Blue Hose Baseball Quest for the Crown Is Over; ALL-CONFERENCE.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The seedings and pairings for this week’s Big South Conference Baseball Championship have been determined following the conclusion of the conference’s regular-season schedule Saturday afternoon.
Fayetteville, N.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team begins its quest towards a Big South tournament title on Wednesday afternoon as the Blue Hose battle the No.5 seed Gardner-Webb in the Big South Conference Championship at 4 p.m. at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Presbyterian (29-27, 16-11 Big South) vs Gardner-Webb (25-24, 14-13 Big South)
WHERE: Fayetteville, N.C. (Segra Stadium)
WHEN: Wednesday May 22 (4:00 p.m.)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): GWU Leads 25-12
FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: statbroadcast.com (Wed.)
VIDEO: ESPN3 (Wednesday)
RADIO: Fox Sports 1400/98.3 FM (Wednesday)
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
ON THE MOUND
Wednesday
PC – Eric Miles (6-4, 4.22 ERA, 77 K)
GWU – Landon Mitchell (7-5, 4.08 ERA, 63 K)
About the Blue Hose
• The Presbyterian College baseball team used the power of four home runs to set the single season Big South record for most wins in a season with 16 as the Blue Hose earned a 15-6 victory on Saturday afternoon at CSU Ballpark.
• With his stolen base in the third inning, Zacchaeus Rasberry became the first Blue Hose in the D1 era to record 20 stolen bases in a season.
• The Blue Hose hit four home runs in a game for the second time this season matching the Blue Hose D1 single game record.
2019 Postseason Honors
• Outfielder Nick Guimbarda received second team recognition on the all-conference team and was selected as Scholar Athlete of the Year. Guimbarda was joined by outfielder Zacchaeus Rasberry and pitcher Jackson Dean on second team.
• Pitcher Eric Miles and Infielder Jimmy Marcelli also received honorable mention for the all-conference team.
• Guimbarda is first Blue Hose to win scholar athlete of the year since 2013 when Brad Zebedis was named Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year by the league.
Notes
• Jimmy Marcelli leads the Blue Hose over the last five games with a .474 average (9-for-19)with a double and home run. Marcelli also has knocked in eight runs.
• Jonathan White has three home runs and 10 RBIs over the last five games.
• In Big South Play, Jackson Dean was a perfect 5-0 with a pair of complete games. He struck out 22 batters over 42 innings.
• In six appearances in Big South Play, Austin Paradis was 1-1 with a save and allowed only two earned runs in 12.0 IP. Paradis struck out 15 batters and walked three during the stretch.
Tournament History
• This marks Presbyterian first Big South tournament appearance since 2017 when the Blue Hose made it to the league championship.
• The Blue Hose are 3-4 all-time in Big South tournament
• In 2017, PC picked up a victory over UNC Asheville before defeating Gardner-Webb in round two. The Blue Hose dropped a game to Winthrop before defeating the Eagles to advance to the 2017 final which Presbyterian was defeated by Radford in the final.
Series History
• Gardner-Webb leads the all-time series over the Blue Hose 25-12 dating back to the 2008 season. PC earned a series win over the Bulldogs earlier this season with two of three wins.
• Nick Guimbarda led the Blue Hose during the series this season with a .500 average (7-for-14). Guimbarda had three doubles in the series.
• Jimmy Marcelli hit .417 during the series with nine RBIs including seven in the series clincher against the Bulldogs.
• Presbyterian hit .320 during the series.
Scouting Gardner-Webb
• Gardner-Webb enters the tournament as the five seed in the Big South Tournament following taking two-of-three from UNC Asheville to conclude the regular season. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a 25-24 overall record and finished 14-13 in league play.
• Justin Kunz leads the Bulldogs with a .324 average including 14 doubles, 11 home runs and 38 runs driven in. Corey Howard sits at .313 with 14 doubles and 37 RBIs.
• Chandler Redmond led all of the conference with 18 home runs.
• Landon Mitchell leads the Gardner-Webb pitching staff with a 7-5 record and a 4.08 ERA. Mitchell has 63 strikeouts in 75.0 IP.
• Jarett Thompson has a team-high eight saves.
Rankings
• Zacchaeus Rasberry led the Big South with 72 hits and was third in the conference with 22 stolen bases. Rasberry was fifth with a .336 average as well.
• Jonathan White led the conference with 15 hit by pitches.
