Cullowhee, NC – Southern Conference baseball standard bearers, Western Carolina and The Citadel, renew their rivalry this weekend with a series of three conference games at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
The set of three games – due to be played over a two-day window in 2021 as part of SoCon’s cost-cutting measures – has been adjusted to circumvent the unfavorable forecasts as the two teams moved the pair to Friday, starting at 14h. , with the end of Saturday’s series scheduled for 1pm. Saturday’s game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN + (paid subscription required) with live statistics available for each online game through CatamountSports.com. This weekend’s series is presented by BH Graning Landscape & Supply.
WCU and The Citadel combined to win 44 conference championships of all time, including 26 crowns in the regular season and a total of 18 tournament titles. Catamounts have won 23 conference championships in total – 13 regular seasons and 10 tournaments – while Bulldogs have won a total of 21 banners, including 13 regular seasons and eight tournaments. The two programs advanced to the SoCon Championship game 29 times and met for the title six times – 1988, 1990, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2010 – with the Bulldogs winning five titles at WCU.
Western Carolina (11-4) is putting together a six-game winning streak that includes Big East opponent St. John’s in his most recent action at Cullowhee. The Catamounts overcame the Red Storm by 40 to 7 in the three game series. The Citadel (8-10, 1-2 SoCon) claimed its opening conference game against Wofford last weekend in Charleston, dividing the opening day doubleheader before falling at the end of the series, 6-0, to lose the set of three games. Bulldogs also crashed in the middle of the week in South Carolina, on the backend of the Gamecocks’ non-conference home-and-home.
Catamounts enter the weekend with SoCon-best .300 hits that include 30 doubles, two trebles and 18 home runs. WCU boasts SoCon’s top three hitters with two juniors Daniel Walsh (0.407) and Justice Bigbie (0.404) both hitting above 0.400 while senior in fifth year Luke Robinson is hitting just below that limit at 0.397.
The WCU pitching team ranks second in the league on the ERA team, combining 3.82 over 132.0 work entries. Friday, game one, to start Zebby Matthews currently leads the conference with 2.08 ERA in 26.0 working innings.
The Friday and Saturday games at Cullowhee represent the first road series for the Bulldogs this season, as The Citadel played just two games away from the friendly confines of Riley Park in Charleston. The Bulldogs won in Jacksonville, 7-6, on March 3, and lost to the enemy in the state of South Carolina, by 8-3, earlier this week.
Citadel is hitting 0.284 collectively as a team – the second in SoCon behind WCU – and is fourth in the league with an ERA team of 4.83. Jeffrey Brown overcomes the Bulldogs with a batting average of 0.357, sixth in the SoCon, while Noah Mitchell won a SoCon-high drawing in nine doubles – tied in sixth national.
Western Carolina and The Citadel faced each other 157 times on the baseball field with the Catamounts holding an advantage in the 90-67 series. The Bulldogs played 2 of 3 games in the last two meetings of the regular season series between the two teams in 2018 and 2019. Despite dropping out of the series, the Catamounts managed to advance in the SoCon Tournament game in both seasons, however, with a victory in the fourth encounter in the single elimination part of the post-season event. WCU’s last victory in the series over The Citadel came in Cullowhee with a sweep of three games in 2017.
Projected pitch combinations:
Friday (Gm1): WCU – So. RHP Zebby Matthews (3-1, 2.08) vs. CIT – Gr. RHP Jake Pilarski (2-1, 5.34)
Friday (Gm2): WCU – Fr. RHP Gavin Mortenson (2-0, 5.12) vs. CIT – Soph. RHP Cameron Reeves (2-1, 3.09)
Saturday: WCU – R-Jr. RHP Ryan Mitschele (3.86, 2-1) vs. CIT – Soph. RHP Lathan Todd (1-3, 6.75)
Additional Notes for the Catamount Baseball Diamond:
- INF Junior Daniel Walsh brings a streak of 10 hits with the best of the team in this weekend’s series against The Citadel … Junior OF Seth Graves got it right in five consecutive games, as he spent more time on the field outside with the senior Luke Robinson also leading a streak of five consecutive games on Friday’s twinbill. Classmates Justice Bigbie, Will Prater, and Babysitter daylan each also hit three in a row;
- Four Catamounts continue to reach the base safely in all games of the 2021 season … Including the nine final games of the 2020 shortened season and the first 15 of 2021, Justice Bigbie reached the base safely in 24 consecutive games … Daniel Walsh arrived in 16 consecutive games, including the final game before the shutdown of COVID … Junior Babysitter daylan and freshman Pascanel Ferreras both arrived in 15 consecutive games;
- Western Carolina remains in second place in the NCAA with an average of 9.5 runs per game, second only to UMBC, which has 107 runs in nine games …
- Even with four games lost last week, the Catamounts continue to lead SoCon by being hit by a field with 39 HBPs in the year … In 15 games, WCU has 39 HBPs, tied for fourth in the NCAA this season;
- WCU’s defense is tied for 22nd place in the country in double plays, having made 14 double plays for an average of 0.93 per game this season;
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