Cullowhee, N.C. – Returning home to begin a home-heavy March, Western Carolina softball hosts the 2026 Catamount Classing at the on-campus Catamount Softball Complex this weekend. The 10-game, three-day event begins Friday morning and includes WCU, Penn, Robert Morris, and Ohio.
The Catamounts open the weekend on Friday at 3 p.m. against Penn before battling Robert Morris at 5:30 p.m. WCU returns to the diamond at 3 p.m. on Saturday for a matchup against Ohio before a rematch with Robert Morris at 5:30 p.m. Western Carolina closes out the tournament with a matchup against Penn, with first pitch slated for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Each day of the weekend tournament opens with games at 10 a.m. with live stats on CatamountSports.com. Admission to the tournament – and all home games throughout the 2026 season – is free of charge, presented by First Bank.
All five WCU games in this weekend's tournament are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), along with live stats through links on CatamountSports.com.
SOFTBALL MATCHUP: Penn (6-4) vs Western Carolina (10-6)
Date: Friday, March 6 | Sunday, March 8
Time: 3 p.m. | 12:30 p.m.
Site: Catamount Softball Complex (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (FRI) | Stat Broadcast (Sun.)
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required) - (FRIDAY) | (SUNDAY)
SOFTBALL MATCHUP: Robert Morris (5-4) vs Western Carolina
Date: Friday, March 6 | Saturday, March 7
Time: 5:30 p.m. (BOTH GAMEDAYS)
Site: Catamount Softball Complex (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (FRI) | Stat Broadcast (Sat.)
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required) - (FRIDAY) | (SATURDAY)
SOFTBALL MATCHUP: Ohio (12-7) vs Western Carolina
Date: Saturday, Mar. 7
Time: 3 p.m.
Site: Catamount Softball Complex (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required) - (SATURDAY)
Twitter: @CatamountSB
About Western Carolina:
Western Carolina softball closed February with 10 wins, its most in the opening month since 2016, when WCU won 11 games. The Catamounts earned a pair of wins over host Lipscomb as part of the Purple & Gold Classic in Nashville last weekend.
Sophomore Courtney Marks led the squad last weekend with a team-best .417 average, going 5-of-12. Junior Maya McPherson led the team with six hits, including a double, while classmate Sydney Dirks had a double and a homer in the Music City. Senior Taylor Waitley, junior Becka Wonsick, and Dirks each had four hits in the five-game weekend. Sophomore Amanda Fulton recorded 20 strikeouts in the circle over 16 innings, spanning three outings.
Over the opening crop of games for WCU, McPherson sits atop the Southern Conference with a .446 batting average with a team-high 25 hits, tied for third in the conference. Dirks has a team-best 12 extra-base hits to open the season, collecting five doubles, a triple, and a team-best and conference-tying six home runs. She holds a league-high .849 slugging percentage and 25 runs knocked in, good enough for third in the SoCon, as she's 12th in the nation in RBI per game at 1.56.
Junior Lily Bell's 19 runs scored place her in second in the league, as she's also tied for second in the league with nine stolen bases. Dirks and McPherson are tied for eighth with five doubles.
McPherson (.446 BA), Dirks (.377 BA), Waitley & sophomore AG Batson (.360 BA), Marks (.350 BA), and senior Tate Stewman (.316 BA) helped push the squad to a .306 team batting average through the opening 16 games, which ranks third in the league.
In the circle, Batson leads the team with a 1.99 ERA, third-best in the SoCon, followed by Fulton at 2.83 ERA. Fulton has 54 strikeouts, the third-most in the conference, and ranks in the top 40 in the nation. Senior Riley Pennington is the third Catamount pitcher with two or more wins on the season as she earned her second decision last week against Gardner-Webb.
Scouting the Opposition – Penn Quakers:
Penn (6-4) enters the weekend on a two-game winning streak after wins over Mount St. Mary's and Youngstown State during a tournament at Longwood last weekend. The Quakers have posted 3-2 marks in tournament play at the Low Country Invitational and in Farmville against Longwood. Penn battles Ohio and WCU twice, plus a showdown with Robert Morris, this weekend.
Under the direction of Christie Novatin, who's in her third season at the helm of the Quakers, they were tabbed eighth in the eight-team Ivy League preseason poll.
Senior Delaney Smith leads Penn with a .464 batting average, with 13 hits, including a pair of homers, and 13 RBIs through 10 games. Sophomore Gigi Ganje sits at a .424 batting average, tallying three doubles and a team-best five homers with 13 runs knocked in. Sophomore Alexis Youngren has a .348 batting average with three doubles and four runs knocked in, as freshman Jaz Johnson had a .321 average with seven runs driven in and a team-best four stolen bases.
Sophomore Ainsley Pemberton has the best pitching mark for the Quakers in 2026 with a 2.63 ERA over 21.1 innings of work spanning five starts with 15 strikeouts. Senior Kelly Zybura has a team-best 21 strikeouts with a pair of wins in 2026, tossing a team-best 26.1 innings with three wins.
The Catamounts and Quakers have met just three times prior to this weekend's action in Cullowhee, with the Catamounts riding a two-game win streak, which included a 13-3 run-rule win on opening day of the 2026 season.
Scouting the Opposition – Robert Morris Colonials:
Robert Morris (5-4) comes to Cullowhee off a 16-6 run-rule win in Spartanburg over Holy Cross. The Colonials earned a pair of wins over Morgan State last weekend. RMU battles Ohio and WCU twice, along with a showdown against Penn, this weekend.
Jexx Varner, a 2007 alum of Robert Morris, is the head coach in his seventh season at RMU after spending four seasons at Lafayette. The Colonials were picked to win the 2026 Horizon League, garnering six of seven first-place votes.
Junior Aglaia Rudd leads the Colonials with a .615 batting average, tallying a team-high 16 hits along with four doubles and five home runs. Junior Eloise Facher holds a .538 batting average, totaling 14 hits, two doubles, one triple, and three homers with 14 RBIs. RMU has a .403 batting average with 17 doubles, 19 homers, and 92 runs.
In the circle, sophomore Sammie Borrayo holds a 2.68 ERA with six earned runs allowed in 15.2 innings of work with a pair of victories. Junior Kaitlyn Molitoris has a team-high 26 strikeouts with a pair of wins.
The Catamounts and Colonials met once before the weekend, with Robert Morris earning a 9-7 win in 2013 in Charlotte.
Scouting the Opposition – Ohio Bobcats:
Ohio (12-7) won three of its last five at the Governors Classic, hosted by Austin Peay. The Bobcats have already squared off with Notre Dame, UCF, Penn State, Middle Tennessee, SoCon foe Chattanooga, and future WCU opponent USC Upstate in the early going. Ohio faces Robert Morris and Penn twice, along with a showdown against the host Catamounts, this weekend.
Jenna Hall is in her fourth season at the helm in Athens after spending three years as an assistant at Pittsburgh. Ohio was picked second in the 12-team MAC preseason poll, receiving one first-place vote. The Bobcats were also tabbed as the MAC tournament title winners by five coaches.
Senior Colleen Bare paces the Bobcats with a .456 batting average, totaling 26 hits, which includes five doubles, one triple, and a pair of homers. Senior Belle Hummel holds a .453 batting average, tallying a team-high 29 hits, with four doubles, and three homers. Ohio has a .337 team batting average, with 134 runs scored, 34 doubles, 18 homers, and 120 runs knocked in.
Graduate student Skipp Miller holds a team-best 2.84 ERA and five wins over a team-best 49.1 innings of work. Miller has a team-high 34 strikeouts for the Bobcats. Senior Keegan Moore has four wins in 11 appearances, and sophomore Ally Meyers has earned three wins for Ohio's pitching staff.
WCU and Ohio have met five times ahead of Saturday's action. The Bobcats have a slight 3-2 lead in the all-time series. Ohio has won the last two matchups against WCU, with the most recent coming on March 19, 2017, when the Bobcats earned a 2-0 win in Charleston. WCU has a 2-1 mark against Ohio in Cullowhee.
On Deck for Western Carolina:
Following Sunday's finale in the Catamount Classic, WCU closes out a seven-game homestand on Tuesday, March 10, with a doubleheader against Presbyterian. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at the Catamount Softball Complex against the Blue Hose. Both games are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available for both games through links on CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount softball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsb), or go to www.CatamountSports.com.