• Jimmy Marcelli was fourth in RBIs with 48 on the year.
• Jackson Dean enters the tournament with a 1.46 walks allowed per nine innings mark which is third in the conference and 26th nationally.
• As a team, the Blue Hose finished second in the Big South with 100 doubles which ranked second in the league. Nick Guimbarda led the team with 16 doubles, while Marcelli had 13 and Ashby Smith finished the regular season with 12.
• PC also finished second with 86 stolen bases led by Rasberry with 22 stolen bases and Guimbarda picked up 13. White and Garrett Jones each had 11 SB on the year as 13 different Blue Hose successfully stole a base during the 2019 season.
Record Chasing
• With his next win, Eric Miles would tie the single season record for most wins by a pitcher in the Blue Hose D1 era. He would match a mark he set in 2017 and Chandler Knox hit during the 2014 season.
• Eric Miles is just two wins away from matching the Presbyterian D1 record for wins with 21 victories. Miles currently has 19 wins over his two and a half seasons as a Blue Hose.
• Miles needs two more strikeouts to move into sixth place in PC's D1 record book for career strikeouts. Miles currently has 164 punch outs in his Blue Hose career.
• Nick Guimbarda next double moves him into a tie for third in the program’s D1 record book with his 43rd career double.
• Guimbarda needs two more home runs to move into a tie for fourth place in the program’s D1 record book for career home runs. Guimbarda has 17 homers after his home run in Saturday's victory over Longwood.
• Guimbarda's next sacrifice fly would give him the D1 program record for sac flies with his 12th.
• Colton Springs with his next save would move into solo fourth in the program’s D1 record book with his seventh career save. Springs with his next save also takes sole possession of eighth in the Blue Hose career record book.
• Jonathan White's next hit by pitch would give him the single season D1 record for HBP with 16 on the season.
• Zacchaeus Rasberry needs three triples to set a single season D1 record for triples in a season. He has four entering tournament play. Rasberry also set the single season D1 record for stolen bases in a season with his three SB's at Charleston Southern on Saturday.
Up Next
• The Blue Hose following Wednesday afternoon’s game will await results from other games in the tournament to see where they head in this week’s double elimination bracket. Be sure to follow @PresbyterianBSB on twitter and check back at gobluehose.com for updates throughout the week in Fayetteville.
Previous:
For the second consecutive season, Campbell captured the regular-season title and is the No. 1 seed in the Big South Baseball Championship presented by Hardee’s, which will be contested May 21-25 at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. It is Campbell’s third Big South regular-season crown in program history.
The defending champion Camels, which finished the 2019 Big South season in first-place with a .731 winning percentage and 19-7 conference record, will attempt to become the first repeat winner since 2012. The Big South Championship tournament features nine squads competing for the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals -- highlighted by a “Winner-Take-All” championship game on Saturday, May 25 that will be televised live on ESPNU. First pitch of the title game will be 12:00pm.
Radford finished a half-game behind Campbell with .704 winning percentage and 19-8 conference record. The Highlanders seek their third title in six seasons, as they last earned the conference’s automatic bid in 2017. Winthrop (.667 winning percentage, 18-9), which is the only team in the conference to win a series against Campbell, will be the No. 3 seed in the Championship. The Eagles and Radford will await their first opponent after Tuesday’s single-elimination round.
Presbyterian College (.593, 16-11) is the No. 4 seed, and will open Wednesday against fifth-seeded Gardner-Webb. GWU and High Point tied for fifth in the standings with a .519 winning clip and 14-13 league mark, and the Runnin’ Bulldogs earned the higher seed based on its three-game series sweep of the Panthers to push HPU to the No. 6 seed and single-elimination round.
Charleston Southern earned the No. 7 seed with a .407 percentage and 11-16 league record. CSU’s first-round opponent on Tuesday will be first-year member and No. 8 seed USC Upstate (.346, 9-17). UNC Asheville (.333, 9-18) landed the ninth and final seed.
The Championship begins Tuesday, May 21 with two single-elimination games on ESPN3 -- No. 6 High Point vs. No. 9 UNC Asheville at 4:00pm. Followed by No. 7 Charleston Southern vs No. 8 USC Upstate at 7:30pm. The winners will advance into the double-elimination bracket that begins Wednesday.
The tournament will continue with Games 3-6 on Wednesday, May 22 on ESPN3, Games 7-10 on Thursday, May 23 on ESPN+, and Games 11-13 on Friday, May 24 on ESPN+. The Championship game will be played Saturday, May 25 at 12:00pm and will be televised live on ESPNU.
