Chattanooga, Tenn. – Western Carolina softball went toe-to-toe with host Chattanooga in the 2026 Southern Conference Softball Championship, trading late-inning runs, but the fifth-seeded Mocs used a four-run seventh to rally past the Catamounts for a 7-6 win in Friday night's elimination game at Frost Field.
Samford defeated WCU 14-1 earlier in the day, relegating the Catamounts to a matchup with UTC.
Junior Lily Bell led WCU's offense with three hits, including her 25th multi-hit game of the season in Friday night's showdown with the Mocs. She finished the season with 79 hits, the most in a single season by a Catamount. WCU saw six others get into the hit column, including junior Maya McPherson with a double against Samford and senior Tate Stewman with a three-run homer in Friday night's matchup.
With the 10 hits on Friday, the Catamounts became the first team in the SoCon since Samford in 2016 to reach 500 hits in a season, finishing the year with 504.
As a team, WCU broke 11 team single-season records including batting average (.313), slugging percentage (.505), on-base percentage (.385), stolen base percentage (86.8 - 79-of-91), runs (368), hits (504), doubles (73), runs batted in (337), total bases (812), sac flies (24), and steals (79).
Game One – Samford 14, Western Carolina 1 (5 Innings)
Samford blitzed the Catamounts with a pair of four-run frames as the Bulldogs plated runs in each of their four at-bats en route to a 14-1 victory in five innings in Friday afternoon's winner's bracket matchup.
Lily Bell, Taylor Waitley, Sydney Dirks, and Tate Stewman each had hits in the contest, with McPherson collecting her 14th double of the season.
Samford (27-29) used a six-hit first that included a pair of RBI singles before a third RBI single, along with a fielding miscue, allowed the Bulldogs to jump out to the four-run advantage.
WCU answered in the second with a first-pitch double from McPherson as Stewman followed with a sacrifice bunt. Becka Wonsick drew a walk as a Bulldog wild pitch allowed McPherson to scamper home and make it 4-1.
Samford responded again with a pair of RBI base knocks and a two-run double to push the lead to 8-1 after a pair of frames.
The Bulldogs added to their lead in the third with an RBI double and an RBI groundout to stretch the lead to nine. Samford closed the scoring with a two-out grand slam in the fourth en route to the 14-1 victory that sent Samford to Saturday's winner's bracket.
Briony Bunsic (7-6) opened the matchup for the Catamounts, going 1.2 innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs in the defeat. AG Batson finished the action, going 2.1 innings with six hits and seven runs allowed, with three of those being earned, and a strikeout.
Makinley Turner (9-9) claimed the win for the Bulldogs and pitched 4.0 innings, allowing three hits and a run with five strikeouts. Reese Hickey tossed the final scoreless frame with one hit allowed and a strikeout.
Game Two – Chattanooga 7, Western Carolina 6
Western Carolina erased a mid-game deficit by scoring six straight runs in back-to-back frames to grab a three-run lead heading into the seventh. However, Chattanooga plated four runs in the top of the seventh and held on in the bottom half of the inning to rally for the 7-6 victory in Friday night's elimination game.
The Catamounts had six hits in the contest, led by Lily Bell with a pair of singles, and Tate Stewman blasted her 16th homer of the season in the defeat. Becka Wonsick, Tatum Martin, and Courtney Marks each had hits in the loss. Bell finished her season on a 16-game hit streak and a 20-game reached base streak, while Wonsick finished reaching base safely in her final 15 games.
After both sides were held scoreless in the first two frames, Chattanooga (24-28-1) broke the tie in with back-to-back singles before a three-run homer got the Mocs the advantage. Amanda Fulton totaled five strikeouts in the first five innings, working around the three-run shot to set the stage for WCU to fight back.
In the home half of the fifth, pinch hitter Sydnee Bumgarner drew a walk, followed by a Lily Bell single. The Mocs quickly recorded back-to-back outs before a groundball from Maya McPherson was misplayed by UTC, resulting in Marks and Bell to scamper home and make it 3-2. Stewman pushed WCU back in front with her 16th homer of the season in the net at-bat, a two-run shot to make it 4-3.
Fulton picked up another 1-2-3 frame in the sixth as the Catamounts looked to add to their advantage in the home half. Martin opened the inning with a single, followed by a one-out single from Marks and Bell to load the bases. Taylor Waitley and McPherson both drew bases-loaded walks to push the WCU lead to 6-3 after six.
Chattanooga blitzed WCU in the seventh, loading the bases with the first three batters on a double, an error, and a single. The Mocs quickly evened the score with a pair of infield singles along with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at six. A two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield pushed the Mocs back in front, 7-6.
UTC was able to erase Western Carolina 1-2-3 in the home half of the seventh to advance to Saturday's action in the SoCon tournament.
Fulton (16-8) went the distance, allowing seven runs and four earned on 11 hits, with six strikeouts for WCU as she tossed her team-best 17th complete game of the season. Fulton finishes the season with a team-best 164 strikeouts.
Taylor Long (13-16) matched Fulton, allowing six hits and six runs as only two of those were earned in the victory. Long finished issuing seven free passes to go along with 11 strikeouts.
Friday's action for Western Carolina (34-24) concluded the career for four Catamount seniors in Rylee Butler (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), Riley Pennington (Mount Airy, N.C.), Tate Stewman (Sylva, N.C.) , and Taylor Waitley (Laurinburg, N.C.).
Fans can follow WCU softball on Facebook, Twitter (@CatamountSB), Instagram, and CatamountSports.com.
