PAGE 1 vs. UNC Asheville 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL LEADING OFF FOR THE CATAMOUNTS: >> Western Carolina steps out of conference against mountain- rival UNC Asheville on Wednesday looking to halt a FOUR-GAME slide in the series against the Bulldogs ... UNCA’s current win streak is its longest in series history dating back to 1985; >> WCU is 1-12 away from home and has dropped four-straight since its lone road victory at The Citadel, 8-5 in game one of a Saturday doubleheader ... WCU lost its last five games including two, one-run defeats at Wofford in SoCon play last weekend; >> Western Carolina’s 3-23 start to the 2018 season is the slow- est in program history with records back to 1969; >> WCU endured a 14-game losing skid from Feb. 23 thru March 18, the longest winless drought in program history and the longest under 11-year head coach BOBBY MORANDA with the Sunday victory over Kent State (March 18) ... This spring’s win- less drought usurps the previous program long of eight-straight defeats that spanned Feb. 27–March 10 of the 2000 season, the first under former head coach TODD RALEIGH; >> Following a regular season runner-up finish in 2017 – the program’s FOURTH, top-two finish over the past FIVE years – the Catamount baseball team was predicted to finish in a tie for fourth-place by the league’s nine head coaches and was tabbed fifth in the preseason media voting; >> For WCU, the fourth-place pick in the coaches’ poll is the lowest since also being tabbed fourth prior to 2016 ... How- ever, the fifth-place prediction by the voting media was the lowest for a Catamount baseball team since 2013 when WCU was tagged sixth despite a predicted runner-up finish from the coaches ... WCU went on to post a 39-win season in 2013, winning the regular season and making a push for an at-large bid into the NCAA postseason. >> WCU was the only team not represented on the 2018 preseason All-SoCon team ... Four of WCU’s five 2017 postseason honorees from a season ago are no longer on the team – with the exception of reigning SoCon Player of the Year, current volunteer assistant BRYSON BOWMAN, and SoCon All-Freshman team honoree, OF ANDREW ROBINSON ... Still, the void of a Catamount on the preseason all-conference squad is extremely rare – over the past 15 years, WCU has managed at least one selection a season, twice landing just one player on the honorary squad in 2010 (Ross Heffley, 2nd team) and 2006 (Steven Strausbaugh, 1st team), and putting a league-high six on the list in 2008. WESTERN CAROLINA PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UP: POS. # PLAYER B / T CL. GP–GS AVG. HR RBI INDIVIDUAL QUICK NOTES DH 19 Justin Sparks R/R R-So. 25–19 .244 0 9 3-for-12 (.250) @WOF; 3 multi-hit gms this yr; 17 career RBI C 8 Spencer Holcomb R/R Sr. 25–25 .301 2 8 5-gm strk halted, 0-for-11 last 3 gms; Johnny Bench Award nom. 1B 38 Luke Robinson L/R So. 25–24 .325 1 15 10-gm strk snapped @WOF; 18-for-47 (.383) w/ 8 RBI last 13 gms 2B 5 Will Prater L/R Fr. 23–19 .210 0 3 3-for-15 (.200) last six gms; 10 gms started at 2B, 9 at SS SS 7 Cameron Blaquiere R/R Sr. 20–20 .286 0 6 Amidst 10-gm hit strk; Has 8, 2-hit gms this yr; Leggett No. 7 3B 15 Caleb Robinson R/R Sr. 26–26 .200 2 6 Hits in 7 of last 9 gms, 2 multi-hit; 9-of-36 (.250); 13 career HRs LF 17 Andrew Robinson L/R So. 22–18 .167 0 5 Only 2 hits, 1 RBI in last 10 gms, 7 starts (2-for-26, .077) CF 10 Matthew Koehler L/R R-Jr. 26–25 .202 5 15 5-for-45 last 14 gms (.111); 8 career HRs, career-best 5 this yr RF 18 Justice Bigbie R/R Fr. 26–25 .373 1 25 4 gm hit strk; Hits in 9 of last 10 gms, 17-of-42 (.405) & 13 RBI F E B R U A R Y 16 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. L 3 8 17 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. L 2 8 18 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. L 3 9 20 MOREHEAD STATE CULLOWHEE W 6 2 23 CANISIUS (GM1) CULLOWHEE L 4 15 CANISIUS (GM2) CULLOWHEE L 0 9 24 CANISIUS CULLOWHEE (13) L 11 12 27 APPALACHIAN STATE CULLOWHEE L 3 13 28 UNC ASHEVILLE CULLOWHEE POSTPONED M A R C H 2 at #10 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L 3 13 3 at #10 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L 7 8 4 at #10 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L 2 3 6 MARSHALL CULLOWHEE L 8 12 9 BALL STATE CULLOWHEE L 4 7 BALL STATE CULLOWHEE L 8 20 10 BALL STATE CULLOWHEE L 8 9 14 at Tennessee CSN Knoxville, Tenn. L 0 5 16 KENT STATE SDN CULLOWHEE L 4 7 17 KENT STATE SDN CULLOWHEE (10) L 4 6 18 KENT STATE SDN CULLOWHEE W 9 2 21 vs. Tennessee Tech CSN Kodak, Tenn. CANCELLED 23 at The Citadel * CSN Charleston, S.C. L 1 5 24 at The Citadel * (GM1) CSN Charleston, S.C. W 8 5 at The Citadel * (GM2) CSN Charleston, S.C. L 3 9 27 TENNESSEE E3 CULLOWHEE L 3 17 29 at Wofford * CSN Spartanburg, S.C. (11) L 5 6 30 at Wofford * CSN Spartanburg, S.C. L 3 5 31 at Wofford * CSN Spartanburg, S.C. L 2 3 A P R I L 4 at UNC Asheville CSN / WMYA Asheville, N.C. 6:00 pm 6 UNCG * E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 7 UNCG * CULLOWHEE 4:00 PM 8 UNCG * E3 CULLOWHEE 1:00 PM 11 KENTUCKY E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 13 at VMI * E3 Lexington, Va. 6:00 pm 14 at VMI * E3 Lexington, Va. 2:00 pm 15 at VMI * E3 Lexington, Va. 1:00 pm 18 at Appalachian State CSN Boone, N.C. 5:00 pm 20 MERCER * E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 21 MERCER * WMYA / E3 CULLOWHEE 2:00 PM 22 MERCER * E3 CULLOWHEE 1:00 PM 25 at North Carolina CSN Chapel Hill, N.C. 6:00 pm 27 ETSU * E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 28 ETSU * CULLOWHEE 2:00 PM 29 ETSU * E3 CULLOWHEE 2:00 PM M A Y 4 at Furman * CSN Greenville, S.C. 6:00 pm 5 at Furman * CSN Greenville, S.C. Noon 6 at Furman * CSN Greenville, S.C. 1:00 pm 9 at Clemson CSN Clemson, S.C. 6:30 pm 11 SAMFORD * CULLOWHEE 6:00 PM 12 SAMFORD * CULLOWHEE 6:00 PM 13 SAMFORD * CULLOWHEE 1:00 PM 15 at Eastern Kentucky CSN Richmond, Ky. 6:30 pm 16 at Morehead State CSN Morehead, Ky. 3:00 pm 18 vs. VCU CSN Forest City, N.C. 7:00 pm 19 vs. VCU CSN Forest City, N.C. 2:00 pm 22-27 SoCon Championship CSN Greenville, S.C. TBA – All times are listed as EASTERN / * — SoCon Game / ALL CAPS – home games CSN – Denotes Catamount Sports Network radio/online broadcast SDN – Denotes SoCon Digital Network online video stream broadcast E3 – Denotes ESPN3 online video stream broadcast WMYA – Denotes linear broadcast on My40, WMYA-TV, Asheville WESTERN CAROLINA PROJECTED STARTING PITCHER: # PLAYER L/R CL. ERA W-L IP BB K INDIVIDUAL QUICK NOTES 33 Corey Sikes LHP Sr. 8.03 0-1 12.1 3 8 4th career start, each away from home; 67th career app. GAME #26: WESTERN CAROLINA (3-23) vs. UNC ASHEVILLE BULLDOGS (7-20) Wednesday, April 4, 2018 – 6:00 pm • McCormick Field (4,000) • Asheville, N.C. GAME COVERAGE BROADCASTS: TELEVISION: My40, WMYA-TV ONLINE VIDEO STREAM: Big South Network CSN AUDIO STREAM: CatamountSports.com TWITTER: @Catamounts SERIES: WCU leads, 52-21 (L–4) In Cullowhee: WCU leads, 32-9 (L–2) In Asheville: WCU leads, 20-12 (L–2) At McCormick since 2000 WCU leads, 6-5 (L–4) UNC ASHEVILLE (RPI 153) Head Coach: Scott Friedholm Record at UNCA: 69-124, 4th Career Record: same WESTERN CAROLINA (RPI 259): Head Coach: Bobby Moranda Record at WCU: 315-276-2, 11th Career Record: same WESTERN CAROLINA 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL GAME NOTES 13 SoCon Regular Season Championships • 10-Time SoCon Tournament • 12 NCAA Regional Appearances BASEBALL CONTACT: Daniel Hooker /// OFFICE: 828.227.2339 /// CELL: 828.508.2494 /// EMAIL: [email protected]WEDNESDAY’S PITCHING MATCH-UP: FIRST PITCH: 6:00 pm WCU: Sr. LHP Corey Sikes (0-1, 8.03 ERA) UNCA: Jr. RHP Danny Wilson (0-1, 13.09 ERA) >> Southpaw Corey Sikes makes his first start of the season after tossing 12.1 innings in 10 relief appear- ances to date ... Has a 1-5 career record with a career ERA of 8.13 with 61 Ks against 27 walks ... Throws from multiple arm slots including a sidearm delivery; >> Sikes is making just his FOURTH career start – two starts as a freshman (at Kennesaw State; at Clemson) and one as a junior (at Kennesaw State) ... Twice has thrown a career-long 4.2 innings in the two starts against the KSU Owls ... Sikes is 0-2 in his three starts with 5 Ks ... 4th career appearance against UNC Asheville (3.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 4K, 0BB).
