Cullowhee, N.C. – Coming off of its second three-game sweep in Southern Conference play, Western Carolina softball steps out of conference on Tuesday, April 7, for a doubleheader against Sun Belt foe Georgia State on Betty Peele Field at the Catamount Softball Complex. Tuesday's twin bill is slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch.

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

Both teams enter play coming off victories, as the Catamounts earned a three-game sweep of ETSU on Saturday and the Panthers salvaged the series finale in conference play against Coastal Carolina.

SOFTBALL MATCHUP: Georgia State (21-20) vs Western Carolina (24-13) 

• Date: Tuesday, April 7 
• Time: 3 p.m. (Tuesday DH)
• 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 earned a three-game sweep of ETSU in SoCon play in Johnson City last weekend, sweeping a doubleheader 3-1 and 6-2 on Friday before earning a 6-1, weather-shortened victory in Sunday's finale.

Maya McPherson hit her team and SoCon-leading 15th home run of the season and drove in three runs to push her seasonal RBI total to a SoCo-best 50, the sixth individual season by a Catamount of 50 or more RBIs and the first to do it twice in program history.

Juniors Lily Bell and Sydney Dirks each picked up four hits in the sweep of the Bucs with Dirks recording a pair of doubles and Bell adding one. As a team, WCU finished with a .321 batting average (25-for-78), totaling six extra-base hits – a homer, four doubles, one triple – and scoring 15 runs in a perfect weekend over its mountain rival. 

In the circle, WCU was strong with sophomores Amanda Fulton and AG Batson, along with freshman Briony Bunsic combing to hold the Bucs to just 15 hits over 20 innings and allowed just three earned runs as Bunsic earned a pair of wins and Fulton claimed her 11th win and third save of the season. 

McPherson continues to lead the SoCon with a .476 batting average – a mark that has her 21st in the NCAA. Her 59 hits are the most in the SoCon and are 12th in the nation. She also ranks third with 10 doubles. Her .935 slugging percentage is tops in the SoCon. She also has a team-best 21 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games.

Dirks continues to add to her strong work at the dish with 11 homers and is third with 42 RBIs. The Mocksville, N.C. native checks into the weekend second in slugging percentage (.758) and is among the tops in the league in batting average (.375). The Catamount power-hitting trio of Dirks, McPherson, and senior Tate Stewman, who has 10 home runs, has WCU with 50 home runs, helping propel the Purple & Gold to the top spot in the SoCon. WCU has the program's fifth season with 50 or more home runs.

Amanda Fulton has 11 victories to rank second in the SoCon, while her 10 complete games are tied for first in the league. Her 2.55 ERA is fifth-best, coming in 109.2 innings pitched, tops in the SoCon. Fulton is additionally third in strikeouts per seven innings (7.3), with her 114 strikeouts third in the SoCon. She's also holding the top spot in the conference with three saves, after earning her third on Saturday in Johnson City. 

Additional offensive leaders include:

• Dirks — 30 runs, 45 hits, 11 homers, nine doubles, 42 RBIs, .375 average, .758 slugging percentage (2nd in SoCon), three-game hit streak (active)
• Lily Bell – 38 runs scored, 18 stolen bases (3rd in SoCon), .328 average, three doubles, two triples, 14 RBIs, four-game hit streak (active)
• Taylor Waitley – .336 average, five doubles, 28 runs, 21 RBIs, 38 hits, two home runs, seven stolen bases,
• Courtney Marks - .310 average, 21 runs scored, 27 hits, 14 walks, four stolen bases
• Stewman – .317 average, 18 runs, 32 hits, 24 RBIs, three doubles, 10 homers
• SoCon team hitting ranks: .314 average (2nd), 242 runs (1ST), 315 hits (2nd), 44 doubles (5th), 50 homers (1ST), 225 RBIs (1ST), 56 steals (2nd), 110 walks (5th), .384 on-base pct. (2nd), .519 slugging pct. (1ST).
• SoCon team pitching ranks: 24 wins (3rd), 4.64 ERA (4th), 167 strikeouts, 160 earned runs, 4.84 strikeouts per seven (3rd)

Scouting Georgia State:
Georgia State (21-20) enters the midweek action after earning a 7-1 win in Sun Belt play over Coastal Carolina to snap a five-game skid for the Panthers. WCU is the third SoCon school that Georgia State has squared off with, already holding a 2-1 mark against Chattanooga and ETSU. 

The two teams have four common opponents: Purdue, College of Charleston, ETSU, and Winthrop, with both squads posting 6-2 records against the quartet. Georgia State is 6-12 in true road games this year and is also 7-4 in neutral site matchups. 

The Panthers are led by:

• McKenzie Walker - team-high .423 average, 55 hits, five doubles, 45 runs, three triples, three homers, 23 RBIs,17 stolen bases
• Maya Bigsby - .368 average, 30 runs, 46 hits, five doubles, 17 RBIs, 17 stolen bases
• Chloe Hatcher - .361 average, 20 runs, 39 hits, five doubles, team-high seven homers, team-high 36 RBIs, team-best .620 slugging percentage
• Sun Belt team hitting ranks: .323 average (2nd), 220 runs (5th), 367 hits (1st), 47 doubles (8th), nine triples (4th), 21 homers (9th), 198 RBIs (6th), 60 steals (2nd), 111 walks (9th), .390 on-base pct. (4th), .436 slugging pct. (7th).

In the circle:

• Makayla Stephens - team-best 2.23 ERA, team-high 14 wins, 28 appearances, 21 starts, 17 complete games, four shutouts, 144.1 innings pitched, team-high 165 strikeouts
• Briana Bower - six wins, 4.20 ERA, 103.1 innings, seven complete games, 70 strikeouts
• Sun Belt team pitching ranks: 21 wins (10th), 3.67 ERA (8th), 248 strikeouts (1ST), 141 earned runs (t-7th).

Catamounts and Panthers – All-time Series History:
Georgia State holds an 18-6 lead over Western Carolina after claiming a 6-4 decision a season ago in Atlanta. The Catamounts earned both ends of a doubleheader from the Panthers in 2024 in Cullowhee with wins, 8-0 and 5-3. The two teams have split the eight prior meetings from WCU with the Purple & Gold earning three of the last four wins.  

Last season's meeting in Atlanta saw Rylee Butler club her first WCU home run as Maya McPherson lined a two-run double before the host GSU held on for a 6-4 win.

Historically, WCU took part in Georgia State's First Pitch Classic for its first-ever fast-pitch softball games back in 2006, defeating Tennessee Tech, 3-1, before falling to GS by the same score.

On Deck for Western Carolina:
Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference play on Saturday, April 11, for a conference weekend series at Samford. The two teams open with a twin bill in Birmingham at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT before a 2 p.m. ET / 1 pm CT Sunday showdown with the Bulldogs. Both games on Saturday are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available for all three games on CatamountSports.com.

Fans can follow WCU softball on Facebook, Twitter (@CatamountSB), Instagram, and CatamountSports.com.