Sunday, March 17, 2024

Cats Look To Sweep Harvard In Cullowhee


WCU swept both ends of Saturday's doubleheader with Harvard, as  Catamount pitching combined for 13 strikeouts in a 2-hitter in the series opener, before the offense erupted for 10 runs in the 8th inning to complete the sweep and take game two, 19-12. 

Trent Turner collected a team-high four hits over the doubleheader, including a double and a home run, for a total of 10 RBI. Nate Stocum also homered twice in the doubleheader, one per game, to go along with his 5 runs scored and 5 RBI. Stocum got on base 7 times between the doubleheader and the doubleheader, with three walks and an extra-base hit.

In the first game of the series between Western Carolina and Harvard, Nate Stocum hit a three-run home run in a four-run third inning to give Western Carolina a 4-2 lead in the series opener. The Catamount pitching staff combined for 13 K's in a 2-hitter in the win.

The Catamounts came back from a three-run deficit in the home half of the eighth inning to beat Harvard 19-12 in game two of Saturday's twin bill sweep. WCU plated five runs in the first four innings and then went on to score 14 runs between the seventh and the eighth frames. The Catamounts’ 19 runs were their most since scoring 19 in last May’s 19-7 home victory over UNC Asheville. This marks the third time WCU has scored double-digit runs this spring – and the second in three games – after pushing across 18 runs in an 8-inning victory over Western Michigan last Sunday.

The final game of the three-game series will be played on Sunday with an early 11:00 a.m. start to accommodate Harvard’s schedule. The game will be aired on ESPN+and live stats can be found by following the link on the official Catamount Sports website.


Game #1



Game #2


Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Harvard (Weekend Series)

 






Who: Harvard Crimson
When: Friday, March 15  -  Sunday, March 17, 2024
Times: Fri. 4:00 pm; Sat. 2:00 pm (updated); Sun. 11:00 am
Where: Childress Field, Cullowhee, NC
TV/videoESPN+
      -announcer: Daniel Hooker (PxP)
Live Stats:  WCU Live Stats
Conference: Ivy League
Nickname: Crimson
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Colors: Crimson, white, and black
Students: 21,613

Last season's record: 20-24 overall, 9-5 home, 9-15 away, 2-4 neutral, 15-6 conference
This season:  2-8 overall, 0-0 home, 1-6 away, 1-2 neutral, 0-0 conference

Head Coach:  Bill Decker was introduced as the Joseph J. O'Donnell ’67 Head Coach for Harvard Baseball on September 26, 2012. He will enter his 12th season at the helm of the Crimson during the 2023-24 academic year following a 22-year tenure at Trinity in which he won a national championship in 2008 and earned induction into the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

Series History:  This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Harvard will play in Johnson City on Wednesday, before the series in Cullowhee.   Harvard University baseball was selected to finish third in the 2024 Ivy League Baseball Preseason Media Poll.  Harvard returned key hitters to its lineup from the 2023 season, including junior George Cooper (.333 average, 13 doubles), senior Jake Berger (.292 average, 32 RBIs), senior Ben Rounds (.290 average, 33 RBIs), and senior Peter Messervy (.280 average, 16 doubles).

On the mound, Harvard brings back junior right-hander Sean Matson – the Most Outstanding Relief Pitcher award winner in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2023 – and sophomore right-hander Callan Fang – the 2023 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

In 2023, the Crimson gained a berth in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, securing the No. 2 seed behind a 15-6 Ivy League record, marking Harvard's most Ivy League wins since 2005. The Crimson captured six of its seven Ivy League series during the regular season.

Harvard baseball fell to East Tennessee State University, 14-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Thomas Stadium.





Monday, March 4, 2024

SoCon MBB Power Ranking (3-4-24)





Welcome to Purple & Gold's 2024 SoCon Men's Basketball Power Rankings

This is the Monday, March 4, 2024, SoCon Basketball Power Rankings. 

Last week's ranking in parentheses. 


   
   1. (1) Samford
   2. (2) UNCG
   3. (5) Western Carolina
   4. (3) Chattanooga  
   5. (6) Wofford
   6. (4) Furman 
   7. (8) ETSU                  
   8. (7) Mercer
   9. (9) The Citadel 
 10. (10) VMI
  
 



Saturday, March 2, 2024

Scanning the SoCon (Saturday March 2, 2024)

 Saturday March 2, 2024  

Today's Results....

