Cullowhee, N.C. – Tournament seeding and the Southern Conference's regular-season title hang in the balance this week as league teams conclude the conference slate ahead of next week's championship-crowning event. Tied atop the SoCon standings, Western Carolina returns home to host in-state SoCon foe UNC Greensboro for a three-game series.
 
The accelerated series ahead of next week's 2026 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases, opens on Thursday and Friday with the first pitch at 5 p.m. at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. Saturday's regular-season finale is slated for a 2 p.m. start and will be preceded by a special Senior Day ceremony.
 
 Each game of the home finale is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Western Carolina (33-20, 12-6 SoCon) enters the series after halting a three-game slide on Tuesday night with a seven-inning victory at Presbyterian, avenging an early-season, one-run loss with a 14-3 victory in Clinton, S.C. UNCG (21-29, 6-12 SoCon) was idle in the midweek, last playing last weekend when it split a pair of games at Virginia Tech, including an 18-13 win that featured a school-record six home runs.
 
The Catamounts are 19-6 at home this year, while UNCG is 9-14 in true road games away from Greensboro this spring.
 
Around the Southern Conference:
All eight SoCon teams square off on the final weekend of the regular season, with the regular-season championship and postseason seeding for next week's tournament up for grabs. In next week's postseason classic, seeds No. 5 through No. 8 each meet in a single-elimination game on Wednesday, May 20, with the winners advancing into a second game that afternoon against the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the double-elimination portion of play.
 
The top two seeds both earn a Wednesday bye, not opening play until 9 a.m. (No. 1 seed) and 12:30 p.m. (No. 2 seed) on Thursday, May 21.
 
Western Carolina and Mercer enter the final three games tied atop the conference standings with matching 12-6 league marks, though the Catamounts hold the head-to-head tiebreaker because of a three-game series sweep in Cullowhee. Wofford (11-7) is a game back in third place, with ETSU and Samford knotted with 10-8 marks.
 
WCU (12-6) hosts UNCG (6-12), with Mercer (12-6) visiting ETSU (10-8) in Johnson City, Tenn., with the Bears fighting for a Top 2 seed and ETSU continuing to vie for a Top Four bye. Wofford (11-7) is on the road at Samford (10-8), which is also still fighting for a top-four finish. The baseball diamond edition of the Military Classic of the South is slated for Lexington, Va., as The Citadel (8-10) visits VMI (3-15), with a path to a Top Four seed still viable for the Bulldogs, though difficult, needing a lot of help.
 
Breaking It Down for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts control their own destiny as they enter the final three regular-season conference games this week. WCU owns all tiebreakers against every realistic challenger, sweeping Mercer and winning 2-of-3 over ETSU, Samford, and Wofford.
 
WCU's magic number for the No. 1 seed is THREE – either three Catamount victories or a combination of WCU wins and Mercer losses.
 
Western Carolina Diamond Notes:

• WCU enters the week batting .282 collectively as a team, third in the SoCon with 182 extra-base hits (Mercer – 238; ETSU – 183) … WCU is second with 78 home runs, tied for 35th nationally;
• WCU ranks third in the SoCon in scoring with 392 runs, averaging 7.4 per game on an average of 9.3 hits per game;
• The Catamounts have turned a SoCon-leading 42 double plays, tied for 34th in the NCAA … WCU's average of 0.81 double-plays per game ranks 65th nationally … WCU is second in the league with a 0.975 fielding percentage;
• WCU's pitching staff ranks 28th nationally for fewest walks per nine innings (3.54), with 173 walks over 439.2 innings of work this season, the second-best average in the SoCon (Wofford, 15th – 3.36)

Western Carolina Projected Starting Pitchers:
UNCG: Jr. LHP Noah Chapman – 13 app., 13 GS – 3-6, 6.91 ERA, 69.0 IP, 73K, 27BB
WCU: Soph. RHP Carter Burnette – 13 app., 13 GS – 2-7, 6.92 ERA, 66.1 IP, 57K, 24BB
 
UNCG: Jr. RHP Mayson Dear – 17 app., 3 GS – 2-2, 8.78 ERA, 27.2 IP, 23K, 26BB
WCU: Jr. RHP James Fordham – 16 app., 8 GS – 4-4, 6.02 ERA, 52.1 IP, 40K, 28BB
 
UNCG: R-Sr. RHP Hunter Shuey – 10 app., 9 GS – 2-6, 7.01 ERA, 34.2 IP, 36K, 18BB
Saturday: Fr. RHP Evan Myers – 14 app., 12 GS – 5-1, 4.68 ERA, 50.0 IP, 39K, 28BB
 
Scouting UNC Greensboro:
Picked fifth in the SoCon's preseason poll, the Spartans come to Cullowhee among the hottest teams in the SoCon down the stretch, winners of six of their last seven games overall since being thumped by The Citadel, 10-1, back on April 25. UNCG salvaged the final game against the Bulldogs, 9-4, beat Davidson 14-3 in seven innings, swept VMI at home by a combined seven runs, and split with Virginia Tech, including an 18-13 victory, among its six-game win streak.
 
Jacob Dilley claimed UNCG's first weekly honor from the SoCon last week, batting .571 (4-of-7) with two homers and a double, with five RBI against Virginia Tech.
 
Spartan Notes:

• UNCG enters the week with a .285 team batting average, fourth in the SoCon, with 15 triples as a squad, second in the SoCon;
• Freshman Tanner Berry leads UNCG with a .362 batting average, seventh in the SoCon, with Jacob Mueller 10th at .346, boasting a team-best 66 base hits … Jacob Dilley has 10 of UNCG's 47 combined home runs;
• The Spartans have a team ERA of 7.36 with 354 combined strikeouts, both last in the SoCon entering the week … UNCG has issued a league-high 227 walks over 418 innings of work … the bullpen is tied with three others – Samford, WCU, and Wofford – with 10 saves this spring;
• Noah Chapman leads UNCG with 73 strikeouts, tied with ETSU's Michael Harpster for fourth in the conference this spring.

WCU vs. UNCG – vs. SoCon Opponent Comparison:
-ETSU – WCU won 2-of-3; UNCG dropped 2-of-3
-Mercer – WCU earned the sweep; UNCG dropped 2-of-3
-Samford – WCU won 2-of-3; UNCG was swept at home
-The Citadel – WCU dropped 2-of-3; UNCG dropped 2-of-3
-Wofford – WCU won 2-of-3; UNCG was swept on the road
-VMI – WCU won 2-of-3; UNCG earned the sweep
 
Western Carolina vs. UNCG – Series History:
The Catamounts have won three of the last four series meetings in the head-to-head series, but continue to trail the Spartans in the all-time series, 40-51. UNCG has won the last three series in Cullowhee dating to 2018, with WCU trailing at home overall at 13-19. UNCG swept the Catamounts in Cullowhee in 2018 before WCU upended the Spartans twice in the SoCon tournament. After not meeting in the 2020 season because of COVID-19, UNCG again swept the 2022 series in Cullowhee before winning 2-of-3 in Cullowhee in 2024.
 
On Deck for Western Carolina:
WCU and the Southern Conference converge on Greenville, S.C., and Fluor Field at the West End for the 2026 SoCon Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases, May 20-23. Seeds five through eight play the first two games on Wednesday, with the winners advancing into the double-elimination portion against the third and fourth seeds. The top two seeded teams open play on Thursday, May 21.
 
The complete SoCon Tournament bracket will be unveiled on Saturday evening following the conclusion of the final regular season series across the league.
 
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