COLUMBIA – The Presbyterian College baseball team led wire-to-wire on Tuesday night to record a 9-6 win over South Carolina at Founders Park. Noah Lebron, Brody Fahr and Ryan Ouzts led the offense with two hits apiece in the contest.
FINAL SCORE: Presbyterian 9, South Carolina 6
LOCATION: Founders Park (Columbia, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (10-14) | South Carolina (12-12)
W: Clark Dearman (1-0) | L: Michael Esposito (0-1) | Save: Eric Toth (4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blue Hose struck first in the opening half inning with a Jeremiah Boyd RBI single to score Brody Fahr and give PC the early 1-0 advantage.
- South Carolina quickly answered with an RBI single of its own to even it at one after an inning.
- PC regained the lead quickly after a Gamecock wild pitch pushed the lead to 2-1 and was quickly followed by a Fahr RBI single to make it 3-1 after 1.5 innings.
- The Gamecocks pushed across a run in the third off of a wild pitch to cut the deficit to one, 3-2 after three frames.
- In the fourth, a Gamecock fielding error allowed the Blue Hose to score a run before a Jack Gorman RBI single made it 5-2.
- Presbyterian capped the inning with an RBI single off the bat of Noah Lebron to make it 6-2 after 3.5 frames.
- The hosts evened the game in the fourth with four runs pushed across to make it a 6-6 contest.
- Chris Veach lined a double to the left-center gap in the seventh to push the Blue Hose back in front by the score of 7-6.
- In the ninth, PC added insurance runs when Dalton Reeves led the inning off with a homer and was quickly added to by Fahr with a double to give PC a 9-6 margin that Eric Toth would slam the door shut on.
NOTABLES
- With his two hits including his third double of the season, Fahr now has reached base safely in 17 straight with hits in seven consecutive games.
- Veach's seventh-inning double pushed his hit streak to eight straight games and he has reached base safely in 16 in a row.
- Fahr now leads the team with nine multi-hit games.
- Noah LeBron recorded his first career multi-hit game with his two hits on Tuesday.
- Clark Dearman matched his season-high with 2.2 innings pitched en route to his first victory of the 2022 season.
- PC improved to 9-0 when leading after seven and 8-0 when leading after eight innings with tonight's win over the Gamecocks.
- Presbyterian is now 6-2 when outhitting opponents this season.
- With Reeves's homer in the ninth, PC has now connected on homers in six straight games.
- Toth tied the DI program record with his 12th career save as he pitched a scoreless ninth for the Blue Hose. He tied Ryan Hedrick for the save record who had 12 from 2015-18.
- Tuesday's victory was the Blue Hose third win over the Gamecocks in the DI era and first since April 17, 2018, when PC defeated South Carolina 7-4 in Columbia.
CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College Baseball team returns home to continue conference play with UNC Asheville beginning on Friday at 6 p.m… The series continues on Saturday at 3 p.m. and wraps up with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday afternoon. All three games will be shown on ESPN+.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: UNC Asheville (9-14, 4-2 Big South) vs. Presbyterian (10-14, 1-5 Big South)
WHERE: PC Baseball Complex (Clinton, S.C.)
WHEN: 6 pm (Friday) | 3 pm (Saturday) | 1 pm (Sunday)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): PC Leads 27-16
FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Statbroadcast (Fri) | Statbroadcast (Sat.) | Statbroadcast (Sun.)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Fri.) | ESPN+ (Sat.) | ESPN+ (Sun.)
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES: Presbyterian Notes
ON THE MOUND
Friday
AVL – TBA
PC – LHP Charlie McDaniel (1-2, 5.55 ERA, 26 K)
Saturday
AVL – RHP Ryan Douglas (0-3, 7.12 ERA, 31 K)
PC – RHP Duncan Howard (3-2, 2.88 ERA, 33 K)
Sunday
AVL – LHP Jacob Edwards (2-3, 2.50 ERA, 40 K)
PC – RHP Daniel Eagen (1-1, 5.46 ERA, 31 K)
About the Blue Hose
• The Presbyterian College baseball team led wire-to-wire on Tuesday night to record a 9-6 win over South Carolina at Founders Park. Noah Lebron, Brody Fahr and Ryan Ouzts led the offense with two hits apiece in the contest.
• Toth tied the DI program record with his 12th career save as he pitched a scoreless ninth for the Blue Hose. He tied Ryan Hedrick for the save record who had 12 from 2015-18.
• Tuesday's victory was the Blue Hose third win over the Gamecocks in the DI era and first since April 17, 2018, when PC defeated South Carolina 7-4 in Columbia.
Series History
• PC leads the all-time series over UNC Asheville by the count of 27-16 with the two teams splitting the six head-to-head matchups last season.
• Kyle Merkle is the top returning hitter for PC from last year's matchups with the Bulldogs as hit hit .353 (6-of-17) with a pair of RBIs. Kyle Decker was .333 (7-of-21) with a double and four runs knocked in.
