Basketball: WCU to play in the preseason Cancun Challenge

Triple Crown Sports officials announced the eight teams slated to compete in the preseason 2012 Men’s Cancun Challenge to be played at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

The field includes Iowa (Big 10), DePaul (Big East), Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), and Wichita State (Missouri Valley) playing in the Riviera Division. The Mayan Division features Howard (MEAC), Austin Peay State (Ohio Valley), Western Carolina (Southern) and Gardner-Webb (Big South).

The tournament format includes eight games played in the United States (Nov. 15 and 17) with the four teams in the Riviera Division hosting the four schools in the Mayan Division. All eight teams then travel to Cancun, Mexico for two games (Nov. 20-21) to be played at the Moon Palace Resort. A champion is crowned in both divisions.

Fourth Annual Mountains vs. Beaches

Wilmington, NC - Western Carolina's track & field teams are in Wilmington, NC for the Fourth Annual Mountains vs. Beaches meet to be held on the campus of UNC Wilmington.

The Catamounts will partner with mountain rival Appalachian State to take on Wilmington and East Carolina in the yearly track & field meet. The Mountains team has won all three previous events.

The meet is set to get under way at 9 a.m. Saturday with the field events, beginning with the women's hammer throw and continuing throughout the day before wrapping up with the men's shot put and the women's discus at 3:30 p.m.

The running events kick off at 12:30 p.m. with the women's 4x100 relay and progress to the day's final event, the men's 4x400 relay, at 4:30 p.m.

Baseball Postponed; Doubleheader Saturday at 2 pm

Cullowhee, NC - The series-opening game against Davidson has been postponed due to rain in the Cullowhee area. A doubleheader is now scheduled for Saturday to begin at 2 p.m. with the second game to follow thirty minutes after game one.

The Catamounts will start Jordan Smith in game one, while Henry Sisson gets the start for Davidson. Smith is 2-3 for the season while Sisson is 1-1.

Softball: Furman Series

The Catamounts return home this weekend to host a three-game Southern Conference series with Furman. First pitch in the doubleheader Saturday is scheduled for 1 pm and Sunday's game gets underway at 1 PM as well.

Cats win game #2 at KSU

Kennesaw, Ga - Western Carolina rallied in the top of the 10th inning when Bradley Strong hit a double to right field, sending home Adam Martin from second base as Western Carolina rallied to defeat Kennesaw State on the road, 7-6.

The Catamounts will now open a three-game SoCon series against the Davidson Wildcats this weekend at  Hennon Stadium.  First pitch on Friday evening is scheduled for 6:00 pm with Saturday slated to start at 2:00 pm and Sunday's finale at 1:00 pm.

Baseball: Cats drop one to KSU

On Tuesday, the Catamounts rushed out to a 7-0 lead before giving up a total of 7 runs to the Owls in the top of the sixth inning, propelling the Owls to a 11-9 victory over the Catamounts.

As well as the pitching woes in the 6th inning, the Catamounts also tripped over their old foe, the error. The Cats made three errors in the game.  The two game series now moves to Kennesaw, GA for a 5 pm game on Wednesday afternoon.

Baseball Today

Kennesaw State (14-10, 4-2 ASun)

vs.

Western Carolina (17-7, 4-2 SoCon)

Day / Date / Time: Tuesday / March 27, 2012 / 5:00 p.m. EDT

Cullowhee, NC / Childress Field at Hennon Stadium

The first pitch of will be thrown by CHANCELLOR DAVID BELCHER!

WCU’s First Lady, Mrs. Susan Belcher, will be singing the National Anthem prior to the game.

Cats Drops Series Finale to Greensboro

The UNC Greensboro Spartans handed the Catamounts their first at home loss this year on Sunday at Hennon Stadium, and halted a Catamount 14-game home win streak that dated back to the final three-game series of the 2011 season. The Cats fell 5-1, getting 7 hits but only pushing one run across home plate.

