Cullowhee, N.C. – Seeding for next week's 2026 Southern Conference Softball Championship will be decided this weekend as teams around the league play their final regular-season series. Western Carolina heads to Spartanburg, S.C., to face the Wofford Terriers in a three-game series from Hope Field.
Action opens on Friday with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. Live stats for all three games will be available at CatamountSports.com, with Friday's twin bill slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required)
WCU looks to get back in the win column after dropping a pair of games to Mercer last weekend. The Catamounts venture to Spartanburg winners of six of their last eight games overall, including a three-game sweep of Chattanooga and a pair of midweek wins at N.C. Central. Wofford enters the weekend dropping two of three to instate foe Furman, as the Terriers have lost seven of their last 10 games dating back to April 11.
This weekend will be filled with jockeying for position among all eight SoCon teams ahead of next week's tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. WCU (12-6) is in third place, facing Wofford (7-11), which is in a three-way tie for fourth. SoCon leader UNCG (15-3) heads to second-place Samford (13-5) to decide the regular-season champion, while Furman (5-13) heads to Chattanooga (7-11). The weekend schedule concludes with ETSU (6-12) visiting Mercer (7-11).
MATCHUP: Western Carolina (33-19, 12-6 SoCon) at Wofford (30-17, 7-11 SoCon)
Date: Friday, May 1 & Saturday, May 2
Time: 3 p.m. (Friday DH) | 1 p.m. (Saturday)
Location: Spartanburg, S.C.
Site: Hope Field
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+ (Friday)
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts seek their fifth series win of the season, their most since 2006, to close the regular season on a high note. Four series wins are tied for the second-most, matching the 2021 season. WCU looks to rebound from dropping two of three at the hands of Mercer last time out.
In Saturday's home finale, WCU matched a pair of program records with 20 hits set just a few weeks ago in a run-rule victory over Gardner-Webb. WCU also matched a season-high and program record for homers in a game with five, a mark also accomplished earlier this season against Furman.
Senior Tate Stewman capped a record-breaking week for the Catamounts with a seventh-inning RBI single, giving WCU 462 hits to surpass the 2006 squad for most in a season. The Purple & Gold have now broken the team single-season record for hits (462), runs scored (349), runs batted in (324), and stolen bases (76).
Over the last 10 games, junior Lily Bell paces the Catamounts with a .622 (23-of-37) average, with three doubles, 10 runs scored, five walks, four RBIs, and five steals. Junior Becka Wonsick is batting .556 (15-of-27), with two doubles, a triple, and a team-best six home runs to accompany 12 runs. Stewman hit 17-of-34 (.500) with four doubles and three home runs, scoring 13 runs, and driving in a team-best 14.
Bell starts the weekend with a .372 average, eighth in the league, while ranking second in the league with 68 hits, which includes six doubles. Bell leads the SoCon with 25 stolen bases and is tops with 50 runs scored.
The Purple & Gold enter the week with six regulars batting over the .300 mark, led by junior Maya McPherson, who paces the SoCon with 73 hits, just three shy of surpassing WCU's single-season record. McPherson currently holds the team lead with 12 doubles and 17 homers, one off the SoCon's top power threat. McPherson leads the league with a .793 slugging percentage and is third with 55 runs knocked in. Over the weekend, she set a school record for total bases in a season with 138, passing Erin Foster (137, 2012).
Junior Sydney Dirks is tied for fifth in the SoCon with 14 home runs. She is also second with 56 RBIs. The Catamount power-hitting quartet of Dirks, McPherson, Wonsick, who has 11 homers and is third with a .755 slugging percentage, and Stewman (15 HR), has aided WCU to 71 home runs as a team, first in the SoCon by 16.
Sophomore Amanda Fulton is second in the SoCon with 15 victories, while her 14 complete games are first in the league. She boasts the fourth-best ERA at 2.72 over 154.2 innings pitched, the most in the SoCon. Fulton is additionally third in strikeouts per seven innings (6.8), with her 150 strikeouts tied for second in the SoCon. The right-handed sophomore has 29 punchouts looking, the most in the league. She also leads the league with four saves, 16th in the nation.