Wofford 74 - VMI 62    Corey Tripp led Wofford to a 74-62 victory over VMI on Saturday with 17 points. Tripp also grabbed five rebounds for the Terriers. Kyler Filewich contributed 15 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the field and 1 for 3 from the line, along with six rebounds and six assists. Dillon Bailey scored 11 points, making 2 of 8 shots and 1 for 7 from 3-point range, while going 6 for 8 from the line. Taeshaud Jackson led the Keydets (4-27, 1-17) with 22 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Tyran Cook added 13 points for VMI. VMI's losing streak extended to 12 games.

Mercer 82 - Furman 75   Jalyn McCreary led Mercer to an 82-75 victory over Furman, scoring 21 points. McCreary also contributed five rebounds to the Bears' win. David Thomas made two 3-pointers and ended the game with 18 points and six assists. Caleb Hunter added 14 points with two 3-pointers. On the other hand, Furman, with a record of 16-15 (10-8), was paced by JP Pegues who tallied 19 points and eight assists. Pjay Smith Jr. chipped in with 17 points and six rebounds, while Marcus Foster finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Western Carolina 82 - Chattanooga 63    Western Carolina's Vonterius Woolbright finished with a triple-double, Tre Jackson added 20 points and as the Catamounts beat Chattanooga 82-63 on Saturday. Woolbright scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 10 assists. Jackson shot 7 for 13, including 6 for 9 from beyond the arc for WCU (22-9, 11-7 SoCon). Russell Jones was 6-of-11 shooting to finish with 15 points.  Honor Huff led the way for the Mocs, with 16 points. Jan Zidek and Tyler Millin scored 13 points apiece.

The Citadel 80 - Samford 92    In Samford's victory over The Citadel on Saturday night, Achor Achor contributed 21 points to the Bulldogs' 92-80 win.  Achor displayed impressive shooting accuracy, going 7-of-12 from the field and a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. Nathan Johnson also made significant impact, scoring 18 points by shooting 4 for 7 (including 3 for 6 from 3-point range) and converting 7 of 10 free throws. Dallas Graziani added 11 points, shooting 4-of-6 (with 3 for 5 from 3-point range). Quentin Millora-Brown had a double-double performance with 16 points and 11 rebounds. AJ Smith contributed 15 points for The Citadel, while Colby McAllister scored 14 points as well.

ETSU 66 - UNCG 65     ETSU secured a 66-65 win over UNCG on Saturday, thanks to Jaden Seymour's 18 points and Quimari Peterson's go-ahead layup with only four seconds remaining. Seymour contributed six rebounds, while Peterson recorded 14 points and five assists. Ebby Asamoah made two 3-pointers and scored 14 points as well. On the other side, Keyshaun Langley led the Spartans with 25 points, followed by Donovan Atwell with 18 points.


Friday, March 1, 2024

Game #31 - at Chattanooga Mocs (the rematch)

 

Who: Chattanooga Mocs
Where: McKenzie Arena
When: Saturday, February 2, 2024
Time: 2 pm
RadioCatamount Sports Network
Video/TVESPN+
Live StatsLive Stats
Enrollment: 11,400
Nickname: Mocs
Colors: Blue and Gold

Head Coach: Dan Earl - Earl came to Chattanooga after a 7-year stint leading the VMI Keydets

Earl's Record vs. WCU: 7-8 (at VMI)
Gray's Record vs. UTC: 2-3

Chattanooga's Current Record: 20-10 overall, 12-3 home, 8-7 away, 0-0 neutral, 12-5 SoCon
Chattanooga's Last Season Record: 18-17 overall, 12-3 home, 0-9 away, 3-1 neutral, 7-11 SoCon.

The Series: Western owns a 30-71 record versus the Mocs in a series that tipped off in 1969, and are 6-4 in the last 10 games played. The Cats are 6-39 in games played in Chattanooga. The two teams split the wins last season, each winning on their home court, but the Cats dropped a game to the Mocs in Cullowhee in January.

The Cats travel to Chattanooga to end the current regular season in one of the historically, most difficult place, for a Catamount basketball team to pick up a win, McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Having played a total of 101 games, the Cats have only won 6 in McKenzie Arena.  

