Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina softball scored 13 of its program-record 21 runs in the second inning, blanking Gardner-Webb in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader, as the Catamounts split the twin bill with the Runnin' Bulldogs on Betty Peele Field at the Catamount Softball Complex. WCU won the opener, 21-0, before dropping game two, 6-1.
Western Carolina (27-17) set four program single-game records, with 20 hits, including seven doubles, scoring 21 runs with 21 RBI in the opener. Five individual game records were also tied as Maya McPherson and Rylee Butler both had two doubles, with McPherson and senior Tate Stewman scoring four runs apiece. Freshman Amari Burce matched a school record with seven RBIs.
Lily Bell led the Catamounts in the two games with a 7-for-8 (.875) performance, including a double and two runs scored. Bell's fifth hit of the day was the 197th of her career, surpassing Bailey Huneycutt (2019-23) for the program record. Bell has 199 career hits in her junior season.
Burce finished 3-for-4 at the plate, hitting her first career grand slam and totaling seven RBIs. McPherson went 4-for-6 with two doubles, her 16th homer, and four RBIs, raising her season total to 54 and eclipsing her previous single-season best.
Butler added three hits with a pair of two-baggers, and Stewman finished with three hits with a double. As a team, WCU hit .431 (25-of-58) over the course of Tuesday's action with seven doubles and two home runs, scoring 22 runs.
WCU won its 15th game in Cullowhee, the most home wins in a season since 2021, when the Purple & Gold went 17-2. WCU climbed to 23-9 when homering at least once this season, as the Catamounts are now 19-3 when scoring at least six runs this season and are 25-4 when holding their opponents to less than five runs, with a 13-0 mark when opponents scored two or fewer runs.
Amanda Fulton grabbed her 13th win of the season in her 12th complete game, backed by the offensive explosion in game one. She struck out six in five innings. Western Carolina's pitching pair of Fulton and freshman Briony Bunsic limited a strong offensive Gardner-Webb squad to just a .288 average (15-for-52) and allowed just three earned runs on Tuesday. GWU entered Tuesday with a .349 team average and ranked among the top 10 nationally in hits with 424.
Game One – Western Carolina 21, Gardner-Webb 0 (5 Innings)
Western Carolina scored four of its six runs in the first before the first out was recorded and drove in nine of the 13 second-inning runs with two outs to race past Gardner-Webb 21-0 in the opener of Tuesday's twin bill.
WCU's school record 20 base hits were spread among eight players. Lily Bell matched a career-high with a 4-for-4 performance with a double, scoring twice with two RBIs. Amari Burce, Maya McPherson, Tate Stewman, and Rylee Butler each went 3-for-3, with McPherson lining a pair of doubles along with Butler as Stewman added one. Burce had a double along with her first career homer on a grand slam as part of a seven RBI game.
McPherson cleared the bases with a three-run double in the first inning, plating Bell, Dirks, and Taylor Waitley as the Catamounts started fast and never looked back. Three pitches later, Stewman lined a single down the left field line to make it 4-0, still without an out.
With two out, Butler capped the opening frame with a two-run double to score Stewman and Burce for the 6-0 lead after one.
Stewman added a run-scoring single to plate Dirks, who opened the second with a single, before Burce doubled home Stewman and McPherson, who reached on an HBP, for the 9-0 lead. Courtney Marks added an RBI groundout to push the lead to double figures. Butler followed with her second double ahead of Bell, who delivered a first-pitch RBI double for the 11-0 lead. Waitley pushed the lead to a dozen on an RBI single.
Dirks picked up her second single of the inning with an RBI attached, and pinch-hitter Kimber Shambley drew a bases-loaded walk to plate a run. Burce then sent her first career home run over the fence for a grand slam to push the lead to 18-0. Bell closed the inning with an RBI single to push the lead to a school record at the time of 19-0.
Over the first two innings, the Catamounts sent 29 batters to the plate with both Bell and Waitley seeing the batter's box four times over the hot start.
In the circle, Amanda Fulton scattered just two hits over the first two frames before a 1-2-3 third allowed the WCU bats to return to the dish.
Western Carolina capped scoring in the third inning as Kayden Lyda lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring McPherson after a double. Burce followed with an RBI single, scoring Stewman's double and capping the offense at 21-0.
The two teams combined for one hit over the final two frames as WCU cruised to a 21-0 run-rule victory, its first shutout win of the season.
Fulton (13-5) went the distance for the Catamounts, tossing 5.0 innings and scattering three hits with six strikeouts. Fulton improved her team-high with 132 strikeouts on the season. Glenna McLamb (7-10) suffered the loss for the Runnin' Bulldogs, allowing six runs on four hits with three walks in just an inning of work, with five of the runs earned. Addie Stem didn't record an out with a walk while allowing a hit and two runs. Hannah Frye appeared in 1.0 innings with 11 hits and 11 runs with two walks and a strikeout. Anna Hornbaker tossed the final 2.0 innings with four hits and two runs allowed.
Game Two – Gardner-Webb 6, Western Carolina 1
Gardner-Webb rebounded in game two, separating itself with a three-run sixth inning to build on the 2-0 lead and earned the 6-1 decision to split Tuesday's doubleheader.
WCU's five base hits were spread among a trio of Catamounts. Lily Bell (3-for-4) led the way, breaking the school career record with her first base knock. Maya McPherson hit her 16th homer of the season to cap the doubleheader action for the hosts.
Gardner-Webb (26-19) opened the scoring with a first-inning, two-out RBI single before stretching the lead to two with a run-scoring single in the fourth inning. The Runnin' Bulldogs scored on an RBI double before taking advantage of a WCU fielding error to score two more runs to make it a 6-0 lead.
McPherson got the Catamounts on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to four, 5-1. But Gardner-Webb capped the offense with a sacrifice fly to make a 6-1 in the seventh.
Briony Bunsic (4-3) tossed 7.0 innings, surrendering six runs – three earned – on 12 hits and six runs. Allie Stidham (11-3) matched Bunsic, going 7.0 innings and allowing a run on five hits with a strikeout for GWU.
WCU continues its five-game homestand with a return to Southern Conference play beginning on Sat., April 18, hosting Chattanooga. The Catamounts and Mocs open with the doubleheader at 1 p.m. before Sunday's matchup at 1 p.m. All three games are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
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