Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball enters the final week of the regular season with just three games remaining as the Catamounts travel down I-40 for an instate Southern Conference series against the UNC Greensboro Spartans. This week's final series runs Thursday through Saturday at the on-campus UNCG Baseball Stadium.
 
Admission to all UNCG baseball games is free, as is parking in the Walker Avenue Parking Deck just beyond the right field wall. Friday is UNCG's Senior Day celebration and "Food Truck Friday," with a special BOGO on hot dogs on Little League Day on Saturday. No outside food or pets are permitted in the stadium.
 
The games on Thursday and Friday both begin at 6 p.m., with Saturday's season finale scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch. Each game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats linked online on the schedule page at CatamountSports.com.
 
Catamount Diamond Notes:

• Since mid-April, the Catamounts have won 10 of their last 16 games overall, including victories in six of their last nine conference games … WCU has won at least one game in every SoCon series except the three losses at ETSU … Four of WCU's 10 league losses have come by two or fewer runs … the Catamounts are also 1-2 in run-ruled games in SoCon play – two losses in seven innings and a win over Wofford in eight innings;
• WCU finished with 19 victories at home at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, the most for the program since winning 23 in Cullowhee back in 2014 ... WCU's 19 home wins are a five-game improvement over last season's home record;
• WCU enters the week leading the SoCon with 112 doubles, the tops among four teams in the league to have eclipsed the century mark … WCU is 23rd nationally in doubles, with its average of 2.2 doubles per game ranking 33rd nationally … the Catamounts have the third-best scoring offense (404 runs, 7.9 runs per game) in the SoCon with the 404 runs ranking 40th nationally … WCU's seasonal team batting average (.307) ranks third in the SoCon;
• On the mound, WCU ranks fourth in the SoCon with 414 total strikeouts as a staff, including the second-most strikeouts looking (130) in the conference, two behind Samford (132);
• The Catamounts are fourth in the SoCon with 35 total double-plays … ETSU leads the league with 43, followed by Samford (38) and Mercer (36);

 
Looking Back at Last Week for WCU:

• Western Carolina completed the three-game midweek series sweep of Presbyterian with a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory … Wyatt Stanley and Trent Turner connected on consecutive ninth-inning doubles and pinch-runner Brody Raleigh scored the game-winning run … WCU won both meetings in Cullowhee – 5-4 (May 7) and 4-2 (March 18) and the one in Clinton, S.C., 9-7 (April 15);
• Western Carolina won its third-straight SoCon series by taking 2-of-3 from The Citadel over the weekend at home … the Catamounts won two-thirds of their league games against Wofford, at Samford, and The Citadel;
• Sunday's loss was WCU's first when leading after seven innings this season – 17-1 on the season … a mark that is made impressive as WCU has been outscored 67-37 in the seventh and 46-28 in the eighth inning;
• Individually last week, Hayden Friese, who missed the midweek win over Presbyterian, hit .583 (7-for-12) with six singles and a solo home run to amass an .833 slugging percentage over three games … Friese added three walks to bolster a .667 on-base percentage … Wyatt Stanley batted .526 (10-of-19) with seven singles and three doubles, finishing with a .684 on-base percentage … He put together three, three-hit games … Trent Turner batted .471 (8-for-17) with four, two-hit games including four doubles and a home run for a .882 slugging percentage;

About the 2025 Southern Conference Baseball Championship:
The 2025 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases, is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21, through Sunday, May 25, at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. The top four seeds earn a bye, by-passing Wednesday's single-elimination games that feature the No. 5 vs. No. 8 seeds and No. 6 vs. No. 7 seeds. Win on Wednesday and advance to face the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds on Thursday, while the top two seeds earn an additional bye date. A loss on Wednesday eliminates a team from the tournament.
 
Friday is the only scheduled four-game day and sees the top two seeds in action for the first time against the two squads that emerge from Wednesday and Thursday's action in the winner's bracket. Thursday's losers then face the losers from the two early Friday games in an elimination matchup in the final two games of Friday's slate.
 
Ultimately, teams coming out of the winner's bracket will have to be defeated twice on Championship Sunday, with the unbeaten squad only needing to secure one victory to claim the title and the SoCon's automatic berth in the NCAA regional field.
 
Tickets for the 2025 SoCon Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., are on sale now through the Greenville Drive box office, and online by CLICKING HERE. Additional tournament information can be found online at SoConSports.com or VisitGreenvilleSC.com.
 
Looking Around the Southern Conference:
Entering the final week of the regular season, all eight SoCon teams square off in head-to-head matchups. As it plays out, the top four in the standings currently all meet, while the bottom four are scheduled to play in the final series. The Catamounts can finish as high as third, but also as low as seventh in the final rankings.
 
No. 1 ETSU (13-5) at No. 3 The Citadel* (10-8)
No. 2 Samford (12-6) at No. 4 Mercer* (10-8)
* The Citadel won the regular-season meeting to hold the tiebreaker
 
No. 5T Western Carolina (8-10) at No. 5T UNCG (8-10)
No. 8 VMI (5-13) at No. 7 Wofford (6-12)
 
If ETSU wins its series over The Citadel – going 2-1 or 3-0 – the Buccaneers would claim the regular-season championship regardless of what Samford does against Mercer because ETSU took 2-of-3 over the Bulldogs in their head-to-head meeting to own the tiebreaker. If ETSU wins just once to finish 14-7, the Bulldogs would need to sweep Mercer to finish 15-6 to claim the title outright.
 
