Cullowhee, N.C. – Coming off a 3-1 week that saw Western Carolina take 2-of-3 from East Tennessee State – winning the three-game series over the Buccaneers for the first time since 2017 and first at home since 2016 – the Catamounts continued to climb in the 11Point7 (@11Point7) Mid-Major Power Rankings this week. WCU tips the scale at No. 17 this week, up three spots this week.
 
The Diamond Catamounts are joined in the mid-major rankings by Mercer (32-12, 7-5 SoCon), which was unranked a week ago. Wofford, WCU's next opponent, fell out of the rankings after being swept by the Bears in Macon, Ga., last weekend.
 
The Cats also gained five spots in the Diamond Sports Rankings Mid-Major Top 25, climbing to No. 13 this week in the collaboration between D1Baseball and 6-4-3 Charts. The Catamounts are the highest ranked of four SoCon teams. All told, when looking at the poll, WCU has a seasonal win over No.3 East Carolina, swept No. 18 Mercer – which was unranked last week – and took 2-of-3 from both No. 22 Samford and No. 25 ETSU, which fell eight spots this week.
 
WCU also moved atop the Southern Conference standings despite sharing the same winning percentage with Samford and Wofford. WCU is the first team to reach double-digit league victories (10-5).
 
For the first time this season, WCU is the highest-ranked Southern Conference team in the latest NCAA Baseball RPI unveiled on Monday. WCU is 58th in the latest index, just ahead of No. 61 The Citadel. Mercer checks in at No. 65, with ETSU at No. 90 and Wofford at No. 92, to give the Southern Conference five teams inside the national Top 100. Samford is just outside at No. 111.
 
Statistically, the Catamounts lead the SoCon and are tied for 21st nationally with 38 double-plays turned this season. With 70 home runs, WCU is 27th nationally and second in the conference, trailing Mercer (3rd in NCAA, 93 HRs). It's the third-straight season that WCU has hit 70 or more home runs, one shy of matching the 2025 squad and 21 behind the 2024 team, who hit 91 home runs – the most since 1997 (100 HRs).
 
Also, the squad's 89 doubles rank fourth in the conference and are tied for 45th nationally.
 
Catamount pitchers are fourth in the league with 336 combined strikeouts, including the second-most strikeouts looking at 103, only trailing Wofford (105). Idle in the midweek, Western Carolina (29-16, 10-5 SoCon) travels to Spartanburg, S.C., to face the Wofford Terriers (30-14, 8-4 SoCon) in another crucial conference showdown this weekend. Wofford hosts Gardner-Webb on Tuesday evening in nonconference play.
 
This weekend's three-game SoCon series at the on-campus Russell C. King Field is scheduled for May 1-3, with a 5:30 p.m. start on Friday, a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, and a 1 p.m. finale on Sunday. All three series games are slated to be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with live streaming audio and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com. The games on Saturday and Sunday are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
 
WCU has won the last two series against the Terriers, winning 2-of-3 in Cullowhee last spring and winning two in its last visit to Spartanburg in 2024.
  
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