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PAGE 1vs. UNC Asheville 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL
LEADING OFF FOR THE CATAMOUNTS: >> Western Carolina steps out of conference against mountain-rival UNC Asheville on Wednesday looking to halt a FOUR-GAME slide in the series against the Bulldogs ... UNCA’s current win streak is its longest in series history dating back to 1985;>> WCU is 1-12 away from home and has dropped four-straight since its lone road victory at The Citadel, 8-5 in game one of a Saturday doubleheader ... WCU lost its last five games including two, one-run defeats at Wofford in SoCon play last weekend;>> Western Carolina’s 3-23 start to the 2018 season is the slow-est in program history with records back to 1969;>> WCU endured a 14-game losing skid from Feb. 23 thru March 18, the longest winless drought in program history and the longest under 11-year head coach BOBBY MORANDA with the Sunday victory over Kent State (March 18) ... This spring’s win-less drought usurps the previous program long of eight-straight defeats that spanned Feb. 27–March 10 of the 2000 season, the first under former head coach TODD RALEIGH;>> Following a regular season runner-up finish in 2017 – the program’s FOURTH, top-two finish over the past FIVE years – the Catamount baseball team was predicted to finish in a tie for fourth-place by the league’s nine head coaches and was tabbed fifth in the preseason media voting;>> For WCU, the fourth-place pick in the coaches’ poll is the lowest since also being tabbed fourth prior to 2016 ... How-ever, the fifth-place prediction by the voting media was the lowest for a Catamount baseball team since 2013 when WCU was tagged sixth despite a predicted runner-up finish from the coaches ... WCU went on to post a 39-win season in 2013, winning the regular season and making a push for an at-large bid into the NCAA postseason.>> WCU was the only team not represented on the 2018 preseason All-SoCon team ... Four of WCU’s five 2017 postseason honorees from a season ago are no longer on the team – with the exception of reigning SoCon Player of the Year, current volunteer assistant BRYSON BOWMAN, and SoCon All-Freshman team honoree, OF ANDREW ROBINSON ... Still, the void of a Catamount on the preseason all-conference squad is extremely rare – over the past 15 years, WCU has managed at least one selection a season, twice landing just one player on the honorary squad in 2010 (Ross Heffley, 2nd team) and 2006 (Steven Strausbaugh, 1st team), and putting a league-high six on the list in 2008.
WESTERN CAROLINA PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UP:POS. # PLAYER B / T CL. GP–GS AVG. HR RBI INDIVIDUAL QUICK NOTES DH 19 Justin Sparks R/R R-So. 25–19 .244 0 9 3-for-12 (.250) @WOF; 3 multi-hit gms this yr; 17 career RBI
C 8 Spencer Holcomb R/R Sr. 25–25 .301 2 8 5-gm strk halted, 0-for-11 last 3 gms; Johnny Bench Award nom.
2B 5 Will Prater L/R Fr. 23–19 .210 0 3 3-for-15 (.200) last six gms; 10 gms started at 2B, 9 at SS
SS 7 Cameron Blaquiere R/R Sr. 20–20 .286 0 6 Amidst 10-gm hit strk; Has 8, 2-hit gms this yr; Leggett No. 7
3B 15 Caleb Robinson R/R Sr. 26–26 .200 2 6 Hits in 7 of last 9 gms, 2 multi-hit; 9-of-36 (.250); 13 career HRs
LF 17 Andrew Robinson L/R So. 22–18 .167 0 5 Only 2 hits, 1 RBI in last 10 gms, 7 starts (2-for-26, .077)
CF 10 Matthew Koehler L/R R-Jr. 26–25 .202 5 15 5-for-45 last 14 gms (.111); 8 career HRs, career-best 5 this yr
RF 18 Justice Bigbie R/R Fr. 26–25 .373 1 25 4 gm hit strk; Hits in 9 of last 10 gms, 17-of-42 (.405) & 13 RBI
F E B R U A R Y 16 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. L 3 8 17 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. L 2 8 18 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. L 3 9 20 MOREHEAD STATE CULLOWHEE W 6 2 23 CANISIUS (GM1) CULLOWHEE L 4 15 CANISIUS (GM2) CULLOWHEE L 0 9 24 CANISIUS CULLOWHEE (13) L 11 12 27 APPALACHIAN STATE CULLOWHEE L 3 13 28 UNC ASHEVILLE CULLOWHEE POSTPONED
M A R C H 2 at #10 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L 3 13 3 at #10 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L 7 8 4 at #10 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L 2 3 6 MARSHALL CULLOWHEE L 8 12 9 BALL STATE CULLOWHEE L 4 7 BALL STATE CULLOWHEE L 8 20 10 BALL STATE CULLOWHEE L 8 9 14 at Tennessee CSN Knoxville, Tenn. L 0 5 16 KENT STATE SDN CULLOWHEE L 4 7 17 KENT STATE SDN CULLOWHEE (10) L 4 6 18 KENT STATE SDN CULLOWHEE W 9 2 21 vs. Tennessee Tech CSN Kodak, Tenn. CANCELLED 23 at The Citadel * CSN Charleston, S.C. L 1 5 24 at The Citadel * (GM1) CSN Charleston, S.C. W 8 5 at The Citadel * (GM2) CSN Charleston, S.C. L 3 9 27 TENNESSEE E3 CULLOWHEE L 3 17 29 at Wofford * CSN Spartanburg, S.C. (11) L 5 6 30 at Wofford * CSN Spartanburg, S.C. L 3 5 31 at Wofford * CSN Spartanburg, S.C. L 2 3
A P R I L 4 at UNC Asheville CSN / WMYA Asheville, N.C. 6:00 pm 6 UNCG * E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 7 UNCG * CULLOWHEE 4:00 PM 8 UNCG * E3 CULLOWHEE 1:00 PM 11 KENTUCKY E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 13 at VMI * E3 Lexington, Va. 6:00 pm 14 at VMI * E3 Lexington, Va. 2:00 pm 15 at VMI * E3 Lexington, Va. 1:00 pm 18 at Appalachian State CSN Boone, N.C. 5:00 pm 20 MERCER * E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 21 MERCER * WMYA / E3 CULLOWHEE 2:00 PM 22 MERCER * E3 CULLOWHEE 1:00 PM 25 at North Carolina CSN Chapel Hill, N.C. 6:00 pm 27 ETSU * E3 CULLOWHEE 5:00 PM 28 ETSU * CULLOWHEE 2:00 PM 29 ETSU * E3 CULLOWHEE 2:00 PM
M A Y 4 at Furman * CSN Greenville, S.C. 6:00 pm 5 at Furman * CSN Greenville, S.C. Noon 6 at Furman * CSN Greenville, S.C. 1:00 pm 9 at Clemson CSN Clemson, S.C. 6:30 pm 11 SAMFORD * CULLOWHEE 6:00 PM 12 SAMFORD * CULLOWHEE 6:00 PM 13 SAMFORD * CULLOWHEE 1:00 PM 15 at Eastern Kentucky CSN Richmond, Ky. 6:30 pm 16 at Morehead State CSN Morehead, Ky. 3:00 pm 18 vs. VCU CSN Forest City, N.C. 7:00 pm 19 vs. VCU CSN Forest City, N.C. 2:00 pm 22-27 SoCon Championship CSN Greenville, S.C. TBA
– All times are listed as EASTERN / * — SoCon Game / ALL CAPS – home gamesCSN – Denotes Catamount Sports Network radio/online broadcast
SDN – Denotes SoCon Digital Network online video stream broadcastE3 – Denotes ESPN3 online video stream broadcast
WMYA – Denotes linear broadcast on My40, WMYA-TV, Asheville
WESTERN CAROLINA PROJECTED STARTING PITCHER: # PLAYER L/R CL. ERA W-L IP BB K INDIVIDUAL QUICK NOTES 33 Corey Sikes LHP Sr. 8.03 0-1 12.1 3 8 4th career start, each away from home; 67th career app.
