Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina baseball opens a five-game homestand on Tuesday (April 7), hosting USC Upstate in the back end of the nonconference home-and-home at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, to complete the two-game seasonal series. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
 
Coverage of Tuesday's home game is available online at CatamountSports.com, with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and links to live stats.
 
Western Carolina (20-13) enters the week amid a five-game stretch against teams from the Big South Conference, which concludes on Tuesday. WCU is 2-2 in the current stretch, falling at home to Presbyterian last Tuesday before taking 2-of-3 at Winthrop – preseason No. 3 in the Big South – over the weekend. The Catamounts return home, where they have earned 12 of their 20 victories on the season, holding a 12-4 mark at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
USC Upstate (16-17) dropped two of its league games at Radford, falling to 6-6 overall in Big South Conference play, and has losses in three of its last five games overall.
 
Tuesday's Projected Starting Pitchers:
UPST: Jr. RHP Nathan Hook (9 app., 1 GS – 0-1, 4.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 5K, 7BB)
WCU: Fr. RHP Tyler Oaks (5 app., 2 GS – 1-2, 7.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 8K, 3BB)
 
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts enter the week with a team batting average of .274, currently seventh out of eight teams in the SoCon. However, WCU is second with 297 total base hits, including 43 home runs, to rank tied for second in the conference. The squad had 104 extra-base hits, fourth overall in the SoCon, but just two shy of ranking second in the league.
 
WCU averages 6.9 runs on nine hits per game on the year, while limiting foes to 5.7 runs on 9.5 hits per game.
 
Jackson Lyda (.330) leads two Catamount regulars above the .300 threshold, though five are hitting .286-or-better. Walker Fox (.306) has a team-best 33 RBI and 16 extra-base hits, tied for the team lead with nine doubles, matched by Noah Quarless (.271). WCU has three players – Fox, Wyatt Stanley (.297), and Trent Turner (.286) with a team-best seven home runs.
 
WCU's pitching staff has 254 combined strikeouts, fourth in the SoCon, including a league-best 78 strikeouts looking. The Catamounts have four shutouts on the year, second in the conference.
 
Additional Catamount Diamond Notes:

• Jackson Lyda saw his career-long reached base safely streak end at 19-straight over the weekend at Winthrop … Wyatt Stanley now has the team's longest active streak at 18-consecutive, though he is one of three with double-digit active streaks – Walker Fox and Trent Turner both have 10-game streaks intact;
• Noah Quarless has WCU's longest active hitting streak with hits in five-consecutive, one shy of matching his season-long … Stanley holds the longest streak this year for WCU at seven straight;
• Over the last 18 games, Trent Turner has raised his seasonal batting average 106 total points – from .180 to .286, including seven multi-hit games during that stretch;
• WCU has scored double-digit runs 11 times this season, holding an 11-0 mark when doing so … the Catamounts are 6-1 when scoring in the first inning – and 11-2 when lighting the scoreboard first this season.

Scouting USC Upstate:
The Spartans are a game below .500 at 16-17 overall, dropping 2-of-3 at Radford last weekend in Big South Conference play, falling to 6-6 in league action despite being picked second in the preseason coaches' poll. USC Upstate ranks fourth in the Big South with a .287 team batting average, leading the league with 332 base hits, including 71 doubles, three triples, and 34 home runs. As a staff, the Spartans have a collective ERA of 6.73 with 242 strikeouts over 282.1 innings.
 
Five regulars are batting over .300 for USC Upstate, paced by Tyler Lang at .343. Henry Zenor (.333) has a team-best 49 hits, with nine doubles and three home runs, while Maloy Heaghney (.313) and Jake Armsey (.317) have 42 and 40 hits, respectively. Heaghney leads Upstate with 11 doubles, while three – Lang, Heaghney, and Johnny Sweeny (.240) each have five homers.
 
Last Time We Met: USC Upstate 17, Western Carolina 0 (Feb. 17, 2026)
Western Carolina dropped its first road game of the 2026 season, doomed by a 13-run second inning as the Spartans humbled the Catamounts in a three-hit, 17-0 loss at Harley Park. Noah Quarless collected two of WCU's three base hits, including a double, though the Catamount offense was stymied with just five base runners – three hits between Quarless and Jaylen Jones, a walk to Mason Holton, and Yates Sikes drawing an HBP.
 
Upstate put nine consecutive runners aboard in the decisive 13-run second inning, using six base hits – only one going for extra bases – and three walks. A combined 17 batters went to the plate in the elongated, one-sided frame. Five Spartans posted multi-hit games in the one-sided win, with Henry Zenor finishing 4-for-6 with two runs and Jake Armsey (3-for-5) plating a team-high five runs. Upstate had five extra-base hits, including a double and a homer by both Armsey and Clayton Campidilli, and Preston Lucas also hit a solo homer in the seventh inning.
 
Western Carolina vs. USC Upstate – Series History:
Dating back to 1986, the two programs have met 18 times previously, with the Catamounts holding a slim 10-8 edge all-time. USC Upstate made the move to the NCAA Division I level in 2007-08, and the two schools have met 10 times between 2020 and 2026. Over the last 10 meetings, WCU trails the Spartans, 4-6, with Upstate winning the last two and four of the last five games overall.
 
The two teams split the head-to-head regular-season meetings a year ago, both winning on their respective home field. WCU scored a 10-7 victory in Cullowhee, with the Spartans winning 16-10 in Spartanburg, S.C.
 
On Deck for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts continue their homestand this weekend, hosting Southern Conference preseason favorite Mercer for a three-game set at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The two teams split four meetings a year ago, with Mercer winning 2-of-3 in Macon, Ga., in the regular season before the Catamounts exacted revenge with a 10-3 victory in the SoCon tournament in Greenville, S.C. WCU has swept the last two series against the Bears in Cullowhee, winning six-straight at home dating back to 2022.
 
Friday's game is scheduled for 5 p.m., with a special later 3 p.m. start on Saturday, following WCU football's annual Spring Game. The series concludes on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
 
Each game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats linked online at CatamountSports.com.
 
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