SoCon Standings after Sunday's games

1. Charleston (10-2)
2T. Samford (7-2)
2T. Appy State (7-2)
4T. Western Carolina (4-2)
4T. Elon (8-4)
6T. Georgia Southern (3-6)
6T. Greensboro (3-6)
6T. Furman (3-6)
9. Davidson (2-7)
10. The Citadel (1-5)
11. Wofford (0-6)

Softball: Cats split double header with Charleston

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts dropped game one 4-0, then bounced back to win game two by a 9-1 score (5 innings) Saturday in the opening double header of the three game series at the Catamount Softball Complex. The Cats also completed a couple of season firsts with the win over Charleston, as it was their first conference win of the season, and their first shortened game win of the season. The Catamounts and Cougars play the rubber game of the series at 1 p.m. Sunday in Cullowhee.

The Catamount Classic

Cullowhee, NC - Catamount Track and Field wrapped up the 2012 Beynon Surfaces Catamount Classic on Saturday with nine wins at the Catamount Athletic Complex.

"We had some ups and downs in this meet," said Head Coach Danny Williamson. "We had a lot of people that got personal bests and some who didn't do quite as well as we had hoped they would. It's better for that to happen early in the outdoor season rather than at the conference meet. As a head coach hosting a meet, you have to take care of others and make sure the meet is running smoothly and that can sometimes cause your team to lose a little bit of focus, but we will regroup and get things going in the right direction."

Baseball: Cats take two from Greensboro

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts pounded Greensboro 16-2 in opener, and then slipped by 6-5 in 11 innings in the night cap of a double header played in Hennon Stadium on Saturday. The Cats slammed a season-high 19 hits in game one, and then followed up with 15 hits in game two. Dykota Spiess belted a lead-off, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to cap the come-from-behind victory for the Catamounts in the second game. Spiess had a total of three home runs for the day, belting out two in game one. Gsme three is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Baseball: Cats drop third straight to UNC-A

Asheville, NC - Western Carolina dropped their third straight game to the Asheville Bulldogs Wednesday evening at McCormick Field in Asheville. In the extra innings game, Cody Jones broke the 11-inning scoreless drought by both teams, hitting a solo home run over the right center field fence to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead. But, a Catamount fielding error prevented the Cats from getting the third out in the bottom of the 12th, and allowed Asheville to stay alive, despite being down to their last out and final strike in the 12th inning Patrick Koontz then hit a walk-off, three-run home run over the right field fence to seal the 3-1 victory for the Bulldogs.

T&F: Keen Named Track Athlete of the Week

Keen - Courtesy
WCU Sports

Spartanburg, SC - Sophomore Jocelyn Keen and Furman's Sinead Haughey were named the SoCon’s Women’s Outdoor Track Co-Athletes of the Week for meets over last weekend.

Keen recorded her personal best time of 57.79 in the 400 meter run and was the lead-off leg of the 4x400m relay, and ran a personal best in the 800m at the 49er Classic with a time of 2:09.56 finishing second overall.

Softball Splits with Ohio

Foster - Courtesy
WCU Sports

Cullowhee, NC -The Catamounts split their two game series with the Ohio Bobcats on Tuesday in the Catamount Softball Complex. The Cats lost the first game 10-5, but bounced back in the nightcap to win 9-6. During the doubleheader, Erin Foster hit three home runs. In the first game she was 2-for-4 with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs scored, and in the second game she went 2-for-3 with two homeruns, four RBIs and two runs scored. Foster leads the team with eight homeruns for the season.

The Cats host their first SoCon series of the season on Saturday when they welcome Charleston to Cullowhee. The Cats and Cougars play a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.) and then a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Spring Football Game

Cullowhee, NC - On Saturday, April 14th at 1 p.m., the 2012 Catamount Football team will hold its annual Spring Game at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.

