GREENSBORO, N.C. – Western Carolina's offense was unable to get going in Sunday's regular-season finale as UNC Greensboro earned a 7-3 win in the continuation of game one before taking a 9-1 run-rule victory in the finale in Southern Conference action at the UNCG Softball Complex.
WCU has earned the sixth seed and plays seventh-seed ETSU in a single-elimination matchup on Wednesday, May 7, in Spartanburg, S.C. at 1 p.m. The winner will face third-seeded Samford at 7 p.m. later that day in the double-elimination portion of the event.
WCU sophomore Lily Bell led the offense on Sunday with four hits, including her ninth double of the season. Junior Tate Stewman had two base hits in the opener on Sunday, while sophomore Maya McPherson picked up two hits, and her 47th RBI on the season.
Bell, with her four hits on Sunday, tied the single-season program record for hits in a season with 72 hits, matching the mark she set a season ago in her debut season in the Purple & Gold.
Game One – UNCG 7, Western Carolina 3
UNCG used a fast start on Saturday afternoon before the weather chased the teams from the field and halted the game. The Spartans withstood a charging Western Carolina in Sunday's resumption for a 7-3 victory in the opener of doubleheader action in Greensboro.
Sophomore Lily Bell (2-for-3) and junior Tate Stewman (2-for-3) led the offensive attack as freshman Courtney Marks, sophomore Sydney Dirks, senior Natalie Henry, and junior Taylor Waitley each also got into the hit column.
UNCG connected on a grand slam home run on a line drive over the right field wall to take a 4-0 lead after one frame on Saturday. The Catamounts responded in the top of the second with back-to-back hits from Henry and Waitley before a sacrifice bunt from graduate student Imara Harrell had two in scoring position. Stewman deposited one over the infielders' heads for an RBI single to make it 4-1.
With Bell at the plate with one out, the series opener entered a lightning delay that later extended until Sunday afternoon, when the two teams resumed in the same situation. Following the delay, neither team could get any more offense going, with traffic on the bases, sending the opener to the third at 4-1.
The Spartans increased the advantage in the third with an RBI single to take a four-run advantage through three frames.
The Catamounts put together a threat in the fourth as Harrell and Stewman both reached on errors before Bell singled. However, back-to-back outs from the Spartans kept the margin at four. WCU continued to battle in the sixth inning as Stewman picked up a two-out single before Bell deposited an RBI double over the left fielder's head for a run. Freshman Courtney Marks then lined a single to left-center to make it 5-3 UNCG.
But UNCG answered with a two-run single in the home half of the sixth to reclaim the four-run cushion, 7-3, before senior reliever Makenzie Martin picked up a strikeout to end the threat heading to the seventh.
Senior Tessa Juett (9-15) suffered the loss for the Catamounts as she went 5.1 innings, allowing 11 hits and seven runs, with three strikeouts. Martin recorded the final two outs for WCU in the circle, allowing a hit and adding a strikeout.
Salem Ward (14-6) went the distance for the Spartans, allowing eight hits and three runs, four strikeouts to pick up the victory for the hosts.
Game Two – UNCG 9, Western Carolina 1
Holding a one-run lead through the opening three frames, UNCG pulled away with eight runs over the final three innings to complete the doubleheader sweep with a 9-1 win in six innings to close the 2025 regular season for both squads.
The Spartans led 1-0 after plating a run in the home half of the first inning. The lead remained the minimum until solo markers in the fourth and fifth innings to push the margin to 3-0. WCU cut the lead to two, 3-1, with a run in the top of the sixth inning before UNCG closed the game with six in the home half.
Sophomore Lily Bell (2-for-3) and classmate Maya McPherson (2-for-3) led the offense for WCU in the finale, with McPherson picking up her team-high 47th RBI in the defeat.
UNCG (38-16, 14-6 SoCon) got out to the early lead in the finale with back-to-back singles before a strikeout and wild pitch allowed the game's first run to scamper home. Freshman Amanda Fulton picked up her second strikeout, though, to limit the damage and send game two to the second at 1-0.
Both offenses were then stymied with Fulton recording three additional Ks before a two-out RBI single in the fourth allowed the Spartans to double their lead to two after four frames. In the third inning, Bell tallied her team-high 71st hit of the season to move closer to breaking her single-season record for hits in a season.
The Spartans added to their advantage in the home half of the fifth with a sacrifice fly to send the regular-season finale to the sixth at 3-0.
In the sixth, Bell posted her single-season-tying 72nd base hit before a walk to Marks put a pair of runners on. Pinch-hitter Tatum Martin advanced the runners with a productive ground out before sophomore Maya McPherson drove home Bell on a run-scoring single to put the Catamounts on the board at 3-1. WCU missed an opportunity to get any closer in the inning, stranding two base runners.
UNCG finished Sunday's decision with a six-run home half of the sixth inning to claim the run-rule win and finish off the doubleheader sweep of the Catamounts in the weather-shortened SoCon series.
Fulton (10-8) suffered the loss for the Catamounts as she went 5.0 innings, allowing nine hits and five runs with four earned. The freshman also added four punchouts to her stat line. Freshman AG Batson recorded one out and allowed a hit with four runs, with just one earned. Senior Makenzie Martin returned to the circle and tallied an out with one hit allowed and a strikeout.
Reese Byrd (11-3) went the distance for the Spartans, allowing four hits and one run with four strikeouts for UNCG.
Western Carolina (22-30, 6-14 SoCon) turns its attention to the 2025 Southern Conference Softball Championship, presented by One Spartanburg. The tournament will be hosted at Hope Field on the campus of Wofford College, beginning on Wednesday, May 7, with the championship set for Saturday, May 10.
No. 6 WCU faces No. 7 ETSU in a single-elimination matchup on Wednesday at 1 p.m. for the right to face No. 3 Samford at 7 p.m. in Spartanburg that same night.
All games throughout the championship are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats provided at CatamountSports.com. (SoCon Tournament Central)
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