Additional offensive leaders include:
Bell – 68 hits (2nd in SoCon), 50 runs (1st in SoCon), six doubles, two triples, .372 average (8th in SoCon), 18 RBIs, 25 stolen bases (1st in SoCon), 20 multi-hit games | SoCon: .407 average (3rd in SoCon), 24 hits (3rd in SoCon), 12 runs, three doubles, one triple, six RBIs, five stolen bases (t-4th in SoCon)
Dirks — 40 runs (t-4th in SoCon), 62 hits (4th in SoCon), 11 doubles (t-7th in SoCon), two triples, 14 home runs (t-5th in SoCon), 56 RBIs (2nd in SoCon), .365 average (10th in SoCon), .700 slugging percentage (8th in SoCon), 17 multi-hit games, 16 multi-RBI games | SoCon: .333 average, 19 hits, nine runs, five doubles, four homers, 15 RBIs
Stewman – .355 average, 33 runs, 54 hits (t-8th in SoCon), 40 RBIs (8th in SoCon), eight doubles, 15 homers (t-3rd in SoCon), .704 slugging percentage (7th in SoCon) | SoCon: 20 hits, 12 runs, eight homers (t-1st in SoCon), 17 RBIs, .742 slugging percentage (8th in SoCon)
Waitley – .340 average, 37 runs (t-7th in SoCon), 54 hits (t-8th in SoCon), seven doubles, three homers, eight stolen bases, 32 RBIs
Wonsick – .340 average, 25 runs, 32 hits, four doubles, one triple, 11 homers (t-8th in SoCon), 30 RBIs, six stolen bases | SoCon: .366 average, 15 hits, 13 runs, two doubles, one triple, seven homers (t-3rd in SoCon), seven walks, 15 RBIs, two steals
SoCon team hitting ranks: .321 average (2nd), 349 runs (1ST), 462 hits (1ST), 68 doubles (3rd), 71 homers (1ST), 324 RBIs (1ST), 76 steals (2nd), 162 walks (3rd), .393 on-base pct. (2nd), .527 slugging pct. (1ST).
SoCon team pitching ranks: 33 wins (2nd), 4.30 ERA (4th), 235 strikeouts (2nd), 340.1 innings pitched (2nd), 4.8 strikeouts per seven (4th), four saves (2nd), 55 strikeouts looking (2nd).
Scouting the Wofford Terriers:
Wofford lost 2-of-3 to Furman and has dropped seven of their last 10 on the season. The Terriers became the third SoCon school to reach 30 wins, joining UNCG and WCU after their one win over Furman. The two teams have 11 common opponents: Presbyterian, Robert Morris, USC Upstate, Clemson, Chattanooga, Mercer, Samford, Winthrop, UNCG, ETSU, and Furman, with the Terriers 13-13 and WCU at 18-8. Wofford holds a 21-5 record in home games.
The Terriers are led by:
Brianna Stanley – team-high .407 average, 24 runs, team-best 59 hits, 11 doubles, 11 homers, team-high 59 RBIs, .710 slugging percentage
Desirae Devine – .400 average, 32 runs, 46 hits, eight doubles, three triples, 26 RBIs, team-best 22 stolen bases
Addison Lucier – .396 average, 33 runs, 38 hits, eight doubles, four triples, two homers, 20 RBIs, 28 walks, 13 sacrifices, six stolen bases
Kate Platte – .355 average, 36 runs, 50 hits, seven doubles, 20 RBI
Gracie Parker – .328 average, 29 runs, 42 hits, five doubles, five triples, 30 RBIs, nine stolen bases
SoCon team hitting ranks: .327 average (1ST), 307 runs (2nd), 408 hits (3rd), 74 doubles (2nd), 16 triples (1ST), 21 homers (7th), 271 RBIs (3rd), 80 steals (1ST), 187 walks (1ST), .420 on-base percentage (1ST), .463 slugging percentage (3rd)
In the circle:
Abby Greenwood – team-best 12 wins, team-best 3.02 ERA, 20 appearances, 16 starts, team-high 102 innings, 53 strikeouts, team-high 12 complete games
Natalya Salo – nine wins, 4.25 ERA, 23 appearances, 14 starts, 92.1 innings, team-best 61 strikeouts, six complete games
Margaret Axelson – seven wins, 5.09 ERA, 18 appearances, 14 starts, 74.1 innings, 45 strikeouts, six complete games
SoCon team pitching ranks: 30 wins (3rd), 4.09 ERA (2nd), 172 strikeouts (5th), 305 innings pitched (4th), two saves (t-5th), 178 earned runs (2nd), 34 strikeouts looking (5th)
Catamounts and Terriers – All-Time Series History:
In just its third year of fielding a program, Wofford leads the all-time series with WCU, 5-1, sweeping last year in Cullowhee. WCU opened the 2024 head-to-head series with an 11-4 victory in Spartanburg before the current five-game win streak for the Terriers.Rylee Butler led WCU with four hits, including a pair of doubles, in last year's meetings, while Becka Wonsick homered as a trio of players tallied a pair of hits in last season's home set.
On Deck for Western Carolina:
WCU and the rest of the conference turn their attention to the 2026 Southern Conference Softball Championship, which begins on Wednesday, May 6, at Frost Field in Chattanooga.
Matchups and seedings will be announced following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday, May 3. All games throughout the tournament will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats provided through links on the Southern Conference tournament central website and at CatamountSports.com.
Fans can follow WCU softball on Facebook, Twitter (@CatamountSB), Instagram, and CatamountSports.com.
