Greenville, S.C. – Three months in the making, Catamount baseball enters its proverbial third season this week as postseason play commences in the Upstate of South Carolina.
 
Fifth-seeded Western Carolina opens its quest for the 2025 Southern Conference Baseball Championship title on Wednesday, May 21, as the Catamounts raise the curtain on the whole shebang against eighth-seed VMI at 3 p.m. at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C.  WCU and VMI play the first of two win-or-go-home, single-elimination games for the right to advance into Thursday's double-elimination portion of the bracket. No. 4 seed Mercer awaits the Catamounts-Keydets winner.
 
Sixth-seeded UNCG faces the seventh-seeded Wofford Terriers in Wednesday night's nightcap at Fluor Field with a 7 p.m. first pitch for the right to face No. 3 seed The Citadel on Thursday.
 
General admission day pass tickets for both of Wednesday's single-elimination games are available online (CLICK HERE). The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network available online for WCU's meeting with VMI at CatamountSports.com.
 
Western Carolina (28-26, 10-11 SoCon) rebounded from its disappointing three-hit shutout loss in game two against UNCG last Friday to claim its regular-season finale. The Catamounts ambushed the Spartans with seven runs over the first three frames, including a Brayden Corn lead-off home run in a four-run first as WCU took the series with a 13-6 victory.
 
VMI (27-25, 6-15 SoCon) rebounded from a pair of one-run losses at Wofford to halt a five-game seasonal slide with a decisive 15-6 victory over the Terriers. With the Terriers within three at 9-6, the Keydets pulled away by scoring the game's final six runs, with a five-run ninth, in cruising into Greenville with the lop-sided win.

Across the league, an interesting note entering this week's tournament. No team enters riding consecutive wins or consecutive losses, as all four league teams met on the final weekend of the regular season. WCU bookended its weekend series win at UNCG with victories on Thursday and Saturday. ETSU, Samford, and WCU's opening opponent, VMI, each salvaged game three of their respective SoCon series at The Citadel, Mercer, and Wofford.
 
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts lost seven of their first nine games (2-7) in Southern Conference play, losing 2-of-3 to both VMI at home and on the road against Mercer, before suffering a three-game sweep at regular season champion ETSU.
 
However, in the second half of the season, WCU went 8-4 by winning its final four league series. The Catamounts took 2-of-3 at home against No. 7 Wofford (April 17-19) and No. 3 The Citadel (May 9-11), and 2-of-3 on the road at No. 2 Samford (April 26-27) and No. 6 UNCG (May 15-17). The Catamounts have locked themselves into a second consecutive winning record this season, regardless of what happens in Greenville, marking the first time since three-straight winning records in 2012 (32-24), 2013 (39-20), and 2014 (37-17).
Western Carolina enters the tournament batting .304 collectively as a team, third in the SoCon. The Catamounts led the conference with 118 doubles, just one two-bagger shy of its seasonal total from a year ago and the sixth straight FULL season that WCU has eclipsed the century mark. Seven individuals boast double-digit doubles this year.
 
Six Catamount regulars are batting over the .300 threshold this season, led by senior Jack Spyke, a first-team All-SoCon selection on Tuesday, at .339. He's just ahead of first-team All-SoCon designated hitter Wyatt Stanley (.331) and SoCon All-Defensive team selection Trent Turner, who put up all-conference worthy numbers. Turner holds a .327 average, with 14 doubles, a triple, and 13 home runs. He is looking for a strong weekend at Fluor to try and become the 18th different Catamount to win the team's Triple Crown by leading the squad in average, homers, and RBI – currently holds two of the three with 13 homers and 52 RBI.
 
Rounding out WCU's .300+ batters are junior outfielder Hayden Friese (.324), who will likely draw the assignment of manipulating the Monster in left field, third baseman Mason Holton (.307), and speedy right fielder Elijah Smith (.301).
 
Junior RHP Dusty Revis (6-5), a second-team All-SoCon starting pitcher, is expected to be handed the ball on Wednesday afternoon for the Catamounts. Revis ranks seventh in the SoCon with 74 strikeouts, trailing, like the rest of the league, his junior teammate Davis Wright (4-7) who has a conference-best 85 Ks.
 
Revis only went 2.0 innings against VMI in his first meeting, taking a low liner off his lower body that tightened up, and he was lifted for precautionary reasons. He struck out two while allowing an unearned run on two singles before being pulled.
 
DID YOU KNOW…?
Western Carolina played FIVE regular-season champions this season during its tough schedule … Obviously, the Catamounts faced the Southern Conference champion ETSU (0-3) … WCU also took 2-of-3 from the Ohio Valley (OVC) champion Eastern Illinois, split with both the Big South (USC Upstate, 1-1) and Metro-Atlantic (MAAC) champion Rider (2-2) … WCU also went to Atlanta to face ACC-champion, Georgia Tech (0-3).
 
The Catamounts additionally went 3-1 against the Big Ten Conference this season, taking 2-of-3 from Maryland, including Elijah Smith's walk-off home run in extra innings, and also defeated Michigan State in come-from-behind fashion at Fluor Field, site of this week's tournament.
 