The Mocs were picked to finish 5th by both the coaches and media in preseason polling and sophomore guard Honor Huff was selected preseason all-conference. The Mocs are currently 3d in offense in the SoCon, posting an average of 79 points per game, and 4th in scoring defense, giving up 69.8 points per game.

Currently, the Mocs are tied for second place in the conference standings at 12-5 (in conference) with UNCG (both teams play their final game Saturday). The Mocs come into the game with a 2-2 record in the last 4 games, and are coming off a win in a home game vs. Mercer. However the Mocs dropped a road game vs. The Citadel in Charleston, SC the prior week.  

"Chattanooga became the fourth SoCon team to hit the 20-win plateau back on Feb. 28, as the Mocs rebounded from a 71-62 upset loss at The Citadel with an 84-75 home win over Mercer in the midweek. The SoCon ranks tied with the ACC, Big Ten, and Mountain West with four 20-win teams – one of six conferences in the nation with four or more teams with 20+ victories. The SEC (6) and Big 12 (5) are the only other leagues with more.

The Mocs lineup boasts two of the top seven scorers in the Southern Conference as two VMI transfers Honor Huff (17.7 ppg) and Trey Bonham (16.3 ppg) rank fourth and seventh, respectively. Huff was the first player in the SoCon to surpass the 100 3-pointers made list with 101 on the year, ranking first with a 3.4 treys per game average. Sam Alexis ranks fourth in the SoCon in rebounding at 9.1 per contest, joined in the league's Top 25 by Tyler Millin (4.8 rpg), Randy Brady (4.8 rpg), and Bonham at 4.7 boards per contest."



Thursday, February 29, 2024

Scanning the SoCon (Saturday March 2, 2024)

Saturday, March 2, 2024

All ten teams are in action on the final Saturday of the conference regular season.  Only 3 of the 10 seeds have been finalized prior to Saturday's games, they are #1, #9, and #10.  So the outcome of these five games are critical to the final seedings.  

The day kicks off with Wofford traveling to Lexington, VA. While VMI's fate is sealed, the Terriers is not. In game two of the day, tipping off at 2 pm in Timmons Arena, the Paladins host Mercer, both with identical 7-10 conference records. Game three starts at 2 pm as well and has the Catamounts traveling across the mountain to face the Mocs in Chattanooga, while the Cats are trying to move up to a #4 seed, the Mocs wants to hold on two a share of the #2 spot in the conference standings. The Citadel travels to Homewood, AL to face the other Bulldogs in a game where the results will not effect the standings as Samford has nailed down the #1 seen and The Citadel will hold down the #9 seed win or lose.  The final game of the day tips at 4 pm in Johnson City as the Spartans travel to the Freedom Center to face the ETSU Bucs, that second place in the standing is also at play for the Spartans should they win, on the "Road to Asheville"

1:00 PM - on ESPN+
Wofford (16-14, 9-8 SoCon) at VMI (4-26, 1-16 SoCon)
Cameron Hall - Lexington, VA

2:00 PM - on ESPN+
Mercer (14-16. 7-10 SoCon) at Furman (16-14. 10-7 SoCon)
Timmons Arena - Greenview, SC

2:00 PM - on ESPN+
Western Carolina (21-9, 10-7 SoCon) at Chattanooga (20-10, 12-5 SoCon)
McKenzie Arena - Chattanooga, TN

3:00 PM - on ESPN+
The Citadel (11-19, 3-14 SoCon) at Samford (25-5, 14-3 SoCon)
Pete Hanna Center - Homewood, AL

4:00 PM - on ESPN+
UNCG (21-9, 12-5 SoCon) at ETSU (15-15, 7-10 SoCon)
Freedom Hall Civic Center - Johnson City, TN




Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Game #30 - Furman (the rematch)

 

Who: Furman Paladins
Where: Ramsey Center, Cullowhee, NC
When: Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Time: 7 pm
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
Video/TV: ESPNU

Live Stats: Live Stats
Nickname: Paladins
Colors: Purple and White
Fan Message Board: GoPaladins.com


Head Coach: Bob Richey enters his seventh season as head coach and 13th season with the Furman program

Richey's Record at Furman: 148-64 (7th season)
Richey's Record vs. WCU: 16-1
Gray's Record vs. Furman: 1-5

Furman's Current Record: 16-13 overall, 12-2 home, 4-9 away, 0-2 neutral, 10-6 conference.
Furman's Last Season Record: 28-8 overall, 14-2 home, 8-3 away, 6-3 neutral, 15-3 conference.