The complete Conference Championship schedule appears below.
Tuesday, May 21 (Games 1-2) – ESPN3
Game 1: No. 6 High Point vs. No. 9 UNC Asheville, 4:00pm
Game 2: No. 7 Charleston Southern vs. No. 8 USC Upstate, 7:30pm
Wednesday, May 22 (Games 3-6) – ESPN3
Game 3: No. 3 Winthrop vs. Highest Seeded Winner from Games 1-2, 9:00am
Game 4: No. 2 Radford vs. Lowest Seeded Winner from Games 1-2, 12:30pm
Game 5: No. 4 Presbyterian vs. No. 5 Gardner-Webb, 4:00pm
Game 6: Lowest Seeded Loser Games 3-5 vs. Second Lowest Seeded Loser Games 3-5, 7:30pm
Thursday, May 23 (Games 7-10) – ESPN+
Game 7: Highest Seeded Winner Games 3-5 vs. Second Highest Seeded Winner Games 3-5, 9:00am
Game 8: No. 1 Campbell vs. Lowest Seeded Winner Games 3-5, 12:30pm
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 4:00pm
Game 10: Highest Seeded Loser Games 3-5 vs. Loser Game 8, 7:30pm
Friday, May 24 (Games 11-13) – ESPN+
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 12:30pm
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 4:00pm
Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 7:30pm
Saturday, May 25 (Championship Game – “Winner Take All”) - ESPNU
Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 12:00pm
ALL-CONFERENCE
Five Presbyterian College baseball players received postseason honors from the Big South on Monday, as the league announced its annual awards.
Outfielder Nick Guimbarda received second team recognition on the all-conference team and was selected as Scholar Athlete of the Year. Guimbarda was joined by outfielder Zacchaeus Rasberry and pitcher Jackson Dean on second team. Pitcher Eric Miles and Infielder Jimmy Marcelli also received honorable mention for the all-conference team.
Guimbarda is first Blue Hose to win scholar athlete of the year since 2013 when Brad Zebedis was named Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year by the league.
Nick Guimbarda, Outfielder, Second Team & Scholar Athlete of the Year
Guimbarda tied for the league lead with 16 doubles and he tied for the team lead with seven home runs. The lefty had 17 multiple hit games and a team-high 10 multiple RBI games. He had a four-hit game which included tying a career-high with three doubles in a March 24th game against Gardner-Webb. He knocked in a season-high four runs in a 10-1 victory over Longwood on May 11th. Guimbarda finished inside the top 10 in the league with 41 runs driven in. Guimbarda led the team with a streak of 18 straight games of reaching base safely which spanned from March 24 – April 23 as he hit .333 with 16 runs driven in during that stretch. He recorded a team-high 10 outfield assists. Guimbarda also sits fourth in the PC D1 record book with 42 career doubles. Off the field, Guimbarda was awarded the Big South Graduate Fellowship as a 3.94 student majoring in Biology. Guimbarda graduated Summa Cum Laude earlier this month, and plans to become a medical doctor. He has been accepted into the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Zacchaeus Rasberry, Outfielder, Second Team
Rasberry led the Big South with 72 hits and was tied for the conference lead with four triples. The junior hit a team-high .336 with that mark sitting in the top five in the league. He became the first Blue Hose in the D1 era to record 20 stolen bases in a season as his three in the season finale against Charleston Southern gave him 22 for the year. He earned Big South Player of the Week honors for the final week of the regular season after setting the single season stolen base record for Presbyterian. The LaGrange, N.C. native led the Blue Hose with 23 multi-hit games and had nine games with at least a pair of RBIs. During Big South play, Rasberry led Presbyterian hitting at a .346 clip with seven doubles, four home runs and 16 stolen bases. Rasberry had a pair of three stolen base games during the course of the 2019 season which matched a single game D1 record for stolen bases in a game. He finished the 2019 season with a .994 fielding percentage as he committed just one error on the year.
Jackson Dean, Pitcher, Second Team
Dean paced the Blue Hose pitching staff as he recorded a league-high 86.1 IP and led the PC staff with a 3.13 ERA which ranked fourth in the Big South. The Charlotte, N.C. native tied the team-high with six victories and also matched the team lead with a pair of complete games. Dean and teammate Eric Miles were two of the three pitchers in the Big South to record multiple complete games. In Big South play, Dean was a perfect 5-0 with a 2.79 ERA, while recording a pair of complete games against Winthrop and Charleston Southern. The redshirt junior stepped into a weekend rotation role down the stretch for the Blue Hose and went 3-1.
Jimmy Marcelli, Infielder, Honorable Mention
Marcelli was tied for second in the league with 69 hits and the junior placed fourth in the Big South with 48 RBIs. He finished in a tie for eighth in the conference with his .324 average. He finished second on the team with 22 multi-hit games and matched the team-high with 10 multiple RBI games. He had a career day against Gardner-Webb on March 24th as Marcelli recorded four hits and seven RBIs in the Blue Hose 11-6 win over the Bulldogs. Marcelli had a team best 14 game hit streak which spanned from April 5 – April 27 as he hit .339 during that stretch. He was second for PC in Big South games hitting at a .320 clip and he also tied for fifth in league games driving in 27 runs.
Eric Miles, Pitcher, Honorable Mention
Miles finished second in the Big South with 85.1 IP and was tied for the team-high with six victories. The six wins puts the junior in a tie for fourth in the Big South. Miles and teammate Jackson Dean were two of three pitchers in the league to record multiple complete games during the 2019 season. He finished second in the conference with 77 strikeouts as he had seven games with at least seven strikeouts over the course of the 2019 season. He earned Big South Pitcher of the Week Honors on April 15th following a 7.0 shutout innings against USC Upstate where he recorded seven strikeouts. In Big South Play, he had five victories which is tied for second most and also racked up 59 strikeouts which ranked second in the league.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OF Matthew Barefoot, R-Jr., Campbell
OF Hunter Lipscomb, Sr., Winthrop
OF Jeff Taylor, Soph., USC Upstate
INF Chandler Redmond, Sr., Gardner-Webb
INF Ryan Stoudermire, Jr., Charleston Southern
INF Luis Gimenez, Sr., Campbell
INF Brandon Lankford, Jr., UNC Asheville
C Justin Kunz, Sr., Gardner-Webb
UTL Kyle Butler, R-Sr., Radford
DH J.D. Mundy, Jr., Radford
SP Michael Horrell, Sr., Campbell
SP Ryan Chasse, Fr., Campbell
SP Nate Pawelczyk, Sr., Winthrop
RP RJ Petit, Fr., Charleston Southern
RP Colten Rendon, Jr., Winthrop
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OF Zacchaeus Rasberry, Jr., Presbyterian
OF Andrew Szamski, R-Sr., Radford
OF Nick Guimbarda, Sr., Presbyterian
INF Travis Holt, Soph., High Point
INF Collin Wolf, Jr., Campbell
INF Jason Miller, Sr., Charleston Southern
INF Danny Wilson, Sr., UNC Asheville
C Spencer Yankle, Jr., Winthrop
UTL Daniel Millwee, Sr., High Point
DH J.J. Shimko, Sr., USC Upstate
SP Zach Peek, Jr., Winthrop
SP Jackson Dean, R-Jr., Presbyterian
SP Harrison Smith, R-Jr., High Point
RP Bruce Hudson, R-Fr., Radford
RP Will Wheeler, Jr., USC Upstate
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE
Jimmy Marcelli, Jr., INF, Presbyterian
Antwaun Tucker, Jr., INF, Longwood
Eric Miles, Jr, SP, Presbyterian
Spencer Horwitz, Jr., INF, Radford
Austin Fahr, Sr., RP, UNC Asheville
ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Wyatt Tyson, Jr., RP, Campbell
Jaret Bennett, Jr., SP, Charleston Southern
Chandler Redmond, Sr., 2B, Gardner-Webb
Harrison Smith, R-Jr., RHP, High Point
Carlos Garrido, R-Jr., C, Longwood
Nick Guimbarda, Sr., OF, Presbyterian
Straton Podaras, Jr., C, Radford
Jordan Carr, Jr., P, UNC Asheville
Jordan Marks, Soph., RHP, USC Upstate
Hunter Lipscomb, Sr., OF, Winthrop
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chandler Redmond, INF, Sr., Gardner-Webb
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Michael Horrell, SP, Sr., Campbell
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Ryan Chasse, SP, Fr., Campbell
COACH OF THE YEAR
Rusty Stroupe, Gardner-Webb
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Nick Guimbarda, Sr., OF, Presbyterian
