The Catamounts outlasted Mercer’s power and owned the bullpen battle
Mercer came into Hennon Stadium with one of the most bad-ass, intimidating, and successful lineups in college baseball, but Western Carolina answered with cleaner defense, a dominant bullpen, and enough offensive firepower to sweep all three games. The Cats’ infield turned five double plays, while Mercer committed five errors. Western’s pitching coach, Dusty White, was a maestro orchestrating the bullpen, which covered 18.1 innings and allowed only three runs. The Catamounts turned a high-profile Southern Conference matchup into a statement series so loud that even our friends at 11point7.com took notice, ranking Western Carolina in the top 20 of its mid-major poll and placing Wofford at No. 22.
Don’t worry about Mercer, though; this is a team full of dudes—good dudes—who play the game the right way, and they’ll bounce back in a big way.
Game 1: Western Carolina 10, Mercer 6
Western Carolina opened the series with a 10-6 win in a game defined by a simple matchup: Mercer’s unstoppable offense, meet Mason Snyder. Mercer struck first in the top of the opening inning against starter Carter Burnette, as Logan Shepherd followed Michael Graziano’s leadoff double with a two-run homer, and Eli Stephens added a solo shot to push the Bears ahead 3-0.
Western Carolina responded in the bottom half when Trent Turner hit an RBI triple to cut the deficit to 3-1 after one inning. The Cats shaved off another run in the second when Jaylen Jones stretched his reached-base-safely streak to 20 games with a double and later scored on a single by Trey Spees, making it a 3-2 game. In the fourth, Brayden Kersey led off with a solo home run for Mercer to make it 4-2, but Western Carolina quickly answered in the home half with a run on a balk and an RBI double by Wyatt Stanley to tie it.
In the fifth inning, Mercer used run-scoring singles from Stephens and Brant Baughcum to reclaim the lead at 6-4 and chase Burnette, who allowed six runs on 11 hits and three home runs. Mercer’s lineup lived up to its reputation early, but Western Carolina had a different answer waiting in Snyder. The reigning SoCon Pitcher of the Week shut the door over the final 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and retiring the first five batters he faced. He took Mercer’s dangerous lineup and flipped it on its head, and the Catamounts used that opening to take control.
Western Carolina loaded the bases in the fifth, then Jaylen Jones drew a walk, and Spees lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center to tie the game again. Jones and Spees each went 3-for-4 on the day. Wyatt Stanley then launched a home run to right-center in the sixth to give Western a 7-6 lead, and the Catamounts added three more in the eighth on RBI singles from the Jones boys, Jaylen and Cole, plus a wild pitch that sent Turner home for the 10-6 final score.
Game 2: Western Carolina 17, Mercer 9
Western Carolina officially seized the series on Saturday with a 17-9 win in a game that exploded early and never stopped producing offense. Mercer opened with six runs in the top of the first inning, drilling three home runs in the process, including a grand slam from Dylan LaPointe. Michael Graziano opened the game with a first-pitch leadoff homer, and Braydon Kersey added another solo shot for the Bears.
Western Carolina immediately punched back with a five-run bottom of the first. Wyatt Stanley opened the response with a solo home run, and Jaylen Jones followed with a two-run triple to slice the deficit and keep the pressure on. Mercer briefly regained control in the second on Logan Shepherd’s two-run homer, but the Catamounts answered with one of the biggest innings of their season.
Western Carolina scored six times in the home half of the second on a run-scoring wild pitch, an RBI single by Mason Holton, another run-scoring wild pitch, and a three-run inside-the-park home run by Jaylen Jones. That rally gave the Catamounts an 11-8 lead after two innings, and from there, Mercer never got back in front.
The Bears trimmed it to 11-9 in the third when Kersey launched his second solo homer of the game and third of the series, but that was the final run Western Carolina allowed. The Catamount bullpen pieced together six scoreless innings, and the relief work mattered as much as the offense. Davis Budd delivered 4.0 innings with just one run allowed on three hits, and his emergence has become a major factor for a staff that has had to adjust since the loss of Bryant Kimbrell. John Lobs was excellent too, tossing three shutout innings and giving the Catamounts a clean finish.
Mercer’s pitching staff could not slow the game down, and Western Carolina kept applying pressure until the Bears ran out of answers. Cole Jones put together a career day with a 4-for-5 line, a home run, and six RBIs. Jaylen Jones was just as dangerous, finishing with a triple and an inside-the-park homer. Kersey was outstanding for Mercer, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, but the Catamounts were simply more complete.
Game 3: Western Carolina 5, Mercer 4
Western Carolina completed the sweep on Sunday with a 5-4 win in a game that was tight from the start and stayed tense throughout. The Catamounts struck first in the opening inning when Noah Quarless drove in a run with an RBI double after a Titan Kamaka fielding error extended the frame.
Mercer answered with an RBI single from Braydon Kersey, who later came around to score on a throwing error by Quarless. In the third inning, both teams added another run. Logan Shepherd hit a solo home run for Mercer, his third of the series, and Trent Turner brought in a run for Western Carolina with a sacrifice fly.
The decisive inning came in the fourth. Western Carolina scored three times on a two-run double by Turner, who is swinging it as well as anyone in the SoCon right now, going 5-for-12 with five RBIs on the weekend, and a sacrifice fly by Walker Fox, giving the Catamounts the cushion they needed. James Fordham, who had struggled lately, came on in the fourth and gave Western Carolina a huge lift. He worked 4.2 innings, allowed only two hits and one run, and provided a bridge to the finish. Mercer got one more run on an RBI single by Eli Stephens, who had a strong series at 5-for-12, but Kaden Fuller shut down the rally in the eighth by striking out Dylan LaPointe. Fuller then worked through the ninth to lock up the 5-4 win and the series sweep.
SoCon Standings
| Team | Record |
|---|---|
| Wofford | 8–1 |
| ETSU | 6–3 |
| Western Carolina | 6–3 |
| Samford | 5–4 |
| Mercer | 4–5 |
| The Citadel | 3–6 |
| UNC Greensboro | 2–7 |
| VMI | 2–7 |
