CULLOWHEE, N.C. – On an afternoon where offense was seemingly everyone's ally, the Presbyterian College softball team found themselves in a doubleheader with Western Carolina where hitting and scoring numbers ratcheted up beyond both clubs' averages. In the end, WCU took both duels on Tuesday by respective margins of 5-4 (in extra innings) and 9-6.

More late-game drama engulfed PC's first bout with the Catamounts – engaging in their fifth feature already where the action couldn't be contained within the standard seven-inning window – totaling three homers in the DH but unable to wrangle in a victory.

Western Carolina and the Blue Hose combined for 39 hits and 24 runs in a slugger's delight, now at 8-17 on the campaign in what translated to the last pre-Big South set of the 2024 schedule.

Head coach David Williams' club has finished their six-game road stretch, arriving back in Clinton this weekend for the first league series of March versus Winthrop. Game 1 will witness a 3:00 PM start this Friday, followed by a 1:00 two-parter on March 16.

 
NOTABLES
 
- Kaitlyn Tucker, Kelby Goodrum, Mallory Fletcher, and Kendall Owens all secured a two-hit performance either in the first or second contest, breaking an 11-game homer drought by clearing the fence three times.

- Unable to hold onto an early 3-0 lead in a near-three-hour opener that spanned nine chapters, the Blue Hose and WCU saw at least one run scored in five of the six half-innings from the 4^th to the 6^th during the nightcap.

- While Fletcher gave Presby their first three-run dinger of the semester and Owens sent another over the wall in the next at-bat (giving the squad a slim 6-5 edge as a result), the Catamounts closed the affair on a 4-0 run to end the high-octane battle.

- Game 1's thriller denoted only the second time in a 27-game history between the two schools where the score was still deadlocked after seven (the other instance happening in 2013), paving the way for even more fireworks to come in round two.

- In a pleasing development for coach Williams and co., sophomore centerfielder Gracie DeCuir returned to the fold purely as a pinch hitter in the first encounter, returning to the starters' pool for the fist time in 12 games after missing time due to injury.

 
GAME ONE – WESTERN CAROLINA (4-11) def. PRESBYTERIAN (8-16), 5-4 (9 INNINGS)
 
- Goodrum (PC's regular lead-off hitter as a junior) began the doubleheader with smoke coming off of her bat, launching a solo HR in the very first at-bat before lining up her second RBI in the next opportunity.

- Reigning Big South Freshman of the Week Kasey Wolfe partially delivered Presby's second run of the affair by reaching on a fielder's choice in the third swing of the game, allowing Tucker enough time to reach home plate in the wake of a WCU throwing error.

- The deficit grew to a trio in the top of the 2^nd once Goodrum lassoed another base runner around the diamond (this time being Owens), although a solo longball from the Catamounts gave the opposition their first glimmer at a resurgence.

- Presbyterian again benefitted from a Western Carolina mishap in the infield to hoist the lead back up to 4-1 in the top of the 5^th, however the mood switched in a hiccup after the home side seized a three-run bomb later in that same frame to even the odds.

- Neither dugout could find the tiebreaker before the final out of regulation, leading to another extra-innings scenario for a Blue Hose unit that's well-versed in that backdrop through the first month of the season.

- WCU earned a walk-off swing in the 9^th to spoil a career-best 10 strikeouts by Wolfe, pulling double duty as third baseman and starting pitcher. The Spartanburg native walked only three of 39 batters faced, tossing 156 pitches in the admirable losing effort.

 
GAME TWO – WESTERN CAROLINA (5-11) def. PRESBYTERIAN, (8-17), 9-6
 
- Momentum favored both teams at varying times when the board reset for the rematch, providing the antithesis of Game 1 where it was Western Carolina who gathered a 3-0 lead only for Presby to author their own rally.

- Shortstop Emma Yanes got PC on the scoring sheet by cracking an RBI-double in the 4^th stanza, creating the seam for Fletcher to sprint home on a wild pitch moments later.

- Now trailing by just one, the Blue Hose turned it over to the Catamounts where the scoring frenzy gained more steam. A cat-and-mouse game developed in that period, putting WCU back ahead by three to negate PC's progress.

- Fletcher gave her gang a huge boost on the aforementioned three-run homer, bringing in Tucker and first baseman Jillian Hewes to tie up the tally mid-game for the second time in the DH.

- Roughly one minute later, Owens repeated Fletcher's loft with her fourth home run in a Presbyterian uniform (a feat that coincidentally Fletcher had just accomplished in the previous at-bat).

- In front for the first time in Game 2, PC was unable to keep it that way despite logging their first effort with two homers in a sole outing since a visit to Charleston Southern for a conference series last April.

- The last four runs came in Western Carolina's direction, amounting to the sweep in an entertaining duo of matchups.

- Peyton Duncan, Riley Pennington, and Lanie Ruscoe shared the spotlight on the rubber throughout the second setback, striking out five on 115 tosses.

 
UP NEXT
 
- Coach Williams' team will tangle with Winthrop for the first of six Big South series on Friday and Saturday, facing an in-state foe that holds a 9-14 mark prior to a visit versus Wofford tomorrow evening.

- Five of the last six contests between PC and the Eagles have resulted in a Presby win, claiming Games 2 and 3 in Rock Hill last spring by a difference of 7-2 and 3-1 respectively.

- Each outing of the series in Clinton will be streamed live via ESPN+.