Come to Cullowhee to enjoy a day of TAILGATING, LIVE MUSIC, and other festivities before the game begins! Following the game will be an autograph session with the players and coaches in the Stadium Lot, giving you the chance to meet the coaching staff and interact with our Student Athletes.

RESERVED PARKING
The Catamount Club will be coordinating reserved parking spaces for the Spring Game. To reserve a parking space for the Spring Game, please contact the Catamount Club Office at 828-227-3047 or jfisher1@wcu.edu. Deadline to reserve your parking place with the Catamount Club office is Friday, April 6th.

Passes will then be mailed out via EMAIL the week of the game with your specific parking space number. The pass will need to be printed and displayed on your dash board to have access to the parking lot. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR PASS TO ACCESS THE LOT!

Volleyball Reunion

Head Volleyball Coach Karen Glover and the team would like to welcome back the Volleyball Alumni the weekend of March 23rd-24th for their reunion.

The itinerary for the weekend is as follows:

Friday, March 23rd
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Open Practice at Camp Lab
6:00 p.m. until… Dutch Treat at O’Malley’s

Saturday, March 24th
9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Campus Tour, Including Athletic Facilities
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Scrimmage vs Mars Hill
12:00 p.m. until…. Alumni Game/Lunch

Baseball Banquet: RESCHEDULED – May 19th, 2012

Baseball Banquet: RESCHEDULED

Please note the date change for the 2012 Catamount Baseball Alumni Weekend/Banquet.

The date is set for Saturday, May 19th.

Football: Quotes from the first week of spring drills

"Overall, I was really pleased with the intensity and focus and the way our guys came out and attacked this first day in full pads," said Speir on Saturday afternoon. "I thought both sides were very, very spirited and that led to an intense practice. We had a lot of individual improvements, and I was very pleased with our first day in full pads."

"I really thought our defense stepped up. It was by far the best defensive day we've had just five days into our spring," Speir said. "Our offense was able to move the ball, sustain some drives and score some touchdowns - all positive things for us offensively; but improvement we showed from last year is that the defense didn't give up any big plays over 15-to-20 yards. That's a positive and something to build on."

"I was very impressed with Michael Johnson today. He's impressed me as a SoCon-caliber running back, showing some nice moves with some good, strong runs today. I also felt offensively that Shaun Warren had a really nice day, as did receiver Jacoby Mitchell and Tyler Klipa - he's fighting his rear-end off as a walk-on, sprung two nice plays during group work with blocks on the outside," said Speir.

"We had three turnovers on offense which are negatives on that side of the ball - we're really stressing to hold onto the football as that was a big thing that killed drives a year ago. But forcing the three takeaways on defense was a positive thing for us there. We've got to get better on our pass rush with our front four; it's a positive for our offensive line in the way we protected the quarterback, but we've got to find a way to get more pressure from our front four."

Baseball: Cats top Clemson

A season best 1,627 fans were on hand to see a 8-4 Catamount victory over the Clemson Tigers Wednesday evening at Hennon Stadium. The Cats belted out 14 hits, largely thanks a seven-run fourth inning. Five Catamounts posted multiple hits, Gragg and Jones both had three hits while White, Heffley and Hoyle recorded two hits each.

Spring Practice Schedule

Catamount Football Spring Practice Schedule:

Wednesday, March 14 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Thursday, March 15 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Friday, March 16 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Saturday, March 17 - 11:00-1:00 pm
Monday, March 19 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Wednesday, March 21 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Friday, March 23 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Saturday, March 24 - 11:00-1:00 pm
Monday, March 26 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Wednesday, March 28 - 6:00-8:00 pm
Wednesday, April 11 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Thursday, April 12 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Friday, April 13 - 4:30-6:00 pm
Saturday, April 14 - 1:00-3:30 pm

Catamounts open spring practice

The Catamounts opened their 15 days of spring practices on Monday evening at E.J. Whitmire Stadium  under rainy conditions for approximately two hours on Monday evening.

