leading the series 19-14-1. WCU is 9-7-1 at home and now 10-7 on the road in the series. The last 10 meetings have been evenly split with five wins and five losses aside.
Gardner-Webb has won two straight in the overall series – and has won five of the last six games over the Catamounts on the heels of a four-game WCU series win streak.
First Time We Met – Gardner-Webb 11, Western Carolina 4:
Gardner-Webb scored eight runs in the home half of the fourth inning to erase Western Carolina's one-run lead from the top of the frame as the Runnin' Bulldogs dealt the Catamounts an 11-4 road loss in midweek nonconference action on Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium.
The Runnin' Bulldogs used a pair of two-run doubles, a run-scoring single, and two home runs in the decisive eight-run fourth. The home squad tacked on three in the fifth with two scoring on a single and the 11th run crossing on an infield error.
Three Catamounts posted two-hit games with
Hayden Friese (2-for-5) and
Jack Spyke (2-for-4) both doubling and
Elijah Smith reaching on a pair of singles. Spyke, Smith, and
Jaylen Jones – who reached base three times – each collected RBIs.
Cannon Pickell struck out six in three and a third innings of work in the start with WCU's first reliever freshman
Gavin Maines saddled with the loss.
Western Carolina vs. the Big South Conference:
The Catamounts have faced all nine current members of the Big South Conference, boasting a 156-69-2 (.692) record in those meetings. WCU is above .500 against eight of the nine current members with one series – vs. Longwood (1-1) – all-even at a win apiece.
Charleston Southern (9-5-1); Gardner-Webb (19-14-1); High Point (29-9); Longwood (1-1);
Presbyterian (9-4); Radford (7-1); UNC Asheville (58-25); USC Upstate (10-7); Winthrop (14-3)
Up Next for Western Carolina:
After the first two games against Gardner-Webb in Cullowhee, Sunday's series finale changes venues as the two teams meet for the second time in Boiling Springs with a 2 p.m. start. The Catamounts then remain on the road for the next five as part of a six-game road swing including the return trip to Boone to face Appalachian State (April 8), a three-game SoCon series at ETSU (April 11-13), and the backend of the home-and-home with Presbyterian (April 15) in Clinton, S.C.
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