The Presbyterian College softball team hopes to keep their sturdy home resume intact on Saturday and Sunday as they await the last Big South Conference set of the campaign to emanate from Clinton. Instituting Senior Day at the close of the weekend, the Blue Hose will take on Gardner-Webb for a Saturday doubleheader and April 30 finale on ESPN+.
Honoring the lengthy contributions submitted to the program from four-year players Lath Freeman, Jenna Greene, Layna Johnson, and Rebecca Clark, Presbyterian will recognize the stellar careers of that quartet prior to first pitch on Sunday, a group that has collected 91 overall victories (31 of which have occurred over conference opponents), along with 57 wins at the PC Softball Complex.
Head coach David Williams’ club will look to balance the high emotions of the weekend’s significance with an ongoing fight to reach the league’s top four which would guarantee a spot in the postseason Big South tournament. Approaching the GW series, the Blue Hose find themselves three games back of that coveted spot (5-9 in divisional play) with six outings remaining, aiming to repeat last year’s sweep over the Runnin’ Bulldogs by a combined clip of 23-8.
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, APRIL 29
GAME 1 – Presbyterian (24-17, 5-9) vs. Gardner-Webb (16-31, 5-10) – 1:00 PM
WATCH – ESPN+
LIVE STATS – Stat Broadcast
GAME 2 – Presbyterian (24-17, 5-9) vs. Gardner-Webb (16-31, 5-10) – 3:00 PM
WATCH – ESPN+
LIVE STATS – Stat Broadcast
GAMEDAY INFO – SUNDAY, APRIL 30 (SENIOR DAY)
GAME 3 – Presbyterian (24-17, 5-9) vs. Gardner-Webb (16-31, 5-10) – 1:00 PM
WATCH – ESPN+
LIVE STATS – Stat Broadcast
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Almost in the exact same boat as the Blue Hose, in that a five-win conference record has put them three away from getting to the top four, Gardner-Webb brings a four-game losing streak with them to Clinton this weekend after coming up on the bad side of a USC Upstate sweep in Boiling Springs. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have seen a 2-4 mark in conference action whenever playing the visitors’ role.
- Second-year head coach Bailey Wigness has given her program a higher win count than all of the 2022 campaign with two series still to go, able to accomplish that improvement despite falling in eight out of their last nine contests. The Runnin’ Bulldogs hold a collective batting average of .272, although a 5.20 team ERA has led to some inconsistency for PC’s North Carolina visitors.
LAST TIME OUT
- Although Greene was able to lift the Blue Hose to a 1-1 split in last weekend’s Charleston Southern trip by virtue of a nine-strikeout, two-hit effort for her 10th personal victory of the spring, PC was unable to turn that momentum into a second straight W during a 5-0 Buccaneer decision that ended the set last Sunday.
- Blasting a three-run homer in the very first frame of Saturday’s doubleheader before booming another longball in solo variety over the 6-2 win, sophomore Morgan Hess needs just one more HR to become Presbyterian’s all-time leader in that category with only half of her blue and garnet tenure in the rearview. Hess enters the GW sequence with 28 dingers over the last 15 months, tying Hope Rogers’ career record from 2014-17.
SENIOR DAY
- Sunday’s finale in Clinton will represent the final home appearance for a special group of players that have provided some major highlights for the program since their arrival in 2020. Freeman, a catcher from nearby Spartanburg, ranks ninth in school history with a career slugging percentage of .457, placing eighth among all PC players with a grand total of 77 RBI. Lath has produced 40 extra-base swings in her collegiate stint, starting 138 contests on 55 runs scored.
- One of the most prolific pitchers in Presbyterian history over her fourth go-around with the program, Greene features near the top of the school record books in seemingly dozens of categories. The Hamlet, N.C. native is PC’s all-time leader in career victories (48), shutouts (20), strikeouts (579), and earned-run average (2.16), starting 77 games beside a win percentage of 0.72.
- With 386 at-bats and 140 starts, Johnson has featured as one of PC’s most reliable offensive weapons while playing shortstop on the other end. Riding a .438 slugging percentage and .342 on-base clip, Layna has driven in 42 runs while producing 77 herself, finding 36 extra-base connections through the past four years. Hailing from Aynor, S.C., Johnson has been named the Big South’s Player of the Week on two occasions this year (March 20 and April 10), batting a collective .538 on 12 runs during that period.
- Clark rounds out the exceptional group of seniors for coach Williams’ crew, penciled in as a starter in 124 outings that has amounted to 74 hits, 37 runs, nine homers, and 41 RBI. The Evans, Ga. native boasts a career fielding percentage of .969 with only a single error throughout her senior campaign, responsible for PC’s ninth-inning two-run walk-off homer on April 5 that gifted her squad their first Big South victory of the spring versus Radford.