GAME #26: WESTERN CAROLINA (3-23) vs. UNC ASHEVILLE BULLDOGS (7-20)Wednesday, April 4, 2018 – 6:00 pm • McCormick Field (4,000) • Asheville, N.C.
GAME COVERAGEBROADCASTS: TELEVISION: My40, WMYA-TVONLINE VIDEO STREAM: Big South NetworkCSN AUDIO STREAM: CatamountSports.comTWITTER: @CatamountsSERIES: WCU leads, 52-21 (L–4) In Cullowhee: WCU leads, 32-9 (L–2) In Asheville: WCU leads, 20-12 (L–2) At McCormick since 2000 WCU leads, 6-5 (L–4)
UNC ASHEVILLE (RPI 153)Head Coach: Scott FriedholmRecord at UNCA: 69-124, 4thCareer Record: same
WESTERN CAROLINA (RPI 259):Head Coach: Bobby MorandaRecord at WCU: 315-276-2, 11thCareer Record: same
WESTERN CAROLINA2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL GAME NOTES
FIRST PITCH: 6:00 pm WCU: Sr. LHP Corey Sikes (0-1, 8.03 ERA)UNCA: Jr. RHP Danny Wilson (0-1, 13.09 ERA)>> Southpaw Corey Sikes makes his first start of the season after tossing 12.1 innings in 10 relief appear-ances to date ... Has a 1-5 career record with a career ERA of 8.13 with 61 Ks against 27 walks ... Throws from multiple arm slots including a sidearm delivery;>> Sikes is making just his FOURTH career start – two starts as a freshman (at Kennesaw State; at Clemson) and one as a junior (at Kennesaw State) ... Twice has thrown a career-long 4.2 innings in the two starts against the KSU Owls ... Sikes is 0-2 in his three starts with 5 Ks ... 4th career appearance against UNC Asheville (3.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 4K, 0BB).
PAGE 2vs. UNC Asheville 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL
CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM /// WCU BASEBALL GAME NOTES /// 2018 ROSTER
NO. NAME POS. B/T HT. WT. CL. HOMETOWN / PREVIOUS SCHOOL / HIGH SCHOOL 1 Bo Fricks INF S/R 6-0 180 R-FR Macon, Ga. / First Presbyterian Day 2 Kevin Craft RHP R/R 6-3 220 JR LaGrange, Ga. / Chipola CC / Callaway HS 3 Tristan Baker LHP L/L 5-10 170 JR Charlotte, N.C. / Hopewell HS 4 Jake Moebius RHP R/R 6-1 190 JR Jamestown, N.C. / Wesleyan Christian Academy 5 Will Prater INF L/R 6-2 165 FR Dallas, Ga. / East Paulding HS 6 Bryson Parks OF R/R 5-11 170 FR Marietta, Ga. / Hilgrove HS 7 Cameron Blaquiere INF R/R 6-2 190 SR Jacksonville, Fla. / FSC Jacksonville / The Bolles School 8 Spencer Holcomb C R/R 5-11 215 SR Pfafftown, N.C. / Reagan HS 9 Clay Hodges OF L/L 5-10 180 SR Denver, N.C. / Catawba Valley CC / East Lincoln HS 10 Matthew Koehler OF L/R 6-1 195 R-JR Raleigh, N.C. / Sanderson HS 14 Kitt Capell C R/R 6-0 220 R-FR Prosperity, S.C. / Ben Lippen HS 15 Caleb Robinson INF / OF R/R 6-0 215 SR McLeansville, N.C. / Eastern Guilford HS 16 Dylan Biumi RHP R/R 5-9 190 SR Cumming, Ga. / Lambert HS 17 Andrew Robinson OF / RHP L/R 5-11 190 SO McLeansville, N.C. / Eastern Guilford HS 18 Justice Bigbie UT R/R 6-2 190 FR Chesapeake, Va. / Grassfield HS 19 Justin Sparks C R/R 6-0 195 R-SO Hendersonville, N.C. / Hendersonville HS 20 Ryan Mitschele RHP R/R 6-2 185 R-FR Statesville, N.C. / South Iredell HS 21 Zach Franklin RHP R/R 6-2 170 FR Marion, N.C. / McDowell HS 22 Colton Henthorne INF / OF R/R 5-10 150 R-SO Lenoir, N.C. / Coker College / Hibriten HS 26 Jake Niezen RHP R/R 6-1 190 SR San Luis Obispo, Calif. / Cuesta CC / San Luis Obispo HS 27 Taylor Purus LHP L/L 6-0 200 R-JR Hudson, N.C. / Catawba Valley CC / South Caldwell HS 28 Caleb Bishop LHP L/L 5-10 170 FR Wilmington, N.C. / New Hanover HS 29 Blake Therrian RHP R/R 6-4 205 R-SO Portage, Mich. / Florence Darlington Tech / Portage Northern HS 30 Brett Lemmons INF S/R 5-8 165 FR Valparaiso, Ind. / Morgan Township HS 31 Michael Davis RHP R/R 6-5 185 JR Lenoir, N.C. / Hibriten HS 32 Chase Walter RHP R/R 6-7 225 R-FR Peachtree City, Ga. / Spartanburg Methodist / McIntosh HS 33 Corey Sikes LHP L/L 5-10 150 SR Monroe, N.C. / Piedmont HS 34 Immanuel Wilder OF R/R 5-11 180 FR Madison, Ala. / James Clemens HS 36 Andrew Bullock INF L/R 6-2 230 JR Chesapeake, Va. / Grassfield HS 38 Luke Robinson C/INF L/R 6-3 230 SO McLeansville, N.C. / Eastern Guilford HS 40 Trent Youstin RHP R/R 6-3 210 FR Deerfield Beach, Fla. / Deerfield Beach HS 41 Mitch Rogers RHP R/R 6-2 175 FR Clarksville, Tenn. / Northeast HS 44 Matt Perego RHP R/R 6-8 260 FR Ballwin, Mo. / Parkway West HS
WESTERN CAROLINA COACHING STAFF: 25 Bobby Moranda Head Coach Eastern Kentucky, 1986 11th Season at WCU 47 Nate Cocolin Assistant Coach / Pitching Coach Embry-Riddle, 2003 3rd season at WCU 24 Brock Doud Assistant Coach (3B) Hope College, 2008 3rd season at WCU 12 Bryson Bowman Volunteer Assistant Coach (1B) Western Carolina, 2017 1st season at WCU
8 Spencer Holcomb ......................... Senior ......................... C 14 Kitt Capell ............................R-Freshman ......................... C 38 Luke Robinson ......................Sophomore ......................... C
6 Bryson Parks ........................... Freshman ....................... OF 9 Clay Hodges ................................. Senior ....................... OF 10 Matthew Koehler .......................R-Junior ....................... OF 34 Immanuel Wilder .................... Freshman ....................... OF
MULTIPLE (5)
15 Caleb Robinson ............................ Senior ...............INF / OF 17 Andrew Robinson .................Sophomore ............. OF / RHP 18 Justice Bigbie ......................... Freshman ....................... UT 19 Justin Sparks .................... R-Sophomore ................. INF / C 22 Colton Henthrone ............. R-Sophomore ...............INF / OF
WESTERN CAROLINA CAREER PITCHING STATISTICAL LEADERS VS. UNC ASHEVILLE: # NAME ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP H R ER BB K 2B 3B HR 31 Michael Davis 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 0 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 33 Corey Sikes 2.70 0-0 3 0 0 0 3.1 2 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 4 Jake Moebius 3.00 0-0 2 0 0 0 3.0 2 2 1 5 3 0 0 1
WESTERN CAROLINA VS. UNC ASHEVILLE – THE SERIES: • Wednesday night marks the 74th all-time between Western Carolina and UNC Asheville on the baseball diamond in a mountain rivalry that dates back to 1985 ... WCU leads the all-time series with UNCA, 52-21, dropping the lone series meet-ing in 2017, 5-3, in Asheville ... the first meeting this year slated for Feb. 28 in Cullowhee was postponed due to weather – no make-up date has been set;• WCU also lost both series meetings in 2015 – 20-6 at Green-wood Field in Asheville and 13-8 in Cullowhee – coupled with the 8-0 shutout win in 2016 and last year’s victory gives UNCA a FOUR-game series win streak – which represents the Bulldogs’ longest series win streak over the Catamounts in baseball in the series history;• WCU holds a 20-12 edge over its mountain-rival in games played in Asheville ... Wednesday’s game will be played at his-toric McCormick Field – since the 2000 season, WCU holds a one-game edge, 6-5, in the series against UNCA at the park;• WCU leads the series in Cullowhee, 32-9, but has suffered back-to-back losses to the Bulldogs at home ... WCU has won five of the last eight series meetings held at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
WESTERN CAROLINA VS. THE BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE: • Western Carolina has played all 10 current members of the Big South Conference ... WCU is 157-72-3 all-time against the current members of the Big South ... UNC Asheville represents the most frequent Big South opponent for the Catamounts with 74 previous all-time meetings:
WCU AGAINST THE BIG SOUTH BREAKDOWN:Campbell, 24-21 / Charleston Southern, 9-6-1
Gardner-Webb, 14-8-1 / High Point, 28-7-1 / Liberty, 6-2Longwood, 1-1 / Presbyterian, 5-2 Radford, 4-1
UNC ASHEVILLE, 52-21 / Winthrop, 14-3• UNCA is 1-4 against the SoCon this year while the Bulldogs are WCU’s only Big South opponent on this year’s schedule;• Entering the midweek, the Southern Conference is 15-6 vs. the Big South this year with THREE games scheduled today: Wed., April 4 Western Carolina vs. UNC Asheville, 6 pm ETSU at Radford, 6 pm Winthrop at The Citadel, 6 pm
CATAMOUNT BASEBALL AT McCORMICK FIELD: • Western Carolina and UNC Asheville meet at historic McCor-mick Field for the 12th time since 2000 with the Catamounts holding a slight 6-5 record through the first 11 meetings ... After winning four-straight at the minor league ballpark, WCU has dropped the last four series meetings to UNCA at McCormick including a 5-3 loss in the most recent meeting last spring;• The Southern Conference baseball tournament was held at historic McCormick Field from 1987 through 1989 ... During that time, the Catamounts claimed THREE of their 10 SoCon Tourna-ment titles while recording a perfect 8-0 record at the park.
