Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina second-year catcher
Noah Quarless had just three hits in five official plate appearances in the Catamount baseball weekend sweep of George Washington. But he made them count, collecting a pair of walk-off base knocks, helping to earn him the first Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Week plaudits of the season stemming from a strong opening weekend across the league.
Four of the eight SoCon teams, including WCU, went undefeated through the opening set of games, with six teams winning their weekend series.
Quarless is the first Catamount catcher to earn weekly plaudits from the league office since 2018, when Spencer Holcomb was recognized on May 14. Holcomb coached Quarless as a prep at Reagan High School in Winston-Salem, N.C. It was also the first weekly award winner for WCU since March 24, 2025.
Quarless had a flair for the dramatic over the weekend, collecting a pair of extra-base hits that went down as walk-off game-winners as the Catamounts swept George Washington in Cullowhee. The sophomore backstop belted a two-run, game-winning home run in the bottom of the 10th of WCU's season-opening, come-from-behind victory on Friday. He then delivered a game-winning run-scoring pinch hit double in the home half of the ninth to complete the sweep with a second walk-off winner.
Making a pair of starts behind the plate, where he threw out one would-be base stealer, Quarless finished the weekend 3-for-5 (.600) with a double and a home run, slugging 1.400. He bolstered his .600 on-base percentage with three walks, combining for a 2.000 OPS, and drove in two runs on a pair of sacrifice flies for a combined five RBI.
Quarless was 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and two-run homer in game one of the series, before going 1-for-2 with a sac fly in the second game of the series on Saturday. Entering as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth with two out and a runner aboard at second, he belted a shot off the left-field wall to complete the comeback and secure the sweep.
Catamount RHP
Carter Burnette (1-0) was also nominated for the weekly pitching award after striking out a career-high seven over 5.0 innings. Samford junior RHP Andrew Marble collected the weekly award after limiting Belmont to just one hit over 5.1 innings in a 10-1 victory in Birmingham.
Western Carolina (3-0) travels to USC Upstate (1-2) for its lone road game among its first eight games to start the 2026 season. First pitch against the Spartans is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats links available online at CatamountSports.com.
The Catamounts return home for four-straight at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium beginning on Friday, hosting Bowling Green (0-3) on Feb. 20-22, before welcoming Akron (2-2) to Cullowhee next Tuesday, Feb. 24.
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