Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball looks to ride the momentum of Wednesday's upset victory over nationally-ranked Georgia into a four-game weekend set in Charlotte, facing the host 49ers and the Radford Highlanders at Hayes Stadium in the Queen City.
WCU meets Radford at Noon on both Friday and Saturday, with a pair of games against Charlotte, including the backend of a Saturday doubleheader with an approximate 4 p.m. start, and again in Sunday's finale at 1 p.m.
Only Saturday afternoon's meeting with Charlotte will be covered on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required).
Friday's opener against Radford (Noon) has been added to the Catamount Sports Network (CSN) audio schedule, with an air time online at CatamountSports.com of 11:45 a.m. Live stats for each game will be available online through links at CatamountSports.com.
Projected Pitching Matchups:
Friday, March 6
WCU: Sr. LHP
Davis Wright (3 app., 3 GS, 0-0, 7.30 ERA, 12.1 IP, 9K, 2BB)
Radford: R-So. RHP Raymond Ladd (3 app., 3 GS, 0-0, 1.00, 9.0 IP, 12K, 1BB)
Saturday, March 7 (DH)
WCU: Jr. RHP
James Fordham (4 app., 1 GS, 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP, 5K 3BB)
Radford: Jr. RHP Andrew Steinhaus (3 app., 3 GS, 1-2, 5.79 ERA, 14.0 IP, 12K, 6BB)
WCU: Soph. RHP
Carter Burnette (3 app., 3 GS, 1-1, 5.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 21K, 6 BB)
Charlotte: Sr. RHP Drew Munn (3 app., 2 GS, 2-0, 3.72 ERA, 9.2 IP, 6K, 4BB)
Sunday, March 8
WCU: Fr. LHP
Evan Myers (3 app., 3 GS, 2-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 11K, 4BB)
Charlotte: Jr. RHP Wesley Jones (5 app., 3 GS, 1-2, 7.56 ERA, 8.1 IP, 10K, 2BB)
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts have won five of their last six games, taking the home series over Bowling Green before completing a 6-1 start at home with an eight-inning win over Akron at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. WCU claimed a share of the Keith LeClair Classic, downing Sun Belt foe Troy and blanking event host – and American Conference preseason favorite – East Carolina, 2-0.
Western Carolina opened the week strong with a come-from-behind victory over nationally-ranked Georgia in the midweek, as
Mason Holton capped the ninth-inning rally with a grand slam home run as part of a career-best seven RBI. Holton and
Walker Fox both collected four hits apiece in the winning effort.
Five Catamount regulars are batting over the .300 threshold 12 games into the season, led by catcher
Noah Quarless, who is fourth in the SoCon with a .433 batting average. The Winston-Salem, N.C., product has reached base safely in a team-best 11-straight games, which includes a three-game hit streak.
As a team, WCU has 106 base hits, including 37 for extra bases with 24 doubles, a triple, and 12 home runs. The Catamounts average 5.8 runs per game on 8.8 hits per game, on a .269 collective batting average. Conversely, WCU is surrendering 5.2 runs on 9.1 hits with a .261 batting average against.
WCU's 12 home runs have been split between seven players, with
Walker Fox leading the team with three, including an inside-the-park homer in Greenville, N.C. Quarless,
Wyatt Stanley, and
Trent Turner both have two home runs apiece.
Mason Holton hit his first round-tripper of the season at Georgia with a game-winning grand slam, with
Cole Jones also hitting a big fly against the Bulldogs.
On the mound, WCU is third in the SoCon with 103 combined strikeouts, with 33 strikeouts looking, second in the league. Sophomore RHP
Carter Burnette is third in the SoCon with 21 total strikeouts, while reliever
Mason Snyder has 15 to rank sixth, giving WCU two inside the Top 10 in the league.
About the Radford Highlanders:
Radford (6-4) enters Friday's first of the two games against the Catamounts on a two-game slide, dropping its series at home against Bryant last weekend before both mid-week games against nationally-ranked West Virginia were canceled. The Highlanders meet WCU at Noon on Friday and Charlotte in the nightcap of a doubleheader, before facing the Catamounts again on Saturday at noon.
