Cullowhee, N.C. – After a one-game sojourn at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, the Western Carolina baseball team returns to the road for a three-game series this week against Big South foe Winthrop at Founders Field in Rock Hill, S.C. The three-game set opens with consecutive 6 p.m. starts on Thursday and Friday, before concluding Sunday with a 2 p.m. first pitch in the finale.
The first two games of the series are scheduled for broadcasts on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required), with live stats linked at CatamountSports.com available for all three matchups.
Western Carolina (18-12) looks to rebound from a midweek home loss to Presbyterian on Tuesday and tries to buck a downward trend over the past five games that has seen the Catamounts drop four – two in the midweek and 2-of-3 at The Citadel in SoCon play last weekend. Winthrop (21-8) enters the series after suffering a 15-5 loss to the College of Charleston on Tuesday, surrendering a pair of six-run innings in the top of the first and seventh.
WCU has just six victories away from home this season, four coming in true road games and two on a neutral field. Winthrop has earned 17 of its 21 seasonal victories at home this year, but had its eight-game home win streak snapped in Tuesday's loss to the Cougars.
Around the Southern Conference:
Competitors last weekend, WCU and The Citadel, both step out of league play this weekend against Big South Conference foes – the Catamounts at Winthrop and the Bulldogs hosting Longwood. Elsewhere, ETSU (4-2) travels to Samford (1-2) for a three-game league set, while Wofford (3-0) heads north to face VMI (1-2) in Lexington, Va. Mercer (2-1) returns to conference play as it visits UNCG (1-5) for three.
After this weekend, each SoCon team will have played two league series, while ETSU will have played a league-high three.
Projected Starting Pitching Match-ups:
Friday, April 2 – 6 p.m.
WCU – Junior RHP
James Fordham (9 app., 4 GS – 30.1 IP, 4.75 ERA, 23K, 14BB)
WINT – Junior RHP Brayden Gilley (7 app., 7 GS – 37.1 IP, 3.88 ERA, 32K, 13BB)
Saturday, April 3 – 6 p.m.
WCU – Sophomore RHP
Carter Burnette (7 app., 7 GS – 38.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 40K, 12BB)
WINT – Junior LHP Luke Earnhardt (7 app., 7 GS – 31.2 IP, 3.98 ERA, 36K, 10BB)
Sunday, April 4 – 2 p.m.
WCU – Senior LHP
Davis Wright (7 app., 7 GS – 30.1 IP, 8.01 ERA, 30K, 6BB)
WINT – Junior RHP Randy Guzman (7 app., 7 GS – 26.1 IP, 7.86 ERA, 23K, 15BB)
Noting Western Carolina:
The Catamounts continue their jaunt into the Big South Conference this week with the three-game series at Winthrop. To date, WCU has faced five Big South teams – USC Upstate, Radford, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, and Presbyterian – with return trips against four of them, including hosting Upstate next Tuesday (April 7). The Cats are 2-4 in the six match-ups, with wins over Gardner-Webb and Radford.
On Tuesday,
Wyatt Stanley collected his first career multi-homer game, belting a pair of two-run blasts, but it wasn't enough to overcome Presbyterian, falling 6-5 in Cullowhee.
- WCU has recorded double-digit hits 14 times this season, with double-digit runs 10 times, including a season-high 16 last Sunday in the road win at The Citadel.
- Three WCU regulars are batting above the .300 mark this season, led by Jackson Lyda (.327), Walker Fox (.302), and Wyatt Stanley (.301).
- Two Catamounts carry double-digit reached-base safely streaks into the Winthrop series, as Jackson Lyda has reached in a career-long 18-straight games, followed by Wyatt Stanely now with a 15-game streak … Fox and Trent Turner have seven-game streaks.
- Walker Fox collected 11 RBI last week and drove in 21 runs in March … He enters the week ranked sixth in the SoCon with a team-best 30 RBI … Fox is also tied for eighth in the SoCon with seven home runs.
- Since early March, Trent Turner has raised his batting average by 88 points, batting .302 in the month.
- Catamount game two starter RHP Carter Burnette ranks third in the SoCon with a team-best 40 strikeouts, including eight looking, tied for sixth in the SoCon, while projected game three starter Davis Wright is fourth with 11 strikeouts looking.
Coming off a 31-win season that ended on the third day of the 2025 Big South Conference Tournament, Winthrop was picked third in this year's preseason coaches' poll. The Eagles (21-8) have scored 81% of their victories at home – 17-of-21 – playing just nine games away from Founders Field this season.
Winthrop enters the week batting .276 collectively as a team with 272 hits, including 53 doubles, a Big South best eight triples, and 26 home runs. The Eagles average 7.3 runs on 9.4 hits per game offensively, while limiting opponents to a .259 average against with 5.5 runs on 8.9 hits per outing. Winthrop's pitching staff is second in the Big South with a 4.48 ERA and third with 228 combined strikeouts,
- Three Winthrop regulars average over .300 at the plate, led by Corey Wouters, second in the Big South with a .389 seasonal batting average. Wouters is also tied for the league-best with 12 doubles.
- Gabe Natividad (.327) and Chazz Grossington (.307) are also batting over the .300 threshold.
- Jaylen Hernandez enters the week with a Big South-best 10 home runs;
- Game two starter Luke Earnhardt leads Winthrop with 36 strikeouts, fifth in the Big South.
The two teams currently played a pair of common opponents in Morehead State and Radford. WCU is 4-2 against the two, with a loss to both the Eagles and Highlanders, while Winthrop went undefeated in a pair of three-game series in Rock Hill, S.C.
Western Carolina vs. Winthrop – All-Time Series:
Thursday's meeting marks the first between the Catamounts and Eagles since 2014, halting a 12-year hiatus in the all-time series that dates to 1990. WCU (14-3) has won 14 of the previous 17 series meetings, including a two-game win streak in the most recent meetings in 2014. The Catamounts also have back-to-back wins in series meetings in Rock Hill, winning 9-6 in 2014 and 13-3 back in 2012, to extend the road series record to 7-2.
On Deck for Western Carolina:
Following this week's three-game series and the Easter holiday, the Catamounts return home to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium for five-straight home games, beginning on Tuesday, April 7, with the backend of the nonconference home-and-home against USC Upstate. WCU then returns to SoCon play to host Mercer April 10-12, before rival Appalachian State comes to Cullowhee on Tuesday, April 14.
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