FUN FACTS ABOUT McCORMICK FIELD: • The ballpark at McCormick Field was originally built in 1924 and is still one of the oldest minor-league stadiums still in regular use ... It was renovated in 1959 and again in 1991-92 including replacing the original wooden grand stands and add-ing modern amenities;• Did you know that McCormick Field was named for Dr. Lewis McCormick, the city’s only bacteriologist who started the “Swat That Fly” campaign in 1905 in order to reduce the areas prob-lem with the housefly;• And did you know that while baseball had its struggles in Asheville in-and-around the Great Depression and through the 1950s, weekly stock car races were held at the facility ... the races were held on a quarter-mile track – in fact, in 1958, Lee Petty got bumped and ended up wrecked in the first-base dug-out during a heat race;• Baseball greats like Babe Ruth; Lou Gehrig, and in 1948, Jack-ie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers played here;• It has field dimensions of 326 to left, 370 to the left field power alley, 373 to center, 320 to right center and just 297 down the right-field line – but is protected by a 36-foot high fence, nearly the same height of Fenway’s “Green Monster” (37-feet, 2 inches) ... the right-center power alley is guarded by the scoreboard that takes the wall to 42-feet high;• The ball park was used as one of the settings for the 1988 movie, “Bull Durham” ... Character “Crash Davis” (Kevin Cost-ner) is shown in the movie driving up to McCormick Field and shortly thereafter clubs his record-breaking home run as a member of the Tourists.
WCU vs. UNCA SERIES – Under Bobby MorandaSeries tied over last 10 years, 8-8
3/29/17 UNC Asheville 5-3 McCormick4/19/16 UNC Asheville 8-0 Cullowhee5/2/15 UNC Asheville 13-8 Cullowhee5/1/15 UNC Asheville 20-6 Greenwood4/9/14 Western Carolina 9-3 Greenwood4/1/14 Western Carolina 4-1 Cullowhee4/3/13 UNC Asheville 15-0 McCormick4/2/13 Western Carolina 13-9 Cullowhee3/21/12 UNC Asheville 3-1 (12) McCormick4/12/11 UNC Asheville 7-4 McCormick3/16/11 UNC Asheville 6-2 Cullowhee3/16/10 Western Carolina 10-3 Cullowhee4/1/09 Western Carolina 11-0 McCormick3/18/09 Western Carolina 9-2 Cullowhee4/2/08 Western Carolina 10-7 Cullowhee3/26/08 Western Carolina 12-10 McCormick
PAGE 4vs. UNC Asheville 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL
FULL NAME: Robert Steven MorandaBIRTHDATE: August 18, 1964EDUCATION:Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Man-agement with a minor in Marketing from Eastern Kentucky in 1986; Master’s de-gree in Recreation Administration from Eastern Kentucky in 1989.PLAYING EXPERIENCE:Harper Community College, in Palatine, Ill. (1983-84);Eastern Kentucky University, in Richmond, Ky. (1985-86)COACHING EXPERIENCE:Assistant at Eastern Kentucky (1987-98) ... Head Assistant/Re-cruiting Coordinator at Virginia (1990-95) ... Associate Head/Recruiting Coordinator at Wake Forest (1996-2001) ... Associate Head at Georgia Tech (2002-2007) ... Head Coach at Western Carolina (2008-present)FAMILY:Wife, Pamela ... daughter, Taylor Jade ... son, Breyson Kade
% - Won Southern Conference Regular Season Championship^ – Advanced to SoCon Tourney Championship; $ - Won SoCon Tourney Championship
TEAM OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL
The Citadel 22-12 15-2 7-8 0-2
East Tennessee State 11-5 6-2 5-2 0-1
Furman 14-20 8-10 6-6 0-4
Mercer 7-6 1-3 4-2 2-1
UNCG 18-12 7-5 11-7 0-0
Samford 17-16 9-3 5-10 3-3
VMI 7-2 4-2 3-0 0-0
Wofford 24-9 17-4 6-5 1-0
MORANDA’S WCU HEAD COACHING RECORD
MORANDA VS. SoCon AS WCU HEAD COACH
WCU’S ALL-TIME HEAD COACHES
HEAD COACH YRS SEASONS OVERALL SOCON
Jim Gudger 11 1951-60, ‘63 140-83 --
Charles Seeger 2 1961-62 20-21 --
Ron Blackburn 5 1964-68 78-65 --
Bill Haywood 13 1969-81 215-161-2 48-23
David Wright 1 1982 28-12 12-4
Jack Leggett 9 1983-91 302-226 103-39
Keith LeClair 6 1992-97 229-135-2 99-38
Rodney Hennon 2 1998-99 81-38 38-16
Todd Raleigh 7 2000-07 257-209 132-101
Bobby Moranda 11 2008-pres. 315-276-2 162-116-1
CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM /// WCU BASEBALL GAME NOTES – VS. UNC ASHEVILLE
ON DECK FOR WESTERN CAROLINA: The Catamounts return home for a four-game home stand in-cluding three against SoCon-foe, UNCG, before entertaining nationally-ranked, SEC-opponent, Kentucky, on April 11 ... It will be the first-ever trip for the Wildcats to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee ... WCU dropped 2-of-3 to UNCG a season ago in Greensboro.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS OF WCU’S SLOW START TO 2018:• Of the 11 opponents in which WCU has faced to start the season, only THREE has a sub-.500 records (App State, 6-19; Marshall, 11-12; and The Citadel, 12-14);• Combined entering this week’s games, Western Carolina’s seasonal opponents boast a combined overall record of 164-124 (.559) ... Two opponents grace the national Top 25 including No. 12/13 East Carolina and No. 21 Louisville ... WCU has scheduled games against No. 9/10 Kentucky and No. 11 Clemson on the horizon (D1Baseball and USA Today Coaches polls);• WCU has played SIX, one-run games including two against nationally-ranked Louisville, and has seen THREE games go to extra innings – ALL losses; • The Catamounts are winless (0-18) when scoring five-or-fewer runs and have on just once (1-10) when allowing an opponent to score a run in the first inning ... WCU has also not won a game when trailing after five innings;• LINE-UP SHUFFLE: WCU has seen SEVEN different batters take the lead-off spot – MATTHEW KOEHLER and WILL PRATER both have occupied that spot seven times – and FOUR different hit-ters bat clean-up to date this year – ANDREW BULLOCK and JUSTICE BIGBIE both have hit fourth nine times apiece.
