Greensboro, N.C. – Brayden Corn set the stage with a lead-off home run to centerfield on the second pitch of Saturday's regular-season finale at UNC Greensboro, and Jack Spyke added to the offensive show by hitting for the cycle as Western Carolina ambushed the Spartans early and tacked on insurance along the way in claiming its Southern Conference series with a 13-6 victory at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
 
With the win, Western Carolina claims the No. 5 seed in next week's 2025 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases. The Catamounts raise the curtain on the tournament on Wednesday, May 21, with a 3 p.m. match-up against eighth-seeded VMI at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C.
 
The Catamounts closed the regular season by winning four straight SoCon series, taking 2-of-3 at home against seventh-seeded Wofford (April 17-19) and third-seeded The Citadel (May 9-11), and two on the road at second-seeded Samford (April 26-27) and at sixth-seeded UNCG (May 15- 17).
 
In his final regular season game, senior Jack Spyke singled in the first inning, belted a two-run home run in the second, doubled to right field in the top of the sun-splashed sixth inning, and completed the feat with a two-run triple to the expansive center field in Greensboro in the top of the ninth. The Lawrenceville, Ga., product finished 4-of-6 at the plate with four RBI and three runs scored as WCU rebounded from Friday night's three-hit shutout loss.
 
Spyke was joined by Noah Quarless (4-for-5), who matched a career-high with four base hits, including a double, as five Catamounts posted multiple-hit games. Trent Turner (2-for-4) scored each time he reached, walking twice to accompany a single and a double. Mason Holton (2-for-4) reached four times with a double and an RBI, while Wyatt Stanley (2-for-4) drove home two, also doubling in the winning effort.
 
Hayden Friese reached base three times on a trio of walks, scoring twice, with Elijah Smith (1-for-5) plating a pair of runs.
 
The Spartans finished with 11 base hits spread between seven players in the loss, with Brantley Truitt (3-for-5) leading the way. Park Wight (2-for-4) doubled, and Jose Perez (2-for-4) singled twice with an RBI. Jeremy Wolf (1-for-4) drove home two with a double and a sacrifice fly among the Spartan leaders.
 
Brayden Corn's lead-off home run – his eighth of the season – sparked a four-run explosion for the Catamounts, who hadn't scored a run since the top of the ninth inning on Thursday on Turner's two-run homer. Later, with the bases loaded, Stanley lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate the second run before Smith laced a two-out, two-run single to right center field for the 4-0 lead.
 
An inning later, the onslaught continued as Turner delivered a two-out double to right center ahead of Spyke, who blasted his fifth homer of the season over the wall in left for the 6-0 advantage. UNCG got the two runs back in its half of the second on a run-scoring ground out and the Wolf double.
 
The two teams traded solo markers in the third as Trey Spees scored Quarless on a sacrifice fly in the top, and the Spartans got a run-scoring single from Luke Jenkins to make it 7-3 through three.
 
Following scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth with the two teams both stranding a pair of runners, the Catamounts found their second four-run frame of the day in the top of the sixth. Two UNCG miscues led to Friese scoring before Holton plated classmate Turner for the ninth run. Stanley plated Spyke, who doubled to the wall in right field, and Holton capped scoring by scampering home on a wild pitch.
 
The homestanding Spartans responded, though, by getting three of the runs back in the bottom of the sixth. The first run crossed on a sacrifice fly, before a bases-loaded balk brought home the second. The third scored after a close play at first base, where the runner was ruled safe on a toss from Jack Spyke to Ryan White, but allowed the third runner to score on the same play from second base to make it 11-6.
 
Western Carolina put the game out of reach in the ninth as Friese and Turner raced home as Spyke aired one out to deep center field for just his second career triple in a Catamount uniform to provide the final tally, 13-6.
 
Freshman starter Carter Burnette tossed the first four innings, allowing just three runs while scattering eight base hits with three strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision. Evan Langston (1-0), the third reliever out of the bullpen, was credited with the victory as the most effective of the three Catamount pitchers, striking out three over 3.1 innings of hitless, scoreless baseball. Ryan White struck out two against the lone walk issued by WCU, allowing three runs on three hits over 1.2 innings out of the bullpen.
 
UNCG starter Noah Chapman (5-3) was handed just his third defeat of the year, tagged for seven earned runs on eight hits over just three innings of work. He struck out four while walking two. Reliever Mayson Dear struck out three with Rob Ready fanning two ahead of Grant Aycock, who struck out a team-best seven over 2.2 relief innings. Hunter Shuey tossed the final third of an inning, registering a strikeout.
 
All told, the five Spartan pitchers struck out a combined 17 in the loss, stranding 12 Catamount base runners.
 
Western Carolina (28-26, 10-11 SoCon), which has assured itself a winning record in 2025, turns its attention to the 2025 SoCon Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases, and eighth-seeded VMI (27-25, 6-15 SoCon). The two meet in the first of two single-elimination games next Wednesday, May 21, in Greenville, S.C. WCU and VMI met to open the SoCon slate back in late March with the Keydets taking 2-of-3 in Cullowhee – WCU won 7-3 before dropping the next two by a combined four runs.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount baseball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).
 
More on Jack Spyke's Performance:

• Jack Sypke hit for the cycle today for the first time in his career … It was just the fourth by a Catamount since 2014 when Aaron Attaway and Bradley Strong both accomplished the feat in the same game in a win over La Salle … It's the first WCU cycle since Bryson Bowman did it back in 2017 against Savannah State;
• Spyke's feat is the first of record to occur during a Southern Conference game during that same stretch;
• Spyke is just the second player in the SoCon to hit for the cycle this season, joining Ryan Wynn of Wofford, who did so in the first week of the regular season … Wynn's home run was his first career homer as part of his cycle;

Final SoCon Standings:
1 – ETSU (14-7)
2 – Samford (13-8)
3 – The Citadel (12-9)
4 – Mercer (12-9)
5 – Western Carolina (10-11)
6 – UNCG (9-12)
7 – Wofford (8-13)
8 – VMI (6-15)
 
2025 Southern Conference Baseball Championship
Presented by Holston Gases | Fluor Field in Greenville, SC
 
Wednesday, May 21
Gm 1 – No. 5 Western Carolina vs. No. 8 VMI – 3 pm
Gm 2 – No. 6 UNCG vs. No. 7 Wofford – 7 pm
(single-elimination)
 
Thursday, May 22
Gm 3 – Gm1 winner vs. No. 4 Mercer – 3 pm
Gm 4 – Gm 2 winner vs. No. 3 The Citadel – 7 pm
 
Friday, May 23
Gm 5 – Winner Gm3 vs. No. 1 ETSU – 9 am
Gm 6 – Winner Gm4 vs. No. 2 Samford – 12:30 pm
Gm 7 – Loser Gm4 vs. Loser Gm5 – 4 pm
Gm 8 – Loser Gm3 vs. Loser Gm6 – 7:30 pm
 
Saturday, May 24
Gm 9 – Winner Gm5 vs. Winner Gm6 – Noon
Gm10 – Winner Gm7 vs. Winner Gm8 – 3:30 pm
Gm11 – Winner Gm10 vs. Loser Gm9 – 7 pm
 
Sunday, May 25
Gm12 – Winner Gm9 vs. Winner Gm11 – Noon
Gm13 – (if necessary) – 40 minutes after Gm12