The two teams in the third-place tie would need to sweep their respective series to have a chance at a regular-season title – a sweep by The Citadel would leave the Bulldogs 13-8, and ETSU would finish 13-8 as the two play one another, with the Bulldogs holding the tiebreaker. Mercer would need a sweep of their own and a sweep by The Citadel to finish tied at 13-8, creating a three-way tie. In that case, The Citadel would win out by virtue of its sweep over ETSU and a 2-1 mark against Mercer to break the three-way tie at 5-1 overall.
 
Here is how teams enter this week in the SoCon standings, the remaining schedules, and any tiebreakers each team holds from the seasonal head-to-head, three-game series:
 
East Tennessee State (13-5, .722)
Current Seeding: No. 1
Final SoCon Series: at The Citadel (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: Samford (2-1), Western Carolina (3-0), Mercer (2-1), VMI (3-0), Wofford (2-1)
Series Lost: UNCG (1-2)
 
Samford (12-6, .667)
Current Seeding: No. 2
Final SoCon Series: at Mercer (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: Wofford (3-0), The Citadel (2-1), VMI (2-1), UNCG (3-0)
Series Lost: at ETSU (1-2), Western Carolina (1-2)
 
The Citadel (10-8, .556)
Current Seeding: Tied for No. 3 (#3 with tiebreaker)
Final SoCon Series: vs. ETSU (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: Mercer (2-1), VMI (3-0), UNCG (2-1)
Series Lost: Wofford (1-2), at Samford (1-2), at Western Carolina (1-2)
 
Mercer (10-8, .556)
Current Seeding: Tied for No. 3 (#4 with tiebreaker)
Final SoCon Series: vs. Samford (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: Western Carolina (2-1), VMI (2-1), UNCG (3-0)
Series Lost: The Citadel (1-2), ETSU (1-2), Wofford (1-2)
 
Western Carolina (8-10, .444)
Current Seeding: No. 5
Final SoCon Series: at UNCG (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: Wofford (2-1), Samford (2-1), The Citadel (2-1)
Series Lost: VMI (1-2), at Mercer (1-2), at ETSU (0-3)
 
UNC Greensboro (8-10, .444)
Current Seeding: No. 6
Final SoCon Series: vs. Western Carolina (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: VMI (2-1), ETSU (2-1), Wofford (3-0)
Series Lost: at Mercer (0-3), The Citadel (1-2), at Samford (0-3)
 
Wofford (6-12, .333)
Current Seeding: No. 7
Final SoCon Series: vs. VMI (May 14-16)
Tiebreakers Held: The Citadel (2-1), Mercer (2-1)
Series Lost: at Samford (0-3), at UNCG (0-3), at WCU (1-2), at ETSU (1-2)
 
VMI (5-13, .278)
Current Seeding: No. 8
Final SoCon Series: at Wofford (May 15-17)
Tiebreakers Held: WCU (2-1)
Series Lost: UNCG (1-2), Mercer (1-2), Samford (1-2), The Citadel (0-3), ETSU (0-3)
 
Western Carolina's SoCon Scenarios:
The seeding for the Catamounts remains cloudy heading into the final weekend of the regular season, with several scenarios that could play out – and the Catamounts would still need some help to avoid the Wednesday single-elimination portion of the tourney:
 

• The Catamounts cannot reach first or second place in the SoCon standings … the worst current leader ETSU, can finish is 13-8, and the worst second-place Samford could finish is 12-9 – WCU's best mark if it won its final three games would be 11-10;
• WCU also cannot fall into eighth place as the worst record WCU could finish with is 8-13 – Wofford (6-12) and VMI (5-13) play head-to-head – VMI's best record would be 8-13 to tie WCU (Keydets have the tiebreaker), but Wofford's worst mark would be 6-15 and take the No. 8 seed;
• Tied in the standings entering the week, the winner of the WCU-UNCG series will earn the higher seed in the tournament;
• If The Citadel (vs. ETSU) AND Mercer (vs. Samford) both win TWO games this weekend, the Catamounts would be unable to advance out of Wednesday's two single-elimination games, as those two would have 12-9 marks at worst and WCU's best would be 11-10;
• If WCU finishes tied with The Citadel, the Catamounts would earn the higher seed based on winning the regular-season meeting … If WCU and Mercer finish tied, the Bears would get the nod after taking 2-of-3 from the Catamounts in Macon, Ga.;
• WCU needs at least TWO wins at UNCG this week to have any chance of advancing out of Wednesday's single elimination game at the SoCon Tournament … Two or more losses will relegate WCU to at best the No. 6 seed … Three WCU losses coupled with three VMI wins would push the Catamounts to seventh based on the head-to-head tiebreaker owned by the Keydets and Wofford would be No. 8;
• If all three – WCU, The Citadel, AND Mercer – finish tied with the same record, the tiebreaker would come down to the highest-seeded team not involved in the tie – at present, would be ETSU – The Citadel plays the Bucs this weekend, Mercer went 2-1, and WCU was swept … At present, Mercer would emerge from the three-way tie barring a Bulldog series win … WCU would then have the head-to-head over The Citadel;

Ahead of each of WCU's games in the SoCon Baseball Championship, the Catamount Club will be hosting a special gathering across from the stadium at Mac's Speed Shop (930 S. Main Street, Greenville, SC 29601). To RSVP for Catamount Central, CLICK HERE.

Keep track of everything related to WCU Athletics and Catamount baseball, including any game day schedule changes through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).