The Series: Western has a 30-55 overall record in the series with Furman that tipped off in 1977. The Cats are 1-9 in the last 10 games played and are 21-17 overall in games played in Cullowhee, but have dropped the last three games played to the Paladins. 

This game is a Purple Out in Cullowhee, as the Cats - "Paint It Purple!"  Wear Purple!

The preseason favorite Paladins currently sit tied for 5th place in the SoCon standings with Chattanooga, both holding 3-2 conference records. Furman has conference win over VMI, the Citadel, & ETSU, with losses to Chattanooga and UNCG.

Western dropped a very close 62-65 loss to Furman in January. 




Monday, February 26, 2024

SoCon MBB Power Ranking (2-26-24)





Welcome to Purple & Gold's 2024 SoCon Men's Basketball Power Rankings

This is the Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, SoCon Basketball Power Rankings. 

Last week's ranking in parentheses. 


   
   1. (1) Samford
   2. (2) UNCG
   3. (3) Chattanooga  
   4. (4) Furman 
   5. (5) Western Carolina                  
   6. (6) Wofford
   7. (7) Mercer
   8. (8) ETSU  
   9. (9) The Citadel 
 10. (10) VMI
  
 



Monday, February 19, 2024

SoCon MBB Power Ranking (2-19-24)





Welcome to Purple & Gold's 2024 SoCon Men's Basketball Power Rankings

This is the Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, SoCon Basketball Power Rankings. 

Last week's ranking in parentheses. 


   
   1. (1) Samford
   2. (3) UNCG
   3. (2) Chattanooga  
   4. (6) Furman 
   5. (4) Western Carolina                  
   6. (5) Wofford
   7. (8) Mercer
   8. (7) ETSU  
   9. (9) The Citadel 
 10. (10) VMI
  
 



Sunday, February 18, 2024

WCU Player of the ETSU Game (Woolbright)




Purple & Gold's Catamount "Player of the Game" versus the ETSU Bucs on February 17th in the Ramsey Center, is senior guard Vonterius Woolbright.  




Vonterius Woolbright
tallied a SoCon and nationally-leading twenty-third double
-double of the season, with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists against the Bucs In Saturday's game in Cullowhee. 

Woolbright hit 5 of 14 field goals and went 11 of 12 at the charity stripe. Woolbright's rebounds consisted of 9 defensive rebounds and 1 offensive rebound for a total of 10, he also had 3 assists in the game. 



Our congratulations to Vonterius Woolbright on his selection as Player of the Game. 

Pic Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations


                                                      

Scanning the SoCon (2-17-24)


Saturday, February 17, 2024

Only four games were on the schedule today, as Furman and Chattanooga will face on Sunday on the CBS Sports Network in a nationally televised game with a tipoff at 2 pm in Timmons Arena. In Saturday's games, there was a major upset as the Mercer Bears upset the league-leading Samford Bulldogs in Macon.  In other games, The Citadel won the military school battle over rival VMI in Charleston, while UNCG handled Wofford and the Catamounts picked up a 5-point win in Cullowhee to get a firmer grip on that important 6th position in the conference standings, which will avoid the Friday play-in games at the start of the SoCon MBB Tournament, on the "Road to Asheville"

Samford  84 -  Mercer 88
Probably the biggest upset of the season was pulled off by Mercer as Jalyn McCreary scored 27 points to lead the Bears over Samford 88-84 on Saturday. David Thomas scored 19 points and added seven assists, while Alex Holt shot 7 of 10 from the field and 2 for 3 from the line to finish with 16 points, and eight rebounds. For the Bulldogs, Achor Achor finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, and Rylan Jones added 19 points. The Bulldogs ended a six-game winning streak with the loss, but remain in first place in the standings

ETSU 65 - Western Carolina 70
The Catamounts Vonterius Woolbright picked up his NCAA-leading 23rd double-double as he and Russell Jones both scored 21 points as the Catamounts beat East Tennessee State 70-65 on Saturday night. Woolbright added 10 rebounds to round out the double as Jones posted three 3-pointers. DJ Campbell had 12 points. The Buccaneers were led by Ebby Asamoah with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Quimari Peterson added 13 points and Jadyn Parker put up nine points and three blocks in the losing effort for the Bucs.