"I thought they went out and worked hard today. I am proud of their effort," said Head Coach Mark Speir. "It's all brand new; they don't know where certain drills are going to be run - we talked about it in meetings, but until you get out and do it, we're teaching them as much about where, how and when as far as practice as we are X's and O's at this point. But today, it was good to get out on the field it was a real good introduction and we'll come back on Wednesday and polish it up more."

"Football's a game where there are a lot of things that are unexpected, a lot of changes and a lot of adversity - when everything is easy, everybody can do it. And today's an example of there being some adversity," said Speir. "Today was a lot of guy's first impressions of us and it was our first impression of them. But our overall effort, I thought was outstanding."

Heffley named SoCon Baseball Player of the Week

Cullowhee, NC - Ross Heffley was named the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Week, after posting a .611 batting average, recording 11 hits in 18 at bats.

Heffley led the Cats to a 4-1 record which includes two home victories over nonconference foes Duke and East Tennessee State, and winning the league-opening series at The Citadel, 2 wins to 1. He added six walks to his team leading 17, which boasts his on-base percentage to .708  and added three stolen bases. The preseason All-American was perfect in the field with 10 put outs and 10 assists.

Manteo Mitchell Wins Gold

Mitchell captures
Gold Medal

Manteo Mitchell and the United States' 4x400-meter relay team win the Indoor World Championships with a time of 3:03.94 in Istanbul, Turkey Sunday afternoon.

“This is a great honor for Manteo [Mitchell] and Team USA,” said WCU Head Coach Danny Williamson. “It is also great for Western Carolina University and our program as Manteo has remained here at WCU and is loyal to this university and our program.”

“I am now a world champion,” said Mitchell. “I thank God for this amazing season thus far. I love my family and friends for the continued support that I have received. I’d also like to thank my coach, Danny Williamson, for making me the athlete and man that I am today.”

While at WCU, Mitchell was a 32-time all-Southern Conference performer, and was named the SoCon Most Valuable Track Performer four times. Mitchell holds the WCU record in the 200-meter (20.73) and the 400-meter (46.00).

Baseball: Cats win series

The Catamounts won Sunday's rubber-match with The Citadel, 6-5, and with the win, took the series over the Bulldogs. The Cats scored two runs in the eighth inning to rally past The Citadel Sunday afternoon at Riley Park, taking the weekend series two game to one. Preston Hatcher (2-0) picked up the win for Western Carolina and Ross White (0-3) got the loss for The Citadel.

Western Carolina hosts No. 17 Clemson at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 4:00 pm.

Baseball: Bats come alive in 11-4 win over the Bulldogs

The Cats scored three runs in the first inning and then added on four more in the second to take a 7-0 early lead on their way to a 11-4 win over the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in the Citadel's Riley Park. Aaron Attaway, Tyler White, and Connor Andrus each picked up 3 hits on the day. Morgan McKinney (3-1) picked up the win for the Catamounts, while starter James Reeves was tagged with the loss for The Citadel. The series is tied, 1-1, with the ruber match tomorrow at 1 pm in Charleston.

Cats drop conference opener

Eight walks, a hit by pitch, and two errors committed by the Catamouts was just too much to over come in Friday's opening game at the Citadel's Joe Riley Park in a 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs. The Citadel ended the Cats three-game winning streak in their head-to-head series, and also ended WCU's current six-game unbeaten streak on the season.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon at Riley Park.

Third-Annual Celebration of Catamount Baseball

Head baseball coach Bobby Moranda invites you to the 2012 "Celebration of Catamount Baseball" banquet to be held at the A.K. Hinds University Center on-campus.

The third-annual fundraising event will be held on Saturday, March 24, beginning at 6:00 pm following game two of the Southern Conference series against UNC Greensboro at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.

Friday, March 23rd:
     o Baseball Game vs. UNC Greensboro at 4:00 pm – Childress Field / Hennon Stadium
Saturday, March 24th:
     o Baseball Game vs. UNC Greensboro at 1:00 pm – Childress Field / Hennon Stadium
     o Baseball Banquet, A.K. Hinds University Center – Grand Ballroom – WCU Campus
              Cocktails begin at 6:00 pm
              Dinner and Program begin at 7:00 pm
              Meal Choices: beef, chicken, or vegetarian
Sunday, March 25th:
     o Baseball Game vs. UNC Greensboro at 1:00 pm – Childress Field / Hennon Stadium

The cost for this event will be $100 per person, or you can purchase a table with seating eight (8) for $700. There will also be a silent auction at the banquet to help support the baseball team. We hope you will take this great opportunity to return home to Cullowhee and help support Catamount Baseball!

Please RSVP to Jeremiah Fisher, (828) 227‐3047 or at jfisher1@email.wcu.edu by March 19th.

Last two stops, Morganton & Kernersville - Catamounts Unite Tour

On Thursday, March 8, the Catamounts Unite Tour will be at the Mimosa Hills Golf Country Club in Morganton, N.C. and on Friday, March 9, the tour will be Outwest Steakhouse in Kernersville, N.C., both start at 6:30 pm.

Director of Athletics Randy Eaton and first-year Catamount head football coach Mark Speir are traveling across North Carolina reaching out to the Catamount Nation. Entitled the "Catamounts Unite Tour," is a series of nightly receptions is designed to allow both Eaton and Speir to meet with WCU alumni, supporters and Catamount fans alike as they craft together the vision and direction of Catamount Athletics and Western Carolina Football.

Baseball: Cats over ETSU 7-3

Cullowhee, N.C. – Jon Nadale pitched six innings as Western Carolina pounded out 10 hits to remain perfect at home this season, as the Catamounts defeated ETSU, 7-3, Wednesday evening at Hennon Stadium.

 Nadale earned his first the victory, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing five hits and two runs. The Cats picked up their sixth straight victory of the season. Ross Hefley, Bryant Noteboom, and Cody Jones each had two hits while Noteboom and Adam Martin each had two RBIs to lead the Catamounts.

Annual Soccer Alumni Weekend to be held March 16-18

Cullowhee, N.C. -The Western Carolina University soccer team is hosting its Annual Alumni Weekend March 16-18, 2012.  Join former coaches and players from the men's and women's programs for an exciting reunion event.

Festivities get underway on Friday, March 16, with a golf event at the Waynesville Country Club with tee times starting at 10:40am. Friday evening the group will gather at O'Malley's in Sylva to enjoy the music of soccer alum Steve Weams and The Caribbean Cowboys.

Saturday will be the WCU 7v7 Spring Soccer Tournament. Guests are invited to attend the tournament and lace up their cleats to participate in the Alumni Match scheduled for 12:00pm. Following the soccer action, a cookout will be held at The Best Western River Escape Inn & Suites in Dillsboro at 6pm.

For more information regarding the Soccer Alumni Weekend or to RSVP, please contact Chad Miller at 828-227-2025 - millerc@email.wcu.edu or Brad Bradshaw - bebradshaw2@msn.com.

Baseball: Cats pound the Blue Devils

Cullowhee, NC - Catamount starter Adam Curtis picked up his third win of the season by holding Duke to two runs on six hits in seven innings of work.


Curtis had five strikeouts and one walk on the night. The Cats took advantage of a Blue Devil error in the first and scored a couple of unearned runs to go up a 2-0.  Ross Heffley was 4-for-4 on the day, and DH Jacob Hoyle went 3 for 5 (2 doubles, 5 RBIs) to lead the Catamounts to a 14-4 win over the Blue Devils.

Men's Basketball Team Arriving At The Ramsey Center

Western falls to Davidson in double overtime

Catamounts receive runner-up trophy -
Courtesy WCU

Asheville, NC - "What a whale of a ballgame in terms of heart and competitive effort," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter "Congratulations to Davidson, they have such a great ball club. They had to do what they had to do. I told the guys in the last timeout that I didn't think we had a third overtime in us so I said that we were going for the win. We got our best shooter a really good look, but it didn't go in." Hunter added "I've been a college coach for 41 years now. I told the guys in the locker room that I've never had a team spill their guts like that team did tonight. They gave me everything they had - we had breakdowns, but it wasn't because of what was in our chest (heart)."


ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

FIRST TEAM
Harouna Mutombo, Western Carolina
Trey Sumler, Western Carolina
De'Mon Brooks, Davidson
Jake Cohen, Davidson
J.P. Kuhlman, Davidson

SECOND TEAM
Keaton Cole, Western Carolina
Tawaski King, Western Carolina
Jack Isenbarger, Elon
Eric Ferguson, Georgia Southern
Trevis Simpson, UNCG

Softball: Foster Named SoCon Player of the Week

Spartanburg, S.C. - Erin Foster was selected as the Southern Conference Softball Player of the Week.

Foster, a senior outfielder, hit .500 in five games for the Catamounts at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic. She finished the tournament with nine hits, a double, a triple and a home run. The Salisbury, N.C., native's walk-off single RBI scored the winning run for Western Carolina in the eighth inning, for a 7-6 win over Jacksonville State.

Menendez Named SoCon All-Tournament Team

Asheville, N.C. - The Catamounts' Kaila'Shea Menendez closed out a stellar career by being named to the Southern Conference All-Tournamenet Second Team.

Menendez averaged 18.5 points per game in the first round and quarterfinals of the tournament. She led the Catamounts in both games, scoring 21 points in the win against Georgia Southern and 16 points in the loss to eventual Southern Conference Tournament runner-up Appalachian State.

Catamount Central in Asheville - Lexington Avenue Brewery

The Western Carolina University men’s basketball team is one win away from the NCAA Tournament! Come cheer on the Catamounts as they face No. 1 seed Davidson College in the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville.

Western Carolina and the Catamount Club will host a pregame pep rally at its home for the tournament, “Catamount Central” at the Lexington Avenue Brewery in Asheville. The event, to include the WCU Cathouse Band, Catamount cheerleaders and WCU dance team, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

For those unable to make the trip to Asheville, the game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Go Cats!

The Catamounts will play for the SoCon Championship

Courtesy WCU

Asheville, NC - After upsetting the North Division Champs Greensboro 82-77 Sunday evening, the Catamounts will now take on the South Division Champ Davidson,  Monday night in the 2012 Southern Conference Championship game.

The Catamounts won their first championship finals berth since 1996, also against Davidson. The Cats enter the championship game on a seven-game winning streak that placed them in the title game at 9:00 pm, live on ESPN2.

Four Cats were in double figures scoring, led by Keaton Cole and Harouna Mutombo, both with 17 points. They were joined by Trey Sumler with 16, and Preston Ross coming off the bench with 10 points.

Bat Cats sweep Iona

Jeremy Null

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Catamounts completed a three-game series with an 8-4 win against Iona, sweeping the Gaels Sunday afternoon in Cullowhee.

"Today reminded me of growing up in the mid-West," said Head Coach Bobby Moranda. "We had snow games growing up which is why I live in the South. These were tough conditions to play in. We fought through a lot of adversity. (John) Nargoski is the guy that beat Michigan for Iona last week and is a very good pitcher. We had big knocks by (Dale) Urquhart and (Ross) Heffley. I thought (Jeremy) Null struggled, but overcame it. The best thing that he did was to get out of a first inning, bases loaded jam. He settled in and fought through it. He gave us a chance to win while (Preston) Hatcher came in and slammed the door."

Starting pitcher Jeremy Null picked up his second win of the season going six innings while Preston Hatcher earned his fourth save of the season.

Softball: Cats Sweeps Pair at Buzz Classic

Woodstock, Ga. - The Catamounts swept a pair of tight games Sunday on the final day of the Buzz Classic. The Cats defeated Southeastern Louisiana 5-4 and Alabama State 7-6 in eight innings.

In the Southeastern Louisiana game, Katie King got the start and earned the win to improve to 2-3 on the season. In the Alabama State game, Amber Steinhardt pitched 8 innings and picked up the win.

The Cats returns to action on Tuesday playing a doubleheader at Georgia Tech.

Cats are Semifinal bound, roll to a 82-59 Win over Wofford

Harouna Mutombo 

Asheville, NC - The Catamounts placed six players in double figures as they roared past Wofford, with a 82-59 win at the 2012 SoCon Men's Basketball Tournament in Asheville, NC. The Cats shot 56-percent from the floor, as they avenged being eliminated the last two tournaments by the Terriers.

Harouna Mutombo led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Tawaski King added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, all total, six (6) Catamounts scored in double figures against Wofford.

“Western Carolina was that good and I don’t know if much more needs to be said,” stated head coach Mike Young in his post game interview. “They played a complete game and did a lot of things better than we did today. They advance and we do not for the first time in a long time. It was not meant to be today.”

The Cats will now face the top seed in the North Division, Greensboro. The Spartans eliminated Appy State, in the first game of the day. WCU and UNCG split the regular season games, each winning at home. Game time is 6 pm in the U.S. Cellular Center.

Bat Cats score 22 runs in win

Aaron Attaway

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts pounded out 22 runs to defeat Iona by a score of 22-2, and ensure the series win against the Gaels in Cullowhee's Hennon Stadium Saturday. A strong pitching performance by Morgan McKinney, allowed him tp pick up the win with only one hit given up. Infielder Aaron Attaway had a career-high five doubles, improving his batting average to a team-leading .478 on his way to six RBIs, and scoring 5 runs himself.

"Attaway's been playing a great short stop for us number one," said Coach Moranda after the game. "As our lead off man, he's our catalyst. As he goes, we go. He's had a great week for us against Georgia and now Iona. He had a special, special day for us. You also have to give Morgan (McKinney) credit. He battled through a tough start where he wasn't as sharp as he needs to be, but the runs definitely helped to settle him down."  The final game of the series will be played on Sunday at 1 pm.

Introducing the ExploreAsheville.com Arena

Baseball: Cats take game one from Iona

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts had nine hits, resulting in two runs to win game one of the weekend series with the Iona College Gaels in Cullowhee on Friday afternoon. Jordan Smith gets the win, he pitched 7 and 1/3 innings, facing 28 batters. Preston Hatcher gets the save (1 and 2/3 innings).

Catamounts send the Dogs back to Charleston

Asheville, NC - Playing in their first game in the newly remodeled US Celluar Center, the Catamounts ran to a first round win in the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament over the Citadel, 68-56. The Cats were led in scoring by Harouna Mutombo's 21 points, as the Cats put three players in double figures.   WCU lead in rebounds 23-21.

“We had really good defensive energy,” said Larry Hunter. “Some of the things we were trying to do defensively, we did solid all night long with the exception of trying to guard Groselle. The other key was we scored, got a little bit of a lead and were in control of the game from an offensive standpoint.”

WBB: Cats pick up tournament win

Asheville, NC - The Catamounts won their first round tournament game after being down by 5 at the half.  The Cats came back to tie the score at the end of regulation. They then out scored the Eagles 16-11 in overtime to capture a first round win over the Georgia Southern Eagles 62-56 in Asheville. Campbell led all scores with 18 points, followed by Menendez with 12.

"I felt like we were a little rushed early. We didn't have our composure, committing 15 turnovers," said head coach Karen Middleton. "We just had to take a deep breath, so that's what we talked about in the locker room; be composed and play within ourselves." This was the second overtime game with the Eagles, whi came out on top in the earlier meeting, 41-40, in Statesboro.