Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina third-year third baseman Maya McPherson was today named the Southern Conference Softball Player of the Week following her nine-hit week as WCU hosted the Catamount Classic. McPherson capped the home tournament with a grand slam home run in Sunday's 8-2 win over Penn to close out the event.
The weekly award is her first this season, and her second from the league office over the past two years after also earning an honor a season ago following a solid showing in the 2025 Catamount Classic. It's the first weekly award winner for WCU since April 28, 2025, when current junior Sydney Dirks earned the same honor.
A native of Lancaster, Calif., McPherson put together an eye-popping weekend at the plate in the Catamount Classic, finishing 9-for-14 (.643) with a triple and a pair of homers. She also collected a team-best 10 RBIs over the four games while scoring five runs.
McPherson began her weekend with a 2-for-3 showing in the first matchup against Penn. She drove in the first run of the game in a 4-2 win over the Quakers with a first-inning RBI single. In a high-scoring nightcap with Robert Morris, McPherson added two more hits, including her second career triple and her first home run of the weekend.
In a 9-1 win over Ohio on Saturday, she went 3-for-4 with two RBI singles. In Sunday's finale, her fifth homer of the season—a grand slam—capped the eight-run fifth as WCU came back for an 8-2 win.
As a team, WCU finished with a .374 batting average (40-for-107), totaling 11 extra-base hits and scoring 31 runs in a 3-1 weekend.
McPherson has 13 multi-hit games on the season following her strong weekend, as she already has hits in 17 of 20 games for WCU, and she holds the top batting average in the league by 43 points at .486.
Over the weekend, the Catamounts improved to 10-0 on the season when out-hitting their opponents, and climbed to 11-3 when connecting on at least one home run. WCU moved to 9-2 when scoring six or more runs on the season. McPherson's five homers have also helped push WCU to a tie for first in the league with 22 big flies. McPherson (25) and Sydney Dirks (30) RBIs have paired up for the best RBI total in SoCon at 136.
Catamount RHP Amanda Fulton (6-3) was also nominated for the league's weekly pitching award after totaling 13 strikeouts compared to just one walk spanning 15 innings of work and tallying a pair of wins. UNCG junior RHP Brooklyn Shroyer collected the weekly award after pitching 13.0 innings and allowing just one earned run with 13 strikeouts. Shroyer also tossed a one-hit shutout on Sunday against Army in a 2-0 win in Wilmington.
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 via links on CatamountSports.com.
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