Cullowhee, N.C. – Trent Turner laced a two-run double to left field as part of a three-run fourth inning as Western Carolina rallied from an early two-run deficit before the bullpen again took control and the Catamounts completed the three-game Southern Conference sweep of the Mercer Bears on Sunday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
Catamount relievers James Fordham and Kaden Fuller managed to blank the Bears for five of their six innings out of the bullpen, stymying the SoCon's top offensive unit in limiting Mercer to just four hits and six total base runners after the third inning, after the visitors scored three runs on six hits in the opening third of the game.
 
WCU's three-game series sweep is just the second this season, coupled with the season-opening trio of victories over visiting George Washington – though the Catamounts took all three weekend games over Morehead State in a four-game series after dropping a Thursday opener to the Eagles. It was WCU's first three-game SoCon sweep since winning each game against the same Mercer squad back in 2024 in Cullowhee. In fact, the Catamounts have won nine straight home games over the Bears dating to the 2022 season.
 
Much like Snyder in Friday's series-opening victory, Fordham (3-2) tossed 4.2 innings out of the pen on Sunday, limiting the Bears to a run on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Kaden Fuller earned his first collegiate save, working around a walk and a single with two punchouts over 1.1 innings to close out the series.
 
WCU's pitching staff benefited from a pair of double plays in the middle innings that erased a lead-off single in the fourth and a one-out walk in the fifth to keep the Bears off the board.
 
Freshman starter Evan Myers was the only Catamount pitcher to work through the first inning unscathed on Sunday, retiring the first three Mercer batters in order. He scattered six hits over three innings, allowing three runs – two earned – with a walk and two strikeouts.
 
The Catamounts were held to a series-low seven base hits on Sunday, with two going for extra bases. Turner finished 1-for-3 with a two-run double, adding an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the third inning. The Waynesville, N.C., product extended his reached base safely streak to 14 straight, the second-longest active on the team.
 
Noah Quarless (2-for-4) doubled home a run in the first inning in his two-hit effort, pushing his active hitting streak to a team season-long nine games. Jackson Lyda has hit in five-straight as he reached twice on a pair of singles in a 2-for-4 showing. Walker Fox walked twice and plated the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly in the three-run fourth.
 
Mercer (25-10, 4-5 SoCon) had three players post two-hit games, with Titan Kamaka (2-for-3) reaching three times, legging out a double among his two hits, and walking. Braydon Kersey and Eli Stephens both singled twice in 2-for-4 efforts. Chris Katz (1-for-3) doubled and walked, while Logan Shepherd (1-for-5) belted the lone homer of the day on a lead-off solo shot in the third.
 
Jeb Johnson (2-2) suffered the loss in the starting role for the Bears, tagged for five runs – three earned – on five hits with three walks and a strikeout over 3.1 innings. His three earned runs each scored after he exited the mound. Kai Decker struck out two against two walks in 2.2 one-hit, scoreless innings, with Collin Ewaldsen and Jess Ackerman both tossing a scoreless relief frame.
 
After Myers worked WCU's first scoreless top of the first inning, Quarless gave WCU its first, first-inning lead with a run-scoring double that plated Fox, who reached on an infield throwing error that extended the frame. Mercer responded in the top of the second, though, getting an RBI single by Kersey before an infield throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed him to score easily from third for the 2-1 visitor lead.
 
Mercer extended its advantage in the top of the third on a lead-off, solo home run by Shepherd to lead 3-1. Caden Haywood reached on a throwing miscue to start the third inning, moving to third base on a single by Lyda before scoring on Turner's sac fly to make it 3-2 through three.
 
Western Carolina took the lead for what proved to be for good in the home half of the fourth, loading the bases on a walk by Trey Spees and singles by Haywood and Lyda. Turner cranked the first pitch from Mercer reliever Decker into left for a two-run double and a 4-3 lead, with Fox tacking on the insurance marker with a deep fly to center for the sacrifice.
 
Fordham and the WCU defense took control at that point. The Catamounts flipped a 5-4-3 double-play in the fourth and a 4-3 double-play in the fifth to help squelch any rally by the Bears. WCU faced the minimum between the fourth and seventh innings.
 
In the eighth, Mercer mounted one last charge as Katz laced a one-out double to right-center field and eventually scored on an RBI single by Stephens. Kamaka then singled to put two aboard before Fuller got catcher Dylan LaPointe on a strikeout to send the game to the ninth.
 
The Bears used a double-play of their own in the bottom of the eighth to prevent the Catamounts from tacking on any insurance. Drew Johnson, a mid-game substitution at second base, drew a one-out walk before Fuller used a strikeout and a routine fly ball to right to end the game, completing the sweep.
 
With the win, the Catamounts move into a two-way tie for second in the SoCon standings at 6-3, trailing league-leader Wofford (8-1). WCU and ETSU meet in Cullowhee in two weeks, April 24-26.
 
Western Carolina (23-14, 6-3 SoCon) closes its five-game homestand on Tuesday as the Catamounts welcome longtime mountain rival Appalachian State (19-15) to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium in the back-end of a nonconference home-and-home. WCU claimed the front end in Boone, 13-3, back on March 10, and seeks a third-straight home victory over the former league foe, currently in the Sun Belt Conference.
 
First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
WCU returns to SoCon play this weekend with a three-game series at VMI, on post in Lexington, Va. That series opens Friday at 6 p.m., with each game scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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