Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina softball opens the home stretch of Southern Conference action this weekend, welcoming the Chattanooga Mocs for a three-game series. Action opens with a Saturday doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Betty Peele Field at the Catamount Softball Complex, concluding with a Sunday finale also set for 1 p.m.

Admission to all WCU home games this season is free, presented by First Bank. Coverage of all three games will be available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats at CatamountSports.com.

Western Carolina split a midweek doubleheader with in-state foe Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, scoring a school-record 21 runs in the game one victory over the Runnin' Bulldogs. Chattanooga comes into Cullowhee on a three-game win streak, sweeping SoCon foe East Tennessee State, capped by a run-rule victory over the Buccaneers.

All eight teams continue their stretch run to the conference tournament in Chattanooga, which begins on Wednesday, May 6. WCU (8-4) enters the weekend tied for second, battling fourth-place Chattanooga (6-6). SoCon leader UNCG (10-2) hosts Mercer (5-7), while Wofford (5-7) visits ETSU (3-9). The final matchup of the weekend sees Samford (8-4) at Furman (3-9).

MATCHUP: Chattanooga (18-21-1, 6-6 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (27-17, 8-4 SoCon)
Date: Saturday, April 18 & Sunday, April 19
Time: 1 p.m. (Saturday DH) | 1 p.m. (Sunday)
Location: Cullowhee, N.C.
Site: Betty Peele Field at the Catamount Softball Complex
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: ESPN+

About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts scored 13 of their program-record 21 runs in the second inning, blanking Gardner-Webb in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader. The team set four single-game records: 20 hits, seven doubles, 21 runs, and 21 RBI in the opener.

Five individual game records were matched in the record-setting game. Maya McPherson and Rylee Butler both doubled twice. McPherson and senior Tate Stewman scored four runs apiece, while freshman Amari Burce matched a school record with seven RBIs. Burce finished 3-for-4 at the plate, hitting her first career grand slam. 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.

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.

McPherson leads the SoCon with a .453 batting average, a mark that has her inside the Top 40 in the NCAA. Her SoCon-leading 67 hits are inside the top 15 nationally, while her 16 home runs and 54 RBI also pace the conference. McPherson is also tied for second with 12 doubles. Her .872 slugging percentage is tops in the SoCon. McPherson is batting .450 (18-for-40) in conference play, second in SoCon play with a league-best tying six homers, tied with Stewman, and is tops with 15 runs knocked in.

Dirks has hit 12 home runs and ranks fourth with 47 RBIs. The Mocksville, N.C. native is fifth in slugging percentage (.705) and 10th overall in batting average (.370). The Catamount power-hitting trio of Dirks, McPherson, and Stewman, who also has 12 home runs, has aided WCU to 56 home runs as a team, first in the SoCon by eight.

Amanda Fulton is second in the SoCon with 13 victories, while her 12 complete games are first in the league. She boasts the second-best ERA at 2.33 over 132.1 innings pitched, the most in the SoCon. Fulton is additionally third in strikeouts per seven innings (7), with her 132 strikeouts second in the SoCon. The right-handed sophomore has 23 punchouts looking, the most in the league. She also holds the top spot in the league with four saves, ranking 11th in the nation.

Additional offensive leaders include:

