May 2, 2008

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina opens a three-game Southern Conference series with the Wofford Terriers Friday night at 7:00 pm at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The Catamounts have won 13-straight over last year's SoCon tournament champions.

Game two is set for 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon (schedule change due to the threat of impending weather), with the series finale slated to begin at 2:00 pm on Sunday afternoon. All three games can be followed online with live GameTracker, presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine and the WestCare Health System, by logging onto www.CatamountSports.com.

Western Carolina leads the all-time series against the Terriers, 45-13 including the 13-consecutive wins over Wofford - the longest current winning streak for WCU over any opponent. Last season, the Catamounts swept all three games in Spartanburg, banging out 47 hits - including 15 home runs - and outscored Wofford 61-16. WCU tallied 26, 21 and 14 runs, respectively, in the three games, the highest total of the season.

In the last Cullowhee meeting between the two schools, Western again had the hot bats, out-scoring the Terriers 40-25 in the three-game sweep. All told, across the last six games between the two, Western has scored an average of 16.8 runs per game to Wofford's 6.8, with the Catamounts connecting on 81 hits and 19 home runs over the span.

In last year's series, senior Blake Murphy hit a team-high .900 (9-for-10) with five home runs and six walks. He garnered Louisville Slugger's National Player of the Week honors following his performance.

Western is riding a two-game winning streak entering Friday's game with mid-week, non-conference wins over Tennessee on the road and Gardner-Webb at home. WCU's victory over G-W was its first shutout win since blanking Jacksonville in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional last season.

The Catamounts have dropped three-straight conference series after winning back-to-back series over Davidson and UNC Greensboro. WCU dropped two-of-three at Elon and at Appalachian State before dropping two at home to Furman last weekend.

Senior Barrett Shaft continues his assault of the WCU record books, having broken a pair this past week. In his first plate appearance, the Lilburn, Ga., native recorded his 13th hit-by-pitch of the year to move ahead of former teammate, Jonathan Greene, to hold the school's all-time school record for HBPs with 42. Shaft also ripped a single up the middle in the fourth inning of the game to give him 311 on his career, tying him for first place on the all-time list with Chris Moore (1996-99). With his next base hit, Shaft will take over as the all-time leader in hits in Catamount history.

First pitch on Friday is set for 7:00 pm.