CATAMOUNT BASEBALL – DIAMOND NOTES: • Western Carolina is just 1-4 in midweek action this year (0-1 on the road) with two games – vs. UNC Asheville and vs. Ten-nessee Tech scheduled to be played at the Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn. – having been postponed or cancelled ... WCU has been outscored midweek a combined 49-to-20, surrendering double-digit runs three times – 17 at home against Tennessee, 13 at home against App State, and 12 at home against Marshall;
• WCU went 2-16 in the month of March after starting the season 1-7 in the month of February;• In the 20 losses this year, Western Carolina is batting just .242 while the opposition is hitting .327 with 21 home runs ... In WCU’s three wins, the Catamounts are batting a resounding .358 with 39 hits – seven for extra bases – while the pitching staff has limited opponents to a .233 average;• Junior slugger ANDREW BULLOCK has been out of the lineup nursing a hand / wrist injury ... He had surgery on Monday, March 26 to repair the injured hamate bone – one of the hand’s eight carpal bones at the base of the hand ... Bullock had played in 13 games with 11 starts – 8 as the DH and three at first base;• Entering the week, freshman JUSTICE BIGBIE leads the team with a .375 batting average – tied for SEVENTH in the SoCon – while his 25 RBI pace the Catamounts and are tied for eighth in the SoCon ... Senior MATTHEW KOEHLER ranks tied for sixth in the SoCon with five home runs (see below)• Western Carolina’s last home runs came nearly a month ago in the Ball State series with LUKE ROBINSON hitting a solo shot most recently in game 15 back on March 10 ... KOEHLER’S last home run came on March 6 in game No. 12;• Catamount catcher SPENCER HOLCOMB LEADS the Southern Conference with 11 runners caught stealing ... His seven dou-bles also have him tied for 10th in the SoCon;• True freshman OF BRYSON PARKS made quite the splash in his collegiate debut, not only earning his first career start in the Sunday win over Kent State but also securing the lead-off spot in the team’s lineup ... Parks drew a walk in his first trip to the plate before ripping a triple to right center field for his first official collegiate at-bat, plating a run in the run-scoring, three-bagger;• Senior pitcher JAKE NIEZEN has a team-best 14 appearances on the year, SEVENTH in the SoCon, while his eight games fin-ished are the tied for the FOURTH-most in the league;• Among WCU’s troubles on the mound this year have been freebies – walks, balks, and; hit batters ... WCU has four pitch-ers – TRISTAN BAKER, CALEB BISHOP, TAYLOR PURUS, and COREY SIKES – each tied for the second-most HBPs in the So-Con with seven apiece ... WCU enters the week with 131 walks as a staff – second most in the league – but the 5.0 walk per game average is the worst in the SoCon this season.
BLAQUIERE NAMED 2018 LEGGETT NO. 7 LEGACY: • Head coach Bobby Moranda and his coaching staff named the 2018 “Leggett No. 7 Legacy” recipient in senior Cameron Blaquiere ... the second-year infielder will wear the No. 7 jersey which was made famous at WCU by former coaching great – and WCU Hall of Famer – Jack Leggett;• A 2001 WCU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Leggett also helped shape the future of WCU baseball by recruiting and coaching his three successors in Keith LeClair (1992-97), Rod-ney Hennon (1998-99) and Todd Raleigh (2000-07). Leggett’s three protégés combined to win 567 games and a combined eight SoCon titles in 15 seasons, while also capturing five SoCon Coach of the Year honors;• A transfer from FSC Jacksonville in 2017, Blaquiere played in 52 games with a combined 45 starts, seeing all of his action at third base ... He hit .267, recording 43 hits with 12 for extra bases including seven home runs, four doubles, and a triple ... His 32 seasonal RBI a year ago rank second among this year’s returners ... the Jacksonville, Fla., product was a part of turning 11 double plays at third base last season;• Blaquiere joins a select list of players to previously have the honor bestowed upon them ... He is the third-consecutive in-fielder to earn the honor:
WCU’S ALL-TIME LEGGETT NO. 7 LEGACY RECIPIENTS:Stephen Notaro, C (2011) Danny Bermudez, C (2015)Vance Chavis, LHP (2012) Reece Strong, INF (2016)Morgan McKinney, LHP (2013) Nobu Suzuki, INF (2017)Luke Gragg, UT (2014) Cameron Blaquiere, INF (2018)
WESTERN CAROLINA IN SoCon OPENERS:• Following last weekend’s series loss at The Citadel, WCU has only won TWO of its 11 SoCon opening GAMES under head coach Bobby Moranda ... the Catamounts have won FIVE of the 11 SoCon-opening SERIES under Moranda;• Since the SoCon went to three-game league series in 1984, WCU is 19-15 in the first conference game ... WCU has won 22 of the 34 SoCon-opening series with 10 losses and one weather-shortened series tie:
WCU’s SoCon Openers – Year-by-Year under MorandaYear Opponent Gm1 Gm2 Gm32018 at The Citadel (1-2) L, 5-1 W, 8-5 L, 9-32017 at UNCG (1-2) L, 5-4 W, 9-6 L, 8-22016 ETSU (2-1) L, 14-8 W, 12-11 W, 15-92015 at UNCG (1-2) L, 17-6 W, 17-2 L, 7-42014 at Elon (2-1) L, 5-1 W, 6-5 W, 9-72013 at Davidson (2-1) W, 9-4 L, 7-5 W, 5-22012 at The Citadel (2-1) L, 4-2 W, 6-5 W, 6-52011 at UNCG (0-3) L, 5-4 L, 11-4 L, 9-62010 at The Citadel (0-3) L, 4-0 L, 7-5 L, 11-62009 App State (3-0) W, 4-0 W, 14-11 W,4-32008 at Ga. Southern (0-3) L, 19-10 L, 13-12 L, 15-12
WCU BASEBALL VS. RANKED, POWER FIVE OPPONENTS: • Western Carolina has secured at least TWO seasonal victories against Power Five competition in each of head coach Bobby Moranda’s first 10 years in Cullowhee;• WCU has five Power Five conference opponents on its sched-ule this year for a total of eight games ... To date, WCU is 0-5 in those games (0-3 at Louisville, 0-2 vs. Tennessee) with three remaining on the schedule (Kentucky, April 11; at North Carolina, April 25; at Clemson, May 9) to keep the streak alive;• Under head coach Bobby Moranda, Western Carolina has a 12-34 record against nationally-ranked opponents ... WCU is 0-3 vs. ranked foes in 2018 with a pair of one-run losses at No. 10 Louisville earlier this season ... WCU also played at East Caro-lina before the Pirates entered the rankings;• WCU has scored FOUR wins over top 10 opponents under Mo-randa ... Most recently, the Catamounts defeated No. 9 Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C., in 2017 ... WCU downed No. 2 Mis-sissippi State to open the 2014 season ... WCU also picked up a win over No. 8 Georgia in 2012 and defeated No. 4 Georgia Tech in 2009.
WCU WINS AGAINST POWER FIVE UNDER MORANDA:2017 (3): W at #20 N.C. State (ACC) 2-1 at Nebraska (Big Ten)2016 (5): 1-2 at Indiana (BigTen); 3-0 at K-State (BigXII); W, vs. Nebraska (BigTen)2015 (3): 2-1 vs. Purdue (BigTen); W, vs. Penn State (BigTen)2014 (3): 1-2 vs. #2 Mississippi State (SEC); 2-0 at Washington State (Pac12)2013 (4): 2-1 vs. Washington State (Pac12); W at Georgia (SEC); W vs. Wake Forest (ACC);2012 (4): W at Georgia (SEC); W vs. Duke (ACC); 2-0 vs. Clemson (ACC)2010 (4): W vs. West Virginia (BigXII); W vs. Illinois (BigTen) W at Tennessee (SEC); W at Clemson (ACC)2009 (3): 2-1 at #24 Southern California (Pac12); W vs. #4 Georgia Tech (ACC)2008 (2): W at Clemson (ACC); W at Tennessee (SEC)
WESTERN CAROLINA ENTERING THE 2018 SEASON: • Coming off a 28-28 season that included a runner-up regu-lar season finish and a 15-8 SoCon record, WCU returns nearly 50-percent of its offense from a squad that ranked fourth in the league in many categories including batting average (.304), hits (591), and on-base percentage (.386). The Catamounts return five of the eight position starters including senior in-fielders CALEB ROBINSON and CAMERON BLAQUIERE, with
senior catcher SPENCER HOLCOMB to be joined in the out-field by redshirt junior MATTHEW KOEHLER and sophomore ANDREW ROBINSON;• WCU returns a combined 282 of its 591 total hits from a sea-son ago (47.7%), including 28-of-52 home runs (53.8%) and 48-of-104 doubles (46%) with 167 of the 346 RBI (48%) from last season;• On the mound, WCU will have a new look entering 2018 with just six returning hurlers from a season ago. Two starters – southpaws Bryan Sammons (8-3, 3.02, 108 K) and Brendan Nail (6-8, 6.67, 100 K) – are both playing professional baseball as Sammons was drafted in the eighth round by the Minne-sota Twins while Nail was signed as an undrafted free agent by Boston while pitching in the prestigious Cape Cod League during the summer;• The Catamounts will have to replace nearly 75-percent of the 488.2 innings pitched in 2017, while also needing to replace 40 starts and 365 strikeouts. Junior LHP TRISTAN BAKER boasts the most starts among the returning pitchers with a dozen last spring, while upper classmen RHP MICHAEL DAVIS (3) and LHP COREY SIKES (1) the only other arms to have started for the Purple & Gold.
