19 Days until First Pitch - #32 Chase Walter

It's only 19 days until the Western Carolina Baseball team takes the field at Hennon Stadium for the first pitch against the Chicago State Cougars to open the 2020 baseball season. Let's take this time to meet this season's Cats with Bats.

We will highlight them by class, starting with the seniors and ending with the brand new freshmen Catamounts.


#32 Chase Walter

POSITION  Right-Handed Pitcher
HEIGHT  6-7
WEIGHT  260
CLASS  Redshirt Junior
HOMETOWN  Peachtree City, Ga.
HIGH SCHOOL  McIntosh HS


Career: Over 36 career appearances and 178.2 innings over two seasons, he already ranks 19th in WCU program history with 188 career strikeouts.

2019 (Redshirt Sophomore): Made 19 appearances on the season including 11 starts – eight-straight to end the season – and eight relief efforts out of the bullpen … Posted a 4.84 ERA on the season, tossing a team-high 93.0 innings … 23 of the 92 hits he allowed went for extra bases with opponents hitting just .256 against the right-hander on the year … Matched a team-best with five victories with a 5-6 overall record, adding a save in WCU’s neutral field victory over Ohio State (March 10) … Led the Catamounts with a career-best 114 strikeouts, the second-most in the SoCon … His 114 Ks rank as the fourth-best individual season in program history … Recorded double-digit strikeouts four times on the season including a career-best 17 in a complete game victory over Furman (April 20) … His 17 strikeouts were the third-most by an individual in the NCAA in 2019 … Tallied seven-or-more Ks in eight of his 19 appearances ... Recorded 68 fly ball outs and a team-best 80 ground ball outs including 10 double-plays … Was a two-time Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, earning the honors on April 15 following a 13-strikeout performance at Mercer (April 13) and on April 22 after his 17K outing against Furman, also collecting Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week honor ... Named to the 2018-19 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.

2018 (Redshirt Freshman): Made 17 appearances with 14 starts, tossing a combined 85.2 innings … Finished the year 3-7 with a 5.46 ERA, the best among WCU’s starting rotation … Struck out 74 batters against 49 walks, recording at least one strikeout in all 17 appearances … Tallied three-or-more strikeouts in 12 seasonal appearances and had five-or-more K’s in eight appearances … Was named to the 2018 Southern Conference All-Freshman team … Made his WCU debut in relief in the season-opening weekend at East Carolina (Feb. 18) … Recorded his first collegiate start at nationally-ranked Louisville (March 2), striking out two over three innings … Struck out a career-high nine over 5.2 innings at VMI (April 13) … Scored his first collegiate victory after tossing 7.0 innings in a home win over Mercer (April 20), limiting the Bears to two runs on two hits with five strikeouts … Earned Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after tossing a career-long 9.0 innings in a complete-game victory at Furman (May 5) … Struck out eight against the Paladins, walking two in allowing just one unearned run on four hits … In his second appearance of the SoCon Tournament, tossed 7.1 innings against top-seeded UNCG (May 26), limiting the Spartans to just four runs while matching a career-high with nine batters; Summer League: Pitched in 13 games for the San Luis Obispo Blues in the California Collegiate League, posting a 1-1 record with a pair of saves coming in two opportunities … Posted an ERA of 3.66 over 19.2 innings of work, striking out 28 against just nine walks.

Prior to Western Carolina: Signed with Spartanburg Methodist out of high school, tossing 10.1 innings with 10 strikeouts as a freshman ... Was named to the Dean's List at Spartanburg Methodist;

High School: Three-year letter winner ... Was a 2016 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American and also an honorable mention in the Southeast Region ... Also played basketball as a prep where he led the state in field goal percentage as both a junior and senior.

Personal: Full name is Chase David Walter ... Is the son of Brian and Dana Walter ... Has two siblings - Will and Cameron ... His father, Brian, played college football at Duke from 1982-85 while his grandfather played at Auburn.


Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations