Softball Preview: #14 Lady Vols at Western Carolina

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 14 Tennessee softball team will visit the Appalachian Mountains Wednesday evening for a midweek non-conference matchup at Western Carolina. The game is set for 6 p.m. ET at the Catamount Softball Complex in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

The contest will be streamed online via ESPN+, available at espn.com/watch and the ESPN app. A free audio broadcast featuring voice of the Lady Vols softball team Brian Rice will also be provided on UTSports.com and will air in Knoxville on AM 990.

LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Vols (26-12, 8-6 SEC) went 1-2 in a three-game set at No. 16/15 Georgia, evening the series Saturday before dropping Sunday's rubber match. Super senior Amanda Ayala returned to the lineup and led Tennessee with a .444 batting average (4-for-9) on the weekend, including a three-hit, three-run outing on her 23rd birthday in Saturday's victory over the Bulldogs.

ON-BASE MACHINE: Tennessee junior outfielder Kiki Milloy sports the nation's second-longest active reached base streak at 31 consecutive games. It is the longest string of games reaching base by a Tennessee player since 2018 (Meghan Gregg, 35).

FANTASTIC FRESHMAN: Lady Vol rookie Lair Beautae has been phenomenal in conference play, leading the Lady Vols with a .370 batting clip against SEC opponents this season. She also leads the squad in hits (17), runs (13) and doubles (5) in league action, ranking top-5 in the conference in each of those statistical categories.

HBP UNIT: The Lady Vols lead the SEC with 62 hit by pitch this season. Kiki Milloy and Ashley Morgan lead the squad and rank third in the league with 13 HBP apiece, while Ivy Davis sits sixth in the conference with 10. UT is the only team in the nation with three players sporting 10-plus HBP this season.

MASHING IT: The Lady Vols have crushed 60 home runs through 38 games this season, and UT's 1.58 HRs/game rank fourth in the SEC and 12th in the country. UT has multiple homers in 17 games this season, already surpassing its total of 16 from last year, and Tennessee is 15-2 on the year when hitting two or more home runs.

NOTING WESTERN CAROLINA: Under 11th year head coach Jim Clift, the Catamounts (15-23, 2-7 SoCon) enter Wednesday's matchup on a nine-game losing skid. Fourteen of WCU's 15 wins this season have come away from Cullowhee, with its lone home victory taking place on Feb. 16 vs. Georgia State.

WCU's pitching staff ranks second in the Southern Conference with 222 strikeouts this season and touts a 3.67 team ERA. Senior infielder Bailey Huneycutt leads the Catamounts offensively with a .327 batting average and nine homers and is four homers away from tying Western Carolina's all-time career home run record.

SERIES HISTORY: Tennessee is 6-0 against the Catamounts with all six meetings taking place in Knoxville. The last time the programs squared off, the 4th-ranked Lady Vols trounced WCU 15-0 in five innings on March 11, 2014.

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols begin a six-game homestand this weekend with a three-game set against league foe Texas A&M. The series runs Saturday to Monday, April 16-18, at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, and all three games will be televised.

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee softball, follow @Vol_Softball on Twitter and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Ayala

Lair Beautae

Ivy Davis

Kiki Milloy

Ashley Morgan

University of Tennessee Athletics