• Dirks — 35 runs (4th in SoCon), 54 hits (3rd in SoCon), 12 homers (t-4th in SoCon), nine doubles (t-7th in SoCon), 47 RBIs (4th in SoCon), .370 average (10th in SoCon), .705 slugging percentage (5th in SoCon), 15 multi-hit games, 13 multi-RBI games | SoCon: .359 average, 14 hits, seven runs, three doubles, three homers, nine RBIs.
• Lily Bell – 52 hits (4th in SoCon), 42 runs (1st in SoCon), four doubles, two triples, .338 average, 16 RBIs, 21 stolen bases (t-1st in SoCon), 15 multi-hit games | SoCon: .342 average, 13 hits, eight runs, one double, one triple, five RBIs, five stolen bases
• Taylor Waitley – .336 average, seven doubles, 32 runs (6th in SoCon), 25 RBIs, 46 hits (t-7th in SoCon), two home runs, eight stolen bases (9th in SoCon)
• Stewman – .323 average, 24 runs, 40 hits, 28 RBIs, five doubles, 12 homers (t-4th in SoCon)
• Rylee Butler – SoCon: .304 (7-for-23) average, seven runs, double, triple, homer, six walks, three RBIs, two steals
• SoCon team hitting ranks: .310 average (2nd), 281 runs (1ST), 374 hits (1ST), 56 doubles (t-3rd), 56 homers (1ST), 262 RBIs (1ST), 64 steals (2nd), 129 walks (4th), .380 on-base pct. (3rd), .505 slugging pct. (1ST).
• SoCon team pitching ranks: 27 wins (t-2nd), 4.41 ERA (4th), 197 strikeouts (3rd), 183 earned runs (5th), 4.7 strikeouts per seven (4th), four saves (t-1ST)

Scouting the Chattanooga Mocs:
Chattanooga swept instate counterpart ETSU in its last conference series, as the Mocs enter having won six of their last seven games. UTC also took 2-of-3 from Mercer and earned a midweek win over Georgia State. The two teams have five common opponents: Ohio, Lipscomb, Samford, Georgia State, and ETSU, with the Mocs 5-5 and WCU 8-3. Chattanooga is 2-11 in true road games, while claiming a 4-4 mark in neutral site contests away from the Scenic City.

The Mocs are led by:

• Ava Cowart – team-high .382 average, team-high 47 hits, team-best 30 runs, three doubles, 11 RBIs, 17 walks, team-high 13 stolen bases
• Baileigh Pitts – .378 average, 21 runs, 45 hits, nine doubles, two triples, four homers, 25 RBIs, .588 slugging pct.
• Anna Dovey – .356 average, 13 runs, 26 hits, eight doubles, 18 RBIs, 22 walks, .505 on-base percentage
• Annika Segedi – .311 average, 21 runs, 33 hits, two doubles, one triple, team-high 23 walks, six stolen bases, 11 sacrifices
• Mia Leone – team-best 10 doubles, team-high 31 RBIs, team-high tying four homers.
• SoCon team hitting ranks: .303 average (3rd), 196 runs (4th), 314 hits (5th), 49 doubles (t-5th), 8 triples (4th), 14 homers (8th), 170 RBIs (5th), 43 steals (3rd), 131 walks (3rd), .386 on-base pct. (2nd), .406 slugging pct. (7th).

In the circle:

• Sophia Guerra – three wins, team-best 4.55 ERA, 20 appearances, seven starts, 55.1 innings, 22 strikeouts
• Emery Bales – seven wins, 4.76 ERA, 25 appearances, 13 starts, 92.2 innings, 48 strikeouts, two saves, four complete games
• Taylor Long – team-best eight wins, 4.95 ERA, 24 appearances, team-best 20 starts, team-high 10 complete games, three shutouts, 106 innings, team-best 129 strikeouts
• SoCon team pitching ranks: 18 wins (t-4th), 4.74 ERA (6th), 199 strikeouts (2nd), 172 earned runs (4th), 5.5 strikeouts per seven (2nd), 1.79 WHIP (6th).

Catamounts and Mocs – All-Time Series History:
Chattanooga leads the all-time series, 51-11, over Western Carolina. The Catamounts snapped a five-game series slide last season with a pair of victories, 7-3 and 3-2, to earn their first series win over the Mocs since April 2017. UTC has controlled the series in Cullowhee by a 22-2 margin, winning each of the last 11 contests held in WCU.

Butler and Bell led WCU with five hits apiece over the three-game set last season against Chattanooga. McPherson totaled two doubles in the low-scoring series as Dirks and Stewman each went deep. Fulton grabbed a win and sealed up the series with her first career save in the series finale.

On Deck for Western Carolina:
WCU returns to nonconference play for the final time in the 2026 regular season on Tuesday, April 21, for a road doubleheader against N.C. Central. The two teams open the twin bill from Thomas Brooks Park in Cary at 2 p.m. Coverage of both games will have live stats available via CatamountSports.com.

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