The Catamount softball team hosted a three-game series against Southern Conference (SOCON) rivals Eastern Tennessee State University (ETSU) Buccaneers. The first two games were started at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 23.
The first game started off with a bang when sophomore infielder Maya McPherson scored a homerun to give the Catamounts a 2-0 lead in the third inning. The same inning got stretched out to 6-0 in favor of the Catamounts. In the circle of the Catamounts was the freshman pitcher Amanda Fulton. Fulton pitched all seven innings, giving up one run and striking out eight Buccaneers in the process. The lone ETSU run came in the seventh inning off a sacrifice flyout from Sara Muir, allowing Tiare Rieger to score. The Catamounts would end up winning the game 6-1.
“Just a great top to bottom win, just clutch hits and great defense. The team looked awesome today,” said fan Cheryl Fulton.
The second game followed right after the first. The Catamounts carried the momentum with a mercy rule in the fifth inning. This game saw three home runs from the Catamounts, one coming from McPherson in the second inning, putting up the game’s first points. The other two came from Sydny Dirks and Becka Wonsick in the third inning to put the Cats up 8-0. The Catamounts ended up winning the game 11-0 in the fifth inning.
After this game, I talked with fan Jade Sondergaard who is also the proud parent of number 66, Maya McPherson.
“She did pretty good… I think that they played good as a team,” Sondergaard said.
The series finale on March 23 saw the ETSU Buccaneers win their lone game of the series with a score of 5-2. Western Carolina pitchers gave up nine hits and only six strikeouts.
The Catamounts won the series, winning two of the three games against their arch-rivals ETSU Buccaneers, putting the Cats’ record at 17-15 overall and 2-1 in SOCON play.
The Cats will be out on the diamond next at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 against Queens. The game will be played at home in Cullowhee and streamed live on ESPN+.
In the SOCON standings, the Catamounts are sitting fourth of eight teams early in SOCON play. The next SOCON game will be a home series against Samford, starting with a double header at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 29 and the second game starting 30 minutes after. The series finale will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 30.