NOTING WCU HEAD COACH, BOBBY MORANDA: • Western Carolina head coach Bobby Moranda is in his 11th season in Cullowhee – he is currently the THIRD-longest ten-ured baseball coach in WCU history;• Moranda became WCU’s all-time winningest head coach, scoring his 303rd career victory in game three against VMI in 2017 ... Moranda by-passed WCU’s all-time leader, Jack Leggett (302, 1983-91) ... With 161 career SoCon wins, Moranda is WCU’s winningest head coach in SoCon history;• Moranda eclipsed the 200-win mark for his career, reaching the milestone in 2014 with a win over La Salle ... Moranda (300) is the fifth WCU head coach to win 200-or-more games in Cullo-whee – Jack Leggett (302, 1983-91), Todd Raleigh (257, 2000-07), Keith LeClair (229, 1992-97), Bill Haywood (215, 1969-81);• Bobby Moranda has moved into 13TH in the SoCon’s record books for wins at a SoCon school – He is the 15th coach to win 300-or-more games at a league school:
CATAMOUNT BASEBALL HISTORY & TRADITION: • Western Carolina is one of the most dominant baseball pro-grams in the Southern Conference ... Between WCU and The Citadel, the two programs are the league standard bearers, combining for 45 SoCon regular season and tournament cham-pionships – WCU with a league-best 23 and The Citadel with 22 ... The Citadel has 13 regular season championships and eight tournament titles while WCU’s 23 titles includes winning the regular season 13 times with 10 tourney crowns;• In 2013 & 2014, WCU claimed back-to-back regular season championships for the first time since the late 1980s – a span of four-straight from 1986-89 ... the Catamounts accomplished the back-to-back feat for the first time in the SoCon since Elon won back-to-back titles in 2008–2009;
PAGE 6vs. UNC Asheville 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL
• Western Carolina has only missed one SoCon tournament since the event’s inception in 1984, missing the 2000 tourna-ment under then first-year head coach Todd Raleigh;• The Catamounts finished the 2016 season with 31 victories, recording the program’s 27th 30-win season since 1984 (27, 30-win seasons over the past 34 years).
WESTERN CAROLINA AND THE MLB DRAFT: • Western Carolina had a player selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft for the 12th-straight season –and for the 18th-time in the past 21-years, missing just 2001, 2004, and 2005 ... During that same span, WCU did see Jared Greenwood sign a free agent contract with the New York Yan-kees in 2005 and Matt Price sign as a free agent with the Mil-waukee Brewers in 2001 (see more page 7);• All told, WCU has had three players taken inside the first 100 picks all time, headlined by RICK ADAIR with the 53rd pick of the third round by the Seattle Mariners in the 1979 draft – WCU’s highest all-time ... BRAD TWEEDIE (3rd round, 92nd pick by Cincinnati Reds in 1993) and JASON BEVERLIN (4th round, 93rd pick by Oakland Athletics in 1994);• With two selections in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Western Carolina has had multiple players selected within the same MLB First-Year Player Draft a total of 16 times since 1977;• Since Bobby Moranda came to Cullowhee, the Catamounts have had 21 players drafted ... Since 2000, 31 different WCU players have been drafted by MLB clubs;
RECAPPING THE 2017 SEASON: • Western Carolina finished the regular season as the runner-up in the 2017 Southern Conference baseball race ... It was WCU’s fourth, top-two finish in the league over the past five seasons – regular season champion in both 2013 and 2014, runner-up in 2016 and 2017;• Including the 2017 Southern Conference Player of the Year BRYSON BOWMAN, WCU had five players earn All-Southern Conference plaudits including Bowman and second baseman NOBU SUZUKI on the first team; shortstop BRETT POPE and starting pitcher BRYAN SAMMONS on the second team; and freshman outfielder ANDREW ROBINSON on the All-Freshman team;• Five of Western Carolina’s 2017 opponents advanced to the NCAA post-season including: SoCon representative, UNCG; regional host, Clemson; Big Ten champions, Nebraska; St. John’s; and North Carolina State ... WCU was a combined 4-6 against those five squads with all 10 meetings coming away from home – eight in true road games, two in neutral field meetings;• All told, the Catamounts faced six nationally-ranked teams including No. 9 Coastal Carolina, No. 9 East Carolina, No. 12 Clemson, No. 16 St. John’s, No. 20 North Carolina State, and No. 26 Missouri ... Clemson, St. John’s, and Nebraska each finished the season among those nationally ranked in the vari-ous polls;
RECENT FORMER CATAMOUNTS IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
PLAYER TEAM DRAFT LEAGUE / STATUS CLASS / NOTEGreg Holland, RHP St. Louis Cardinals 2007 Free Agent Signed MLB
Tyler White, INF Fresno Grizzlies (Astros) 2013 Pacific Coast League Triple AColton Davis, RHP Fort Myers Miracle (Twins) 2016 Florida State League Class A AdvancedGarrett Brown, OF West Virginia Power (Pirates) 2016 South Atlantic League Class ABrett Pope, INF West Virginia Black Bears (Pirates) 2017 New York-Penn League Class A Short-SeasonBryan Sammons, LHP Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins) 2017 Midwest League Class ABrendan Nail, LHP Greenville Drive (Red Sox) 2017 (FA) South Atlantic League Class AKorey Anderson, RHP AZL Padres 2017 (FA) Arizona League Rookie
CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM /// WCU BASEBALL GAME NOTES – VS. UNC ASHEVILLE
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE:APRIL 4 (WEDNESDAY)Western Carolina at UNC Asheville 5 p.m.Georgia State at Furman 5 p.m.Mercer at Georgia Southern 6 p.m.Wofford at East Carolina 6 p.m.Winthrop at The Citadel (SDN) 6 p.m.VMI at James Madison 6 p.m.ETSU at Radford 6 p.m.
• WCU had six different players post double-digit reached base safely streaks during the 2017 season including Bryson Bow-man with a 42-game streak ... Bowman also finished the year with a second, double-digit game hitting streak at 13-straight ... Matt Smith reached in a career-long 37-consecutive games, seeing the streak halted in the conference tournament ... WCU’s other double-digit reached base safely streaks included Brett Pope (18), Nobu Suzuki (17), Matthew Koehler (14), and Caleb Robinson (10);• MISC. STATISTICAL NUMBERS:
– WCU finished 25-1 when leading after eight innings with the lone loss coming in the SoCon Tournament – but were 1-24 when trailing after eight innings and 0-23 when trail-ing after seven innings;
– WCU finished 7-0 when scoring exactly nine runs on the year and 10-2 when posting double-digit runs;
– WCU’s longest winning streak was seven while the team did not lose more than four-consecutive all year.