Noting the Catamounts in the SoCon Tournament:

• Western Carolina enters the week having lost FIVE straight games at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship, last winning its single-elimination game against No. 7 VMI in the 2022 tournament … Only TWO members of WCU's current roster were active that season – catcher No. 7 Cam Murray and pitcher Paddy McGonigal (inj.) … Both played in that '22 tournament … WCU assistant coaches Seth Graves, Gavin Mortenson, and Nate Stocum were each a part of that 2022 team;
• Western Carolina opens play in the single-elimination portion of the tournament for the fifth time in the last eight years – 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2025 … the 2020 tournament was canceled because of COVID-19, and the event in 2021 only took the top four seeds … WCU has twice eliminated The Citadel (2018, 2019) and once took out VMI (2022) … Two years ago, the Catamounts fell to UNCG (2023);
• Since 1990, when the league stopped seeding by divisions, Western Carolina has only been the No. 5 seed once, going 0-2 as the fifth seed in 2012;
• Western Carolina has won 80 combined games in the SoCon tournament all-time, the MOST among current conference schools, ahead of The Citadel (75) … the Catamounts make their 40th appearance in the champion-crowning classic … WCU has won 10 SoCon Tournament titles all-time, the most of any conference school – and has made 16 appearances in the title game … But, the Catamounts have never won a title when seeded lower than No. 2;
• WCU is 15-20 in tournament games played at Fluor Field, with five of those wins coming during the 2016 title run – the most recent championship for the Catamounts.

 
Scouting the Opposition – the VMI Keydets:
The Keydets venture south for the single-elimination date with Western Carolina, and much like the Catamounts, have already guaranteed a winning seasonal record for the first time since 2014. At 27-25, it also marks the third-straight season for head coach Sam Roberts, a 2011 graduate of VMI and former Oakland A's farmhand, who has guided his alma mater to 25 or more wins, the first time in 17 seasons (2006-08).
 
VMI presents a unique challenge to prepare for as the Keydets have a solid balance of power and speed. The Runnin' Roos led the nation in stolen bases with 209 through the end of the regular season, 26 more than second-place Southern Univ. (183). VMI has four players with 20 or more stolen bases on the year, and two with over 40.
 
The Keydets hit for average, ranking second in the SoCon with a .311 team batting average. With 67 home runs – five more than WCU – VMI is fourth in the conference. The Keydets also led the SoCon with 490 runs scored, which was eighth in the country. Bradley Garner (.397) and Owen Prince (.376) boast the top two batting averages in the conference, with Boston Torres (.335) clinging to the top 10. Prince and Torres were both second-team All-SoCon selections, with Prince also named to the SoCon All-Defensive team. First-team All-SoCon first baseman Grayson Fitzwater has 17 home runs, fourth in the league this season.
 
VMI is expected to start Jaxon Lloyd (4-3, 7.01 ERA), who has 15 appearances and 12 starts this season with 73 strikeouts over 60.1 innings. Lloyd earned one of the two wins in the first meeting, tossing four innings in relief with a run on four hits, including a double.
 
Western Carolina vs. VMI – The Series:

• The Catamounts and Keydets have met 101 times previously on the diamond with WCU holding a commanding 73-28 series lead, though the last 16 meetings have been closer with a 9-7 margin for WCU … the last 10 meetings have been split evenly, 5-5;
• Western Carolina and VMI have met 13 times in the postseason, though the bulk came between 1984 and 1999, partially because of VMI's exit from the SoCon … WCU leads the postseason series, 11-2, with three-straight wins … the two teams have played once since 2001, WCU's 4-1 win in the single-elimination game in 2022;
• VMI took 2-of-3 from the Catamounts in the regular-season meetings held in Cullowhee as the two opened the SoCon slate at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium … WCU took advantage of seven walks and four VMI errors in winning game one, 7-3 … the Keydets withstood three Catamount home runs and stranded the tying run at third base to take game two, 5-4 … 13 freebies – eight walks and four HBPs – aided VMI to the series win with an 11-7 victory in the finale;
• Neither team hit exceptionally well in the three-game set in Cullowhee in the first SoCon series for both teams … WCU finished with a .260 series average with seven extra-base hits–three doubles and four home runs–while VMI batted .232 with five hits for extra bases, three doubles and two big flies.

 On Wednesday, Western Carolina's Catamount Club will host a pregame social 90 minutes before each game the Catamounts play in the tournament at Catamount Central, again this year at Mac's Speed Shop (930 S. Main St., Greenville, SC 29601) located near Fluor Field.
 
The tournament winner earns the league's automatic bid to an NCAA Baseball Regional.
 
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).
 
2025 Southern Conference Baseball Championship
 
May 21 (Wednesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN+)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #5 Western Carolina  vs. #8 VMI, 3 p.m.
Game 2: #6 UNCG vs. #7 Wofford, 7 p.m.

May 22 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN+)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. #4 Mercer, 3 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. #3 The Citadel, 7 p.m.

May 23 (Friday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN+)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. #1 ETSU, 9 a.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. #2 Samford, 12:30 p.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 6, 7:30 p.m.

May 24 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN+)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 12 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 3:30 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 9, 7 p.m.
 
May 25 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN+)
Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 12 p.m.
Game 13: Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser^, 40 minutes after Game 12
^ if necessary