• Eric Toth was a dual threat last year against the Bulldogs with a pair of home runs at the dish and was 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA earning a save. He allowed three earned runs over 7.2 innings. He tossed 5.2 innings in a 14-inning marathon allowing three hits and one earned run as PC outlasted Asheville 5-4 on April 6.
• Charlie McDaniel tossed seven innings in his lone start with one earned run allowed to pick up a victory.
• Similar to Toth, Kyle Benson was strong for PC out of the pen allowing two earned runs over 6.1 innings as he went 1-1. Benson also tallied eight strikeouts.
Blue Hose Leaders
• Duncan Howard sits in fourth in the conference with a 2.88 ERA as he is also tied for third in the league with three victories. Howard is also seventh in the league with 33 strikeouts.
• With his save on Tuesday, Eric Toth currently sits atop the Big South with four saves.
• Brody Fahr and Joel Dragoo are tied for second in the league with three sacrifice flies.
• Jay Wetherington is tied for fifth in the league with nine stolen bases, Kyle Decker is just behind him with eight and Toth has tallied seven.
Record Chasing
• With his next save, senior Eric Toth becomes the DI career leader for saves. Toth has tallied 12 saves in his Presbyterian career inclduing four this season.
• Kyle Decker enters the weekend eighth in stolen bases in his Blue Hose career with 21. He needs one more to tie for sixth and three more ties him for fifth.
Last Five Games & 10 Games
• Brody Fahr is pacing the Blue Hose over the last five games with a .444 average (8-of-18) with three doubles and a triple. Chris Veach is just behind him with a .389 average (7-of-18) with two doubles, one triple and a pair of homers.
• Eric Toth has four stolen bases and Jay Wetherington has three steals in the last five games.
• Jack Gorman is leading the way for Presbyterian over the last ten games with a .438 average (14-of-32) with four doubles and nine runs knocked in.
• Charlie McDaniel has allowed just four earned runs over his last two starts with nine strikeouts.
Scouting UNC Asheville
• UNC Asheville enters the weekend with a 9-14 record following an 11-1 setback on Tuesday against Appalachian State. The Bulldogs are 4-2 so far in league play as they swept CSU last weekend in their most recent conference action.
• Dominic Freeberger leads the Bulldogs with a .386 average which includes a team-high nine doubles and a pair of triples. He has also made six appearances on the mound with a 1-1 record and has added a pair of saves to his stat line.
• Justin Honeycutt is 2-1 with a 1.25 ERA over eight outings and a pair of starts. He has allowed three earned runs and struck out 18.
• Jacob Edwards is Asheville's top starter with a 2.50 ERA over six starts. He has pitched 36 innings with six walks and 40 strikeouts.
PC Swipping Bases
• Led by senior Eric Toth's DI record four stolen bases on Saturday in the Blue Hose 12-8 victory, Presbyterian has swipped 32 bases so far in the 2022 season.
• Jay Wetherington leads the way with nine stolen bases as he is followed by Kyle Decker with eight.
• Toth has added seven to his stat line highlighted by four against Campbell last weekend.
• PC has had eight different players with at least one steal on the season.
Toth Named Big South Player of the Week
• Following a 7-for-13 week at the plate, Presbyterian College baseball senior Eric Toth (Mobile, Ala.) has been named the Big South Player of the Week for games played Feb. 28-Mar.6, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• He began his week with a 2-for-4 performance in a midweek defeat against Charleston. Toth opened the weekend against Bellarmine with a season-high three hits including a double and run driven in during the Blue Hose 9-3 win over Bellarmine.
• The senior continued his strong week at the plate with his second homer of the season on Saturday in a 5-0 shutout before adding an RBI double and scoring two runs in Presbyterian's 8-4 series finale win over the Knights.
• Over the four-game week, Toth slugged .923 and got on base at a .611 clip as he was able to raise his batting average from .290 up to .364.
Dearman Earns Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week Honors
• Following his first collegiate save on Saturday, Presbyterian College baseball senior left-handed pitcher Clark Dearman(Milton, Ga.) has been named the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week for games played Feb. 21-Feb. 27, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• Dearman began the week with 1.1 scoreless frames in the Blue Hose midweek contest against Georgia Tech. He recorded a pair of strikeouts in the outing against the Yellow Jackets allowing a hit and a walk.
• The Milton, Ga. native returned to the hill on Saturday afternoon and pitched the final two innings of the Blue Hose 5-1 game one victory against Manhattan to earn his first collegiate save. He recorded three punchouts in the two innings against the Jaspers.
• Dearman leads the team with four appearances as he has allowed two earned runs in 5.1 innings while totaling eight strikeouts this season.
Blue Hose Long Ball
• The Blue Hose have totaled 15 home runs over 24 games including six long balls in the last five games.
• On the year, Jeremiah Boyd and Eric Toth each have hit three homers with Chase Hughes, Dalton Reeves and Chris Veachadding two apiece.
• Jack Gorman, Sean Klein and Ryan Ouzts each have hit one so far this season.
Up Next
• Presbyterian hits the road on Tuesday at 4 p.m. for a matchup at the College of Charleston. The Blue Hose and Cougars met on March 1 with Charleston earning the 7-3 victory.
