Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball opens its Southern Conference season this weekend, welcoming preseason favorite Samford to the on-campus Childress Field / Hennon Stadium for a three-game set.
 
The trio of games opens on Friday at 5 p.m., with a special replica jersey giveaway for WCU students, courtesy of The Everson. Saturday is billed as "Little League and Scout Day" at the ballpark, presented by Todd Baucom Realty, with first pitch at 2 p.m., before concluding Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Friday and Sunday are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with audio available on the Catamount Sports Network for Saturday's game.
 
Western Carolina (15-7) enters riding a four-game winning streak, with wins in five of its last six games overall. The Catamounts won last weekend's series over Morehead State and took down Gardner-Webb in the midweek. Samford (8-11), picked by the league's head coaches to edge Mercer for the regular-season crown, snapped a two-game slide with a one-run, 7-6 win over Jacksonville State back on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are amid a stretch of five-straight road games.
 
Around the Southern Conference:
Six of the eight SoCon teams open league play this weekend, including Samford visiting Western Carolina. ETSU travels to UNC Greensboro for a three-game battle between the blue and gold-clad squads, with The Citadel visiting Mercer in Macon. Two squads play nonconference series this weekend as Wofford travels to Cincinnati to face Xavier, while VMI visits Radford for a battle in the Commonwealth.
 
Projected Pitching Matchups:
Friday, March 20
SAM – Sr. RHP Joseph Lee – (6 app., 5 GS – 0-0, 4.57 ERA, 21.2 IP, 19K, 7BB)
WCU – So. RHP Carter Burnette – (5 app., 5 GS – 2-2, 4.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 33K, 9BB)
 
Saturday, March 21
SAM – So. RHP Mason Blasche – (5 app., 5 GS – 0-4, 7.01 ERA, 25.2 IP, 18K, 4BB)
WCU – Sr. LHP Davis Wright – (5 app., 5 GS – 1-1, 7.48 ERA, 21.2 IP, 16K, 3BB)
 
Sunday, March 22
SAM – TBD
WCU – Fr. LHP Evan Myers – 5 GP, 5 GS – 2-1, 3.43 ERA, 21.0 IP, 16K, 11BB)
 
About Western Carolina:
Powering past Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, the Catamounts enter league play with 10 home victories this season, boasting a 10-2 record inside the friendly confines of Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. WCU hopes to continue that against the preseason favorite this weekend.
 
Hitting .274 overall collectively as a team with 41 doubles, a triple, and 16 home runs, the Catamounts are batting .311 at home with 26 doubles and 15 homers. Conversely, WCU has limited opponents to just a .242 average against, with 25 doubles, two triples, and 12 home runs.
 
More Catamount Diamond Notes:

• Home Cookin': Wyatt Stanley is batting a cool .500 (19-of-38) with a team-best four homers at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, leading six regulars with averages above the .300 threshold, paced by Jackson Lyda (.333);
• WCU has 26 home runs as a squad, paced by Trent Turner with five, followed by Walker Fox and Wyatt Stanley with four apiece;
• Welcome to Jac-K-son County: Carter Burnette has 26 of his 33 strikeouts at home this season as the Catamount pitchers have combined for 120 Ks in Cullowhee … Five WCU hurlers have double-digit strikeouts at home;
• WCU's pitchers have also issued the fewest walks on the season with just 59 base on balls entering the start of conference play, sixth in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings (2.78);
• The Catamounts also LEAD the SoCon with 60 strikeouts looking this season, third overall in the SoCon with 185 combined K's, trailing Mercer (211) and Wofford (194).

Midseason has Gone to the 'Dogs:
Beginning with Wednesday's 8-4 win over Gardner-Webb in Cullowhee, Western Carolina has a string of eight-straight games against "Bulldogs." The Catamounts faced the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb midweek, then open the SoCon series against the Samford Bulldogs this weekend. WCU follows with a midweek road game against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs next Tuesday, before traveling to Charleston, S.C., to face the Citadel Bulldogs in SoCon play.
 
Scouting the Samford Bulldogs:
Samford has an 8-11 overall record… but don't let that fool you, this Bulldogs team has played a tough schedule, challenging itself each time out. Samford has played five games against SEC competition, facing in-state foes Alabama (L, 3-2) and No. 7 Auburn (L, 6-2) in the midweek, and dropping a three-game set at No. 9 Georgia, two decided in seven innings.
 
The Bulldogs earned a one-point edge over Mercer in the Preseason SoCon Coaches Poll, collecting four of a possible eight first-place votes. Saturday's projected starter RHP Mason Blasche, a NCBWA Freshman All-America selection a year ago, was dubbed the league's preseason pitcher of the year and headlined six Bulldogs on the preseason All-SoCon team – Blaschke, C Cade Carr, 2B Jeffrey Ince, 3B Parker McDonald, and OF Jake Souders, all named first team, and DH Trey Higgins on the second team.
 
More Bulldog Bites:

• Jake Souders – named to the SoCon All-Freshman team a season ago, is batting a team-best .420 (29-of-69) – fourth in the SoCon – with three doubles and three homers, with 11 RBI … Souders leads four Samford regulars with averages above .300;
• Luke Boykin (.246) and Eddie Marshall (.222) – have combined for 10 of Samford's 23 home runs this season;
• Mason Blasche – enters the weekend at 0-4 after posting a 10-0 record as a freshman last season on the mound … He has tossed at least 3.1 innings per outing, with a long of six innings in a start twice against Bowling Green and Kennesaw State;
• Joseph Lee has yet to record a decision over his five starts, chased after one inning at Georgia, but is coming off a season-long 5.0 innings against Little Rock last time out … Andrew Marble, who has been a game-three starter for the Bulldogs this season, has earned Samford's lone weekly honor from the SoCon this season with the Feb. 16. SoCon Pitcher of the Week plaudit.

WCU and Samford have two common foes this season – Bowling Green and Georgia. Both teams took 2-of-3 from the Mid-American Conference foe, Bowling Green, with WCU winning at Georgia in the midweek while Samford was swept by the SEC's Bulldogs.
 
WCU vs. Samford – All-Time Series History:
Western Carolina trails in the all-time series against Samford, 25-33, though the Catamounts hold a 14-10 lead in games played in Cullowhee. Samford has won four of the last six games played at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, taking the series over the Catamounts in both 2024 and 2022.
 
WCU took 2-of-3 over the Bulldogs in Birmingham a season ago, winning the first two matchups, 4-1 and 8-2, before Samford salvaged the game three meeting, 7-1. Samford has won eight of the last 12 series meetings.
 
On Deck for Western Carolina:
After concluding an eight-game homestand, the Catamounts hit the road for four-straight road games, with seven of their next eight away from Cullowhee. WCU visits mountain-rival UNC Asheville on Tuesday, March 24, with a three-game road series at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., set for March 27-29. The lone home game is Tuesday, March 31, to end the month as Presbyterian comes to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, before opening April with a three-game set at Winthrop, April 2-4.
 
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