The Highlander baseball program was rocked in late February as 19-year-old freshman Joey Raccuia was tragically killed in a car accident. Radford scored a comeback, walk-off victory in its first game following the passing of their fallen teammate, defeating Bryant, 5-4.
Radford enters the weekend batting .244 collectively as a team over its first 10 games, collecting 78 hits (7.8 hits per game), with 59 runs scored (5.9 runs per game). The team has 29 combined extra-base hits, including 20 doubles, four triples, and five home runs. Opponents averaged .266 against Highlander pitching to date, surrendering 94 hits, while also limiting teams to 59 runs scored. Radford's pitchers have 84 total strikeouts against 22 walks.
Radford put three players on the preseason All-Big South team, including infielders Breckin Nace and Hunter Keen, as well as junior reliever Trey Ludy.
Radford was picked fourth in the nine-team Big South preseason coaches poll, garnering one of the nine possible first-place votes. The Catamounts have games against six of the nine teams in the Big South.
Western Carolina vs. Radford – The Series:
The Catamounts and Highlanders meet in a pair of neutral field meetings on Friday and Saturday in Charlotte, the first matchups not held in Radford or Cullowhee. The two have previously met eight times on the diamond, with WCU holding a 7-1 record, including four-consecutive victories. Six of the eight previous meetings have been held in Cullowhee, each won by the Catamounts. The two split the pair of meetings in Radford between the 1991 and 1992 seasons, with the first meetings coming in 1991.
About the Charlotte 49ers:
Charlotte (8-4) enters the weekend with eight wins in its 12 seasonal games, most recently splitting its midweek games at home against nationally-ranked Virginia. The 49ers earned a 14-0, run-ruled seven-inning victory over the Cavaliers on Tuesday, before falling 8-1 on Wednesday in a neutral field meeting in Kannapolis, N.C. All told, Charlotte has eight wins in its last night games entering the weekend.
Seven regulars are batting above the .300 threshold this season, led by Robert Nedry with a team-best .390 (16-of-41) average with six extra-base hits. Cody Gunderson has four of the team's 12 home runs. The 49ers have 122 base hits on the season, including 39 going for extra bases with 24 doubles, three triples, and 12 home runs. Charlotte is averaging 7.5 runs on 10.2 hits per game with a team batting average of .311, while allowing opponents a .262 average against, surrendering 4.9 runs on 8.3 hits per game, with 30 extra-base knocks.
Three 49ers earned preseason All-American Conference selections, including Preseason Player of the Year, third-baseman Dawson Bryce. He was joined by senior pitcher Andrew Kribbs and junior reliever Joseph Taylor in collecting recognition.
Charlotte was picked third out of the 10-team American Conference preseason coaches poll, receiving one of the 10 possible first-place votes. ECU and UTSA both had four first-place nods, with fourth-place Tulane claiming the last.
Western Carolina vs. Charlotte – The Series:
The Catamounts and 49ers have played 20 times in a series history that dates to 1980, with WCU carrying a 12-8 lead in the head-to-head meetings. A combined 15 previous meetings have been played in Charlotte, with the home squad holding a slim, 8-7, lead. WCU leads in the five games played in Cullowhee, 4-1. This weekend marks the first meetings since 2024, a 5-2 win for the 49ers in Charlotte.
WCU has won eight of the last 10 series meetings dating back to 1993. The series has endured long layovers, sitting idle from 1994 until 2009, and was again dormant between 2010 and 2021.
On Deck for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts open a second five-game week on Tuesday, capping nine-straight games away from home with a trip to mountain-rival Appalachian State on Tuesday, March 10, in Boone. WCU then opens an eight-game homestand with four-straight against Morehead State in Cullowhee, March 12-15. The home stretch includes visits from Gardner-Webb (March 17) and the opening of Southern Conference play against league-favorite Samford (March 20-22).
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