UNCG 58 - Wofford 47
The Spartan's Donovan Atwell hit 15 points to lead UNCG to a 58-47 win against Wofford on Saturday night. Atwell hit 5 for 9, including 4 for 8 from beyond the arc. Keyshaun Langley added 13 points and seven assists. Corey Tripp led the way for the Terriers with 13 points, as Jackson Sivills added eight points and six rebounds for the Terriers.

VMI 52 - The Citadel 76
The Citadel evened their record with VMI this season by putting up a 76-52 win in Charleston, after the Keydets posted a  70-63 victory over the Bulldogs earlier this season in Lexington, VA.  AJ Smith scored 19 points to lead The Citadel over VMI 76-51 on Saturday. Elijah Morgan scored 15 points and added nine steals, while Quentin Millora-Brown had 13 points and  11 rebounds. The victory snapped a six-game skid for the Bulldogs. Taeshaud Jackson finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three steals for the Keydets.  Stephen Olowoniyi added 11 points and three blocks for VMI, which has lost eight straight games in conference play. 




Friday, February 16, 2024

Game #27 - ETSU (Black Out Ramsey Day)


Who: ETSU Bucs
Where: Ramsey Center, Cullowhee, NC  
When: Saturday, February 17, 2024
Time: 4 pm
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
TV/Video: ESPN+ 
Live Stats: Live Stats
Enrollment: 13,483
Nickname: Buccaneers
Colors: Navy Blue and Gold

Head Coach: Brooks Savage was named ETSU men's basketball head coach on March 20, 2023. Savage, the 19th head coach in program history, served as an ETSU assistant coach during its historic run from 2015-2020.

Savage's Record at ETSU: 13-13 (First Season)
Savage's Record vs. WCU: 0-1
Gray's Record vs. ETSU: 5-1

ETSU Current Record: 13-13 overall, 8-4 home, 4-9 away, 1-0 neutral, 5-8 conference.
ETSU Last Season's Record: 12-29 overall, 7-9 home, 4-9 away, 1-3 neutral, 8-10 conference.

The Series: Western owns a 29-58 overall record versus the Bucs. In conference games, the Cats are 20-48 and are 5-5 in the last 10 games played, however, the Cats are on a five game win streak against the Bucs that broke a 13 game slide against the ETSU. Western is 14-25 overall vs. ETSU in games played in Cullowhee.

The Catamount men host the "Beat the Bucs – Black Out Ramsey" game with all fans encouraged to match the squad's black Nike uniforms by wearing their black WCU gear to the game. In the doubleheader nightcap, the Catamount women host Samford for their annual "Shoot for the Cure – Pink Out" game with fans encouraged to wear pink to raise awareness for breast cancer.

The Bucs were picked to finish in seventh place in preseason polls by both the coaches and media. ETSU comes into this game having beat Mercer and losing to UNCG last Saturday. ETSU has won six of its last eight games and is holding opponents to 64 points, 37% percent from the field and 25% from beyond the arc during this run .

After losing three starters and eight players from last year's team, head coach Brooks Savage brought in 11 new guys for the 2023-24 season, seven of the new Bucs are transfers: Ebby Asamoah (Delaware), Karon Boyd (USC Aiken), DJ Hughes (Butler), Jadyn Parker (North Florida), Quimari Peterson (John A. Logan), Tyler Rice (William & Mary) and Timmy Fasehun (Gulf Coast State College). Four of the new Bucs are true freshmen: Maki Johnson, Gabe Sisk, Jaxson Jones, and David Meriwether.

The Bucs return four players from last year's roster who logged minutes, including starters Jaden Seymour and Allen Strothers, along with Justice Smith and Braden Ilic. Overall, ETSU only returns 29% of its scoring, 37% of its rebounding and 38% of its minutes played in 2022-23. Seymour totaled 253 points, 218 rebounds, Smith posted 237 points, 111 rebounds, while Allen Strothers recorded 109 points, 51 rebounds and Braden Ilic added for 46 points, 33 rebounds.

The Bucs come into Saturday's game on a 2 game slide, losing to Furman at home and Chattanooga on the road. 


Pic Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations