ETSU looks to open conference play on a high note vs. the Catamounts

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 24, 2016) – Following a five-game road swing, the ETSU softball team returns to Betty Basler Field this weekend to open Southern Conference play against Western Carolina. The Bucs and Catamounts will play a pair Friday with game one set to begin at 4 p.m., and will wrap up the weekend with a single game Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

Bullets on the Bucs

• The Bucs dropped a pair of close games Wednesday at USC Upstate by scores of 3-2 and 3-0. With the pair of losses, ETSU’s record dips below the .500 mark to 8-9.
• Taylor Carter (Brazil, Ind.) homered in game one against the Spartans and with that long ball pulled into a tie for fourth place on ETSU’s all-time home run list. Carter, who has hit 18 home runs in her ETSU career, is tied with former Buc Danielle Spetar. The Brazil, Ind. native needs just two more round-trippers to move into a tie for third place on the list.
• Senior Bethany Cowart (Ringgold, Ga.) is having a career season in her final campaign as a Buc. Cowart is hitting .315 with four RBI and has five multi-hit performances this spring.

Bucs by the numbers

1.24 – Sophomore Kelsey Smith (Tucson, Ariz.) currently leads the SoCon with a 1.24 ERA in 22 innings pitched. Smith’s 1.24 ERA also is the 19^th lowest in the nation.

6-0 – When the Bucs have scored the first run of the game this season they are 6-0. However when its opponents score first, ETSU is 2-9.

.244 – ETSU’s pitching staff has held its opponents to a batting average of .244 this season. That mark is just four points short of the program record (.240) which was set in 2009.   

Scouting the Opponent

Western Carolina, which is 19-10 overall in 2016, is fresh off a doubleheader sweep of Charlotte Wednesday. WCU ranks fourth in the SoCon with a team batting average of .291 and second in team ERA at 2.92.

The trio of Karley Harkey, Crystal Cyr and Courtney Price have powered the Catamounts’ offense through the early going. Harkey leads the team with a .387 batting average and has a league-leading three triples. Cyr and Price also have batting averages over the .300 mark and have hit seven and five home runs, respectively.  

WCU has relied on three pitchers to log all of its innings this spring. Taylor Sigmon leads the staff with a 2.21 ERA but has a sub-.500 record at 5-6. In addition to Sigmon, WCU has a pair of seven-win pitchers in Lily Hayes and Courtney Buchanan.

Series Histories vs. Opponent

ETSU holds an all-time record of 14-4 against Western Carolina, including a 9-1 mark in Johnson City. The Catamounts, however, won two of the three meetings last season in Cullowhee.

Following options for this weekend

All three games against Western Carolina will have live stats and audio and the links can be found on the Bucs’ schedule page. Fans can also follow @ETSUSoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.

FOLLOW THE BUCS

• Receive live game updates and behind-the-scenes access of ETSU Softball by following @ETSUSoftball on Twitter or ETSU Softball on Facebook
• ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click hereto sign up today!