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CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM /// CATAMOUNTS IN THE MLB DRAFT
YEAR PLAYER SIGNED BY RND OVERALL PICK2017 Bryan Sammons Minnesota Twins 8 226 Brett Pope Pittsburgh Pirates 22 658 Korey Anderson San Diego Padres – Free Agent Brendan Nail Boston Red Sox – Free Agent2016 Garrett Brown Pittsburgh Pirates 23 705 Colton Davis Minnesota Twins 25 753 Bryson Bowman New York Yankees 33 9982015 Bradley Strong Chicago White Sox 28 8322014 Adam Martin Seattle Mariners 10 291 Jeremy Null Chicago Cubs 15 439 Aaron Attaway Toronto Blue Jays 20 594 Jordan Smith Detroit Tigers – Free Agent2013 Julian Ridings Tampa Bay Rays 18 548 Tyler White Houstion Astros 33 9772012 Ross Heffley Atlanta Braves 18 5692011 Kyle Deese St. Louis Cardinals 23 710 Matt Benedict Pittsburgh Pirates 30 9022010 Daniel Ottone San Diego Padres 33 9942009 Nick Liles San Francisco Giants 7 207 Chris Masters Atlanta Braves 11 328 Brent Greer Arizona Diamondbacks 14 426 Corey Martin Chicago Cubs 27 8302008 Tyler Sexton Baltimore Orioles 31 926 Blake Murphy St. Louis Cardinals 42 12652007 Jonathan Greene Texas Rangers 8 260 Greg Holland $ Kansas City Royals 10 306 Kenny Smith Texas Rangers 20 620 Steven Strausbaugh New York Yankees 37 1135 Blake Murphy Chicago Cubs 50 14352006 Brian McCullen Pittsburgh Pirates 38 11302005 Jared Greenwood New York Yankees – Free Agent2003 Ryan Basner Atlanta Braves 7 217 Todd Buchanan Arizona Diamondbacks 13 396 Alan Beck Baltimore Orioles 16 464 Ryan Schade Florida Marlins – Free Agent2002 Jared Burton $ Oakland A’s 8 2482001 Matt Price Milwaukee Brewers – Free Agent2000 Charles Thomas $ Atlanta Braves 19 5801999 Eric Johnson Cleveland Indians 3 107 David Pember $ Milwaukee Brewers 8 244 Chris Moore Colorado Rockies 11 3401998 Chris Davidson Baltimore Orioles 4 129 Mark DiFelice $ Colorado Rockies 15 450 Donnie Suttles Cleveland Indians 12 363 Jeff Sziksai New York Yankees 22 662 Brian Hutchinson Toronto Blue Jays 40 1191 Chuck Koone Baltimore Orioles NA Martin Barrow Frontier League – Free Agent1997 Alex Tolbert Pittsburgh Pirates 22 6621996 Eric Whitson Tampa Bay Devil Rays N/A1994 Jason Beverlin $ Oakland Athletics 4 93 Stephen Pritchard Milwaukee Brewers 22 599 Mike Tidick Chicago White Sox 47 1299 Roy Hurst Chicago Cubs N/A – Mike Manning Texas Rangers N/A –1993 Brad Tweedlie Cincinnati Reds 3 92 Phillip Grundy Kansas City Royals 4 1051992 Dan Kyslinger Milwaukee Brewers 5 136 Matt Raleigh Montreal Expos 14 379 Jack Kimel Texas Rangers 32 902 Patrick Kendrick Chicago Cubs N/A –1991 Kevin Bellomo San Francisco Giants 56 1406 Todd Raleigh Boston Red Sox Free Agent1990 Paul Menhart $ Toronto Blue Jays 8 225 Grant Brittain Atlanta Braves Free Agent1989 Jeff Stevens Cleveland Indians – –1988 Tom Malchesky St. Louis Cardinals 12 314 Skip Nelloms New York Yankees 22 573 Dave Piela Atlanta Braves 54 1296 Keith LeClair Atlanta Braves – Free Agent1987 Freddie Hailey New York Yankees 19 496 Andy Rickman Cincinnati Reds N/A
YEAR PLAYER SIGNED BY RND OVERALL PICK1986 Ron Huntington Atlanta Braves 39 486 Keith Smith Atlanta Braves N/A1985 Scott Gay New York Yankees 4 103 John Pust New York Mets – Free Agent1984 Charlie Fonville Seattle Mariners 38 796 John Pust Cleveland Indians 43 8201983 David Hill Seattle Mariners N/A –1982 Kyle Carson Seattle Mariners N/A –1980 Willie Carpenter Texas Rangers N/A –1979 Rick Adair # Seattle Mariners 3 531978 Wayne Tolleson $ Texas Rangers 8 202 Keith Ebersole Chicago Cubs N/A –1977 Wayne Tolleson Pittsburgh Pirates 12 304 Jerry Reed $ Philadelphia Phillies 22 5591976 Mike Hicks Texas Rangers N/A – Flip Watson Texas Rangers N/A –1975 Jerry Gaines Texas Rangers N/A –1973 Don Bright Texas Rangers N/A –1972 Jim Grove Texas Rangers N/A –1971 Tommy Hayes Chicago White Sox N/A – Wayne McCauley Washington Senators N/A –1969 Jim Thompson St. Louis Cardinals N/A –1967 Roddy Edwards Washington Senators N/A – ITALIC = active in professional baseball $ — Denotes player played on a major league club
# — Pitching coach with the Cleveland Indians from 1991-93, Detroit Tigers from 1996-2000, Atlanta Braves from 2001-03; minor league pitching coordinator with Texas Rangers, and currently Seattle Mariners Pitching Coach
2018 SOCON BASEBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM SP Cody Shelton, Samford SP Ryan Simpler, ETSU SP Josh Winder, VMI SP Matt Frisbee, UNCG RP Robert Broom, Mercer RP Wyatt Burns, Samford C J.T. Thomas, Mercer C Peyton Maddox, VMI 1B Brandon Elmy, Furman 1B Collin Fleischer, VMI 2B Austin Embler, UNCG 2B Reed Massey, Wofford SS Chsir Cook, ETSU SS Tripp Shelton, UNCG 3B Caleb Webster, UNCG 3B Jonathan Sabo, The Citadel OF Andrew Moritz, UNCG OF Aaron Maher, ETSU OF Matt Pita, VMI OF Landon Kay, Furman OF McClain Bradley, Wofford OF Troy Dixon, Samford DH Devin Ruiz, UNCG DH Ayrton Schafer, Samford
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR:J.T. Thomas, Sr., C, Mercer
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR:Josh Winder, Jr., RHP, VMI
NCBWA PRESEASON STOPPER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST:Robert Broom, Jr., RHP, Mercer
Nick Spear, Jr., RHP, MercerWyatt Burns, Sr., RHP, Samford
JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST:Ryan Clinch, UNCG; J.T. Thomas, Mercer
Anthony Mulrine, Samford; Spencer Holcomb, WCUPeyton Maddox, VMI
CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM /// WCU BASEBALL GAME NOTES
INDIVIDUAL GAME RECORDSCATEGORY RECORD PLAYER OPPONENT, YEARHits .............................................7 Mitchell Hatley .......... Eastern Kentucky, 2009 ....................................................6 Tyler White .........................Elon (SoCon), 2011 ....................................................6 Danny Sells.................................Guilford, 1961 ....................................................6 Bob Ballance ...................North Georgia, 1960Doubles ......................................5 Aaron Attaway .................................Iona, 2012Triples .........................................2 Achieved 16 times ...................................................... MR: Bryson Bowman, at Indiana (3/11/16)Home Runs .................................4 Skip Nelloms ................... UNC Asheville, 1986RBI ..............................................9 Donovan Minero ....................... N.C. A&T, 2001Total Bases ................................17 Skip Nelloms ................... UNC Asheville, 1985Last Time Hit for the Cycle ........... Bryson Bowman ............Savannah State, 2017 ...................................................... Aaron Attaway ........................... La Salle, 2014 ...................................................... Bradley Strong .......................... La Salle, 2014
INDIVIDUAL GAME RECORDS – PITCHINGCATEGORY RECORD PLAYER OPPONENT, YEARStrikeouts ................................ 20 Wayne McCauley .............................Allen, 1971Innings Pitched .......................11.2 Don Bright .........................................VMI, 1971No Hitters ..................................... Greg Moore ...................Appalachian St., 1983 ...................................................... Jeff Mashburn ...............Appalachian St., 1982 ...................................................... Rick Adair .............................The Citadel, 1979 ...................................................... Jerry Reed ....................West Virginia St., 1976Last Complete Game .................... Jordan Smith ......... at Ga Sou. (L, 1-0 - 5/10/14)
TEAM GAME RECORDSCATEGORY RECORD OPPONENT, YEARHits .......................................... 30 .................................. Eastern Kentucky, 2009 ................................................. 30 ...................................................Furman, 1993Hits in an Inning......................* 12 ......................................................... VMI, 1991Runs ..........................................32 ................................................ Hartford, 2008Runs in an Inning ...................... 15 ..............................................Holy Cross, 2015 .................................................. 14 .......................................................Rider, 2014 .................................................. 13 ...........................................................VMI,1991 .................................................. 13 .........................................................VMI, 1999Home Runs .............................* 10 ........................................ UNC Asheville, 1986Stolen Bases ............................. 12 .................................................Catawba, 1965Strikeouts Pitching .................. 20 ...........................................Elon (SoCon), 2011 ...................................................... ........................................................Allen, 1971Largest Win Margin ................. 28 ........................................................Allen, 1971Win Margin in a Shutout .............23 ........................................................Allen, 1971Consecutive Seasonal Wins ..... 13 ................................... During the 1991 seasonDouble-digit Win Streaks ............9 ......................................MR: 12 games in 2014Consecutive Home Wins .......... 21 ..................... April, 2013 through March, 2014
WESTERN CAROLINA – MISC. RECORDS, STATS
PAGE 9vs. UNC Asheville 2018 CATAMOUNT BASEBALL
CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM /// 2018 GAME NOTES – BROADCAST NOTES / POSITION PLAYERS
ANDREW BULLOCKINF • JR • 6-2 • 230 • CHESAPEAKE, VA
IMMANUEL WILDEROF • FR • 5-11 • 180 • MADISON, AL
LUKE ROBINSONINF/C • SO • 6-3 • 210 • McCLEANSVILLE, NC
• Redshirted in 2017 ... Made collegiate debut as a defensive reserve at home against Canisius – made first career start at nationally-ranked Louisville ... Recorded three hits in his first five plate appearances including going 2-for-2 in first two games;• Played for the Bancroft (Iowa) Bandits of the Pioneer Collegiate League during the summer of 2017.
• In his first collegiate start, drew the lead-off position in a home win over Kent State ... First career base hit was a RBI triple against the Golden Flashes;• Batted .348 as a HS senior with three homers, collecting all-county and all-region honors ... Tabbed a 2017 Southeast Region Honorable Mention by Perfect Game.
• Made his collegiate debut as a pinch hitter at ECU in the season-opening series ... Opened his career by going 4-for-6 in his first three games played, posting a pair of two-hit games at ECU and 2-for-3 in his first collegiate start against Morehead State;• Versatile infielder, has seen time at both second and shortstop ... Two-time all-region and all-state as a high school senior ... Two-sport, baseball & basketball.
• Was a reserve catcher the first two years of his collegiate career before moving into a starting role in 2017 ... Is very strong at the plate and as become an offensive weapon with 15 career home runs – two this season alone;• Has thrown out a SoCon-leading 11 would-be base stealers in 2018.
• Has seen most of his action at third base, moving to shortstop this year ... Has shown great range ... Has EIGHT, two-hit games this season and a 10-gm hit streak;• Transferred to WCU from Florida State College in Jacksonville ... Played prep base-ball at The Bolles School ... Won a Northwoods League Championship last summer with the St. Cloud (Minn.) Rox.
• Transferred to WCU prior to the 2018 season ... Made his WCU debut as a pinch hitter in the season-opening series at ECU, collecting his first hit for the Purple & Gold in his first plate appearance;• As a sophomore at Catawba Valley, batted .384 with 10 doubles and 21 RBI, scoring 33 runs ... Stole 21 bases
• Made his collegiate debut as a pinch hitter in the season-opening series at ECU ... First hit of his collegiate career was a two-run home run vs. Canisius;• Did not see game action, taking a redshirt in 2017, his true freshman season ... Good power, has seen time as a back-up catcher both on the field and bullpen.
• Has played both corner infield positions and outfield during his collegiate career, the latter comign this season ... Team captain and a vocal leader ... Two-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll recipient;• Is joined on the squad this year by his two younger twin brothers, Andrew and Luke.
• Found a home in the WCU outfield as a freshman, earning All-SoCon Freshman Team honors in 2017 ... 43 games played, 27 starts as a freshman with a .314 batting av-erage ... Good speed ... Is also an accomplished pitcher with one collegiate app.;• Is joined on the squad this year by his twin brother, Luke, and older brother, Caleb.
• Highly-touted utility player – raw talent ... Started first college game at ECU, col-lecting first hit at ECU; • Three-time all-conference selection and two-time all-region ... Played catcher as a HS sophomore and junior, and was a HS quarterback with over 3,000 passing yards.
• Has seen time in various positions to start the 2018 season including 3B and OF ... First career base hit was a double in the 2017 season-opener against St. John’s, a game in which he started behind the plate;• Draws a No. 2 and a cross in the dirt when he approaches the plate in memory of slain Buncombe County police officer – and family friend – Jeff Hewitt ... the No. 2 represents Hewitt’s unit number.
• Saw his first collegiate action in the 2017 season-opener as a reserve behind the plate ... His first career base hit was a double in the 2017 season-opener against St. John’s ... Has made the move to first base with injury to Andrew Bullock;• Is joined on the squad this year by his older brother, Caleb, and his twin brother, Andrew.
• Reserve infielder ... Said to be one of the smoothest players in turning a double-play in the middle infield ... Made collegiate debut as a pinch hitter in the season-opening ECU series ... First hit against Morehead State in a win ... 3 starts at 2B;• Transfer from Coker College, where he played in 36 games for the Cobras, hitting .256 as a freshman with eight doubles and two home runs.
• Good speed in the outfield ... Has seen most action as a reserve ... Col-lege debut at ECU with first collegiate start in the same season-opening series ... Still looking for his first base hit, though has scored three times as a reserve – twice as a pinch runner, once drawing a walk as a pinch hitter;• Two-sport standout at James Clemens HS, playing baseball and football.
• 2017 Preseason All-Southern Conference second team as the designated hitter in after tallying SoCon All-Freshman team plaudits in the same position in 2016, batting .304 with six homers as a rookie;• Hand injury (hamate bone), had surgery on March ;
GP–GS AVG. R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB KSEASON 14–4 .174 5 4 1 1 0 5 4 8HIGHS: Hits: 1, four times (MR: BALL STATE-1, 3/9/18) Runs: 1, five times (MR: at The Citadel-1, 3/24/18) RBI: 2, BALL STATE-1 (3/9/18)
GP–GS AVG. R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB KSEASON 23–19 .210 12 13 0 0 0 3 10 24HIGHS: Hits: 2, three times (MR: KENT STATE, 3/16/18) Runs: 1, 12 times (MR: at Wofford, 3/31/18) RBI: 1, three times (MR: at Wofford, 3/29/18)
GP–GS AVG. R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB KSEASON 7–7 .167 6 4 0 1 0 1 1 4HIGHS: Hits: 1, four times (MR: TENNESSEE, 3/27/18) Runs: 2, KENT STATE (3/18/18) RBI: 1, KENT STATE (3/18/18)
• Suffered a knee-injury prior to his sophomore season in 2016, taking a redshirt ... Returned to the lineup in 2017, starting the bulk of the season in left field ... Coming off a season where he batted a career-best .303 with 13 doubles ... Has five of his eight career home runs this season;• Very good speed, has been atop the lineup multiple times as the lead-off man.
2017 Western Carolina Catamount BaseballWestern Carolina at UNC Asheville
8 - Taylor Purus vs Canisius (Feb 23, 2018)Earned runs: 8 - Taylor Purus vs Canisius (Feb 23, 2018)
Walks allowed: 7 - Taylor Purus vs Kent State (Mar 18, 2018)Strikeouts: 10 - Tristan Baker at Wofford (Mar 30, 2018)
Hits allowed: 10 - Tristan Baker vs Canisius (Feb 23, 2018)10 - Taylor Purus vs Ball State (Mar 10, 2018)10 - Chase Walter at The Citadel (Mar 23, 2018)
Doubles allowed: 3 - (6 times )Triples allowed: 1 - (7 times )
Homers allowed: 2 - Taylor Purus vs Canisius (Feb 23, 2018)2 - Blake Therrian vs Tennessee (Mar 27, 2018)
2018 Western Carolina Catamount BaseballStatistics Summary for Western Carolina (as of Apr 03, 2018)
(All games)
Record: 3-23 Home: 2-11 Away: 1-12 SoCon: 1-5
Date Opponent Score2/16 at ECU L 3-82/17 at ECU L 2-82/18 at ECU L 3-92/20 MOREHEAD STATE W 6-22/23 CANISIUS L 4-152/23 CANISIUS L 0-92/24 CANISIUS L 11-122/27 APPALACHIAN STATE L 3-133/2 at #10 Louisville L 4-163/3 at #10 Louisville L 7-83/4 at #10 Louisville L 2-33/6 MARSHALL L 8-123/9 BALL STATE L 4-73/9 BALL STATE L 8-203/10 BALL STATE L 8-93/14 at Tennessee L 0-53/16 KENT STATE L 4-73/17 KENT STATE L 4-63/18 KENT STATE W 9-2
*3/23 at The Citadel L 1-5*3/24 at The Citadel W 8-5*3/24 at The Citadel L 3-93/27 TENNESSEE L 3-17
*3/29 at Wofford L 5-6*3/30 at Wofford L 3-5*3/31 at Wofford L 2-3
Player avg gp-gs ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi bb hbp so sb-att18 Justice Bigbie . 3 7 5 26-25 96 10 36 7 0 1 25 7 1 17 1-2
LOB - Team (204), Opp (242). DPs turned - Team (16), Opp (15). CI - Team (2),Capell 2. IBB - Team (2), Bullock 1, L. Robinson 1. Picked off - Capell 1, Prater1, Koehler 1.
Win-loss breakouts: Day 3-19; Night 0-4; vs Left 1-6; vs Right 2-17;1-run games 0-6; 2-run games 0-2; 5+run games 1-11; Extra inns 0-3; Shutouts 0-2.Current streak: Lost 5; Longest winning streak: 1; Longest losing streak: 14.Attendance: Home 7488 (avg 624); Away 17980 (avg 1498); Total 25468 (avg 1061).
