Spartanburg, S.C. – Junior Sydney Dirks sent her 15th homer over the left-field fence, but Wofford used a three-run third inning to earn the 5-2 victory in Saturday's regular-season finale at Hope Field.
Junior Maya McPherson's second-inning double marked the 72nd as a team for WCU, breaking the previous record of 71 set during the 2017 season. The Purple & Gold have now broken the team single-season record for hits (487), runs scored (359), doubles (72), runs batted in (332), and stolen bases (76).
Junior Lily Bell (2-for-4) and sophomore Tatum Martin (2-for-3) led the WCU offensive attack that totaled eight hits among six players. McPherson doubled along with Dirks, hitting her 15th home run, tying Dirks with senior Tate Stewman for second-most on the squad.
McPherson's double on Saturday was her 75th hit of the year, matching WCU's single-season school record for base knocks with the 2025 season from Bell.
Western Carolina opened scoring in the second inning as McPherson's double opened the frame ahead of a sacrifice bunt from Stewman. Martin picked up McPherson with an infield single to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
Wofford (33-17, 10-11 SoCon) answered in the home half of the second, though, with an RBI single to quickly even the contest at one. The Terriers took the advantage in the third inning with an RBI double before a two-run single to stretch their lead to 4-1 after three frames.
Both offenses were quiet in the fourth and fifth innings as freshman Briony Bunsic entered in the fourth and allowed just a two-out walk, otherwise erasing the Terriers in order.
Down two, Dirks homered to open the sixth inning to cut the deficit to a pair at 4-2. Junior Becka Wonsick and Martin tallied back-to-back singles as WCU looked to add offense in the inning before the hosts erased the threat to sustain the lead.
Wofford tallied an RBI groundout in the home half of the frame and held the Catamounts to a Bell one-out single in the seventh before securing the sweep with a 5-2 victory in Saturday's finale.
AG Batson (9-5) suffered the loss for WCU, surrendering four runs on seven hits with a strikeout. Bunsic entered in the fourth and tossed the final three innings with a hit and run allowed with a strikeout.
Natalya Salo (11-3) went the distance for the Terriers, allowing eight hits and a pair of runs with two strikeouts.
Western Carolina (33-22, 12-9 SoCon) finishes the regular season with a .316 batting average, 359 runs scored, 487 hits, 72 doubles, 72 homers, 332 runs batted in, .514 slugging percentage, 76 stolen bases.
With the remainder of the regular season set to conclude on Sunday, WCU and the rest of the league turn their attention to the 2026 Southern Conference Softball Championship, which begins on Wednesday, May 6, at Frost Field in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Official tournament seedings and matchups will be announced on Sunday (May 3). UNCG has secured the regular-season championship and the tournament's top seed, with Samford and WCU set to round out the top three finishers. The bottom four seeds will meet in the tournament's first two games in single-elimination format, with the winners returning to face the third and fourth seeds to open the double-elimination portion of the event.
All tournament games 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.
