Blue Hose vs Blue Devils & South Carolina results

The Presbyterian College baseball team continues a busy stretch of action on Tuesday with a 4 p.m. first pitch against #14 South Carolina on SECN Plus. The Blue Hose continue on Wednesday with a 6:30 p.m. start at Fluor Field against Duke on ESPN+.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Presbyterian (7-9) at #14 South Carolina (16-1)
WHERE: Founders Park (Columbia, S.C.)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 14th at 4 p.m.
THE SERIES (Since 2008): South Carolina Leads 10-3
 
WHAT: Duke (10-6) vs Presbyterian
WHERE: Fluor Field (Greenville, S.C.)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 15th at 6:30 p.m.
THE SERIES (Since 2008): Duke Leads 6-1

FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast (Tues.) | Stat Broadcast (Wed.)
VIDEO: SECN + (Tues.) | ESPN+ (Wed.)
LIVE AUDIO: Fox Sports Spartanburg (98.3 FM, 1400 AM) (Tues. Only) 
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES: Presbyterian Notes


About the Blue Hose
• The Blue Hose begin their second straight five-game week on Tuesday with a road game at South Carolina before battling Duke on Wednesday at Fluor Field in Greenville. The Gamecocks enter on a seven-game win streak following a sweep of Bethune-Cookman over the weekend while the Blue Devils come off of a series that saw them lose two-of-three to Wake Forest.
 
Scouting the Gamecocks
• South Carolina comes into Tuesday's tilt with a 16-1 record winning each of its last seven contests. The Gamecocks are also a perfect 14-0 on their home field this season.
• Ethan Petry leads the Gamecocks offense with a .429 average including six homers and 24 RBIs. Braylen Wimmer sits at .410 with six homer, 17 runs knocked in and a team-high 12 steals.
• As a team, South Carolina has connected on 45 homers which is tied for the lead in the NCAA as 11 Gamecocks have connected on long balls led by Gavin Casas with nine homers.
• South Carolina also ranks second in the nation in runs scored with 190, fourth in scoring averaging 11.2 runs per game.
• On the mound, the Gamecocks are led by James Hicks who's 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA as Hicks has allowed two earned runs in 18 innings with 14 strikeouts. South Carolina has five arms who have pitched five innings or less without allowing an earned run.
• The Gamecocks are seventh in the NCAA in WHIP (1.05), eighth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.7) and eighth in ERA (2.70).
 
Head to Head vs South Carolina
• South Carolina holds a 10-3 edge in the all-time series dating back to 2008 over PC with the Blue Hose winning the last head-to-head meeting by the score of 9-6 in Columbia last season.
 
Scouting the Blue Devils
• Duke enters Wednesday's tilt with a 10-6 mark after dropping two-of-three at the hands of Wake Forest in Durham. The Blue Devils do have a 9-0 win over ECU who was ranked in the top 10 at the time of the victory.
• Duke's offense is led by Alex Mooney who's hitting at a .358 clip with six doubles and a triple to go along with a team-high seven stolen bases. Andrew Fischer sits at .333 with five doubles and two homers.
• On the mound, Duke is led by Jason White who's not allowed an earned run in 12.2 innings of work over six outings. Fran Oschell III has pitched 10.1 innings of scoreless work with 17 strikeouts.
 
Head to Head vs Duke
• PC & Duke meet on Wednesday for the eighth time in the Blue Hose DI era with the Blue Devils holding a 6-1 edge. Wednesday marks the first time the two teams have met since 2018 when Duke earned an 8-0 win in Durham.
 
Blue Hose in the Ranks
• Jack Gorman and Brody Fahr begin the weekend tied for seventh in the league with 19 hits apiece.
• Gorman is also tied for fourth doubles with six on the season.
• Trey Fenderson is second in the league with his two sacrifice flies.
• Gibson and Tanner Smith are tied for the top spot in the league with a pair of saves.
 
Last Five Games
• Gorman leads the way for PC in the last five games with a .444 average tallying three doubles in that stretch. Gorman has also tallied a team-high four steals.
• Fenderson sits in second in the stretch with a .429 average finishing with four RBIs in the stretch.
• Fenix DiGiacomo has allowed one earned run over his last six innings of work while Charlie McDaniel recorded a team-high eight strikeouts.
 
Blue Hose Offense Pushes Past Broncos
• Behind a career-high five hits from junior Jack Gorman, the Presbyterian College baseball team earned a 17-11 midweek win on Tuesday night over Western Michigan at the PC Baseball Complex. Gorman finished with five hits, including a pair of doubles to pace the offense to the midweek victory.
• Dragoo tied for the program's DI record for walks as he drew four free passes in the contest.
• The 17 runs the Blue Hose scored on Tuesday marks the most scored by a PC team since last May when Presbyterian tallied 22 runs against CSU.
• The Blue Hose improved to 5-1 on the season, totaling 10+ hits following the 13 hits recorded in Tuesday's action.
• As a team, PC drew 14 walks in the victory marking the program's DI single-game record for walks drawn in a game.
 
McDaniel Earns Big South Co-Freshman of the Week Honors
• Following six shutout innings in his first college start on Wednesday, Presbyterian College baseball freshman Mason McDaniel (Sanford, Fla.) has been named the Big South Co-Freshman of the Week for games played Feb. 20-26, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
• McDaniel dazzled in his first college start against Western Carolina on Wednesday as the Blue Hose left-hander tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in the victory over the Catamounts. He scattered just two hits and two walks throughout his outing to get the win. In the start Wednesday, he tallied six strikeouts in the first four innings while only allowing one hit and totaling three innings of three up and three down. McDaniel worked around a pair of baserunners in the fifth without harm before getting his final strikeout in the sixth to earn his first collegiate win.
 
Newcomers Getting PC Early Victories
• On Saturday, Blue Hose pitchers Fenix DiGiacomo and Luke Gibson started their Blue Hose careers strong as PC downed the Hoyas 5-2 in the middle game of the three-game weekend series. DiGiacomo got the ball rolling on Saturday with a start spanning 5.2 innings allowing four hits and one run en route to a victory in his PC debut. Gibson finished it off for the Blue Hose recording the final 10 outs allowing one solo home run and striking out four to earn the save. Gibson and DiGiacomo were teammates at Patrick Henry CC before coming to Clinton for the 2023 season. DiGiacomo added his second win of the season against Northwestern tossing six inning with two earned runs and seven strikeouts.
• In his first college start on Wednesday, PC was led by freshman Mason McDaniel tossing six scoreless innings to lead Presbyterian to a 3-0 win over Western Carolina. McDaniel struck out eight Catamounts en route to his first college win on Wednesday afternoon. In relief work on Saturday vs Georgia State, McDaniel pitched the ninth inning before PC rallied to get the win leading to his second win of the season.
• Kyle Mueller earned his first college win on Tuesday against Western Michigan as the freshman pitched three innings of relief as a part of the Blue Hose 17-11 win over the Broncos.
 
2023 Preseason Honors
• Catcher Dalton Reeves was named to the league's all-conference team as selected by Perfect Game.
• DI Baseball has tabbed a host of Blue Hose on the conference's top prospects in the next few drafts. RHP Duncan Howard, RHP Fenix DiGiacomo, Catcher Dalton Reeves, RHP Colbey Klepper, RHP Tanner Smith and OF Jay Wetheringtonwere apart of the 2023 Draft Rankings.
• Joel Dragoo was tabbed by the publication in the 2024 Big South Prospect Rankings.
• Jake Randolph, Trey Fenderson and Amman Dewberry were selected to the Impact Freshman in the league on the list by DI Baseball.
 
Newcomers Join the Blue Hose Family
• Head Coach Elton Pollock was busy in the offsesaon with the addition of 16 new faces to the Blue Hose family.
• The incoming class includes Evan Cuervo, Jay Allred, Jake Randolph, Trey Fenderson, Travis Camp, William Nobles, Ryan Becker, Lorenzo Rios, Kyle Mueller, Luke Gibson, Tyler Mecchella, Fenix DiGiacomo, Mason McDaniel, Eli Bowery, Jeremiah Hampton, Amman Dewberry.
 

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Possibly the toughest test to this point on the 2023 campaign awaits the Presbyterian College softball team on Wednesday evening, riding a three-game winning streak into a date with the South Carolina Gamecocks, a squad that holds a win percentage of nearly 85% after one month. The fourth all-time meeting between the two schools and first since 2017, Beckham Field’s opening pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m., televised on SEC Network +.

Last seen picking up a weekend sweep over Queens by respective tallies of 3-0 and 5-3, the Blue Hose boosted their home record to 14-3 on the year and 17-5 overall. As impressive as head coach David Williams’ lineup has been – especially when on the defensive end – the team’s background away from Clinton is substantially low, with tomorrow’s in-state affair representing just the third true road meeting of the semester.

Wednesday will mark a rarity for Williams’ tenure guiding PC, accounting for the second matchup against a Southeastern Conference opponent and first such instance since 2019 – his inaugural season in Clinton – in a visiting capacity vs. Georgia. Presbyterian was scheduled to face the Gamecocks in 2020, however the game was eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

GAMEDAY INFO

WHO: Presbyterian (17-5) at South Carolina (22-4, 1-2 SEC)

WHEN: Wednesday, March 14 (6:00 p.m.)

WHERE: Columbia, S.C.

WATCH: SEC Network +

LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast

 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

- One of the most daunting resumes of any school to not be recognized by any of the three major NCAA Division I softball polls, South Carolina brings a fantastic start to the year with them to tomorrow’s proceedings, even with a series defeat at the hands of #14 LSU that wrapped up on Monday night. Head coach Beverly Smith’s club rides in at 22-4, ranking ninth in the nation in runs per game (7.33), on-base percentage (.436), and total doubles (42).

- On pace to drastically exceed expectations from a preseason pick of 13^th in a league that boasts nine top 25 programs as of Tuesday afternoon, USC’s 21-2 start (prior to losing two of three to the Tigers) registered as the school’s best opening to a single year since 2018, reaching separate winning streaks of 14 and 7 already.

- Smith passed the 400-win plateau in a 9-1 triumph over North Carolina back on the 1^st of the month, becoming the 29^th active head coach at the Division I level to reach that number while only directing one school. The program’s leader since 2010, Smith has given the Gamecocks seven NCAA Tournament appearances and is the second-winningest coach in the 50-year history of the team.

- While USC has mostly been tremendous through the nonconference phase of 2023 – victorious by an average margin of six runs – their SEC opener against LSU wasn’t to their liking, able to grab a 4-2 W in the second try but sandwiched in between two losses by a combined clip of 14-2. Despite the series setback, the Gamecocks still possess a record of 13-3 when competing alongside home field advantage.

LAST TIME OUT

- Pitching excellence again was the key to another profound performance at the newly-renovated PC Softball Complex last weekend, riding sophomore Morgan Hess and freshman Peyton Duncan’s complete games to earn consecutive W’s over Queens. Far and away the team’s most conspicuous strength, the Blue Hose’s collective ERA sits at a robust 1.40, the 11^th-lowest number in the country.

- A member of an exclusive club of just 25 schools to have gathered at least seven shutouts thus far, Presbyterian’s three-headed pitching monster (which also includes senior Jenna Greene) is making its way to permanent residence near the top of the school record books, on track to set a new program-best earned-run average for a single season which was established in 2011 (1.90).

- Exploding out of the gates for the team’s second-longest winning streak ever (12) and most proficient opening to a campaign since turning D-I 15 years back, PC’s electric first month has positioned Williams just five wins away from hitting 100 as the Blue Hose chief, outscoring the other side 80-51 overall while surrendering just two homers in 22 encounters.

RECORD-BOOK FILLERS

- One year removed from the school’s highest-ever win total (36), the ’23 edition of PC softball is littered with individuals either approaching or already at the top of numerous statistical categories, most noteworthy of all is Greene. A six-time Big South Pitcher of the Week, the four-year sensation is the all-time PC strikeout queen with 536 K’s, a number that is currently 121 more than the second-place rep. Additionally, Greene has stockpiled more shutouts than any other Blue Hose pitcher (20), only three W’s away from matching the program-high of 48 achieved by Leslie Hensley (2009-12).

- The #1 and #2 lowest ERA’s in Presbyterian history belong to Greene and Hess, both below two (the latter with the all-time lowest mark of 1.85 in 35 appearances). Hess has proven to be just as dangerous of an offensive threat while still an underclassman, already with seven home runs this semester which rests five behind Hope Rogers’ career record of 28 (2014-17).

- Junior second baseman Kaitlyn Tucker, a player who has never not started in all 102 games to feature her, remains comfortably ahead in 1^st-place for the school’s highest cumulative on-base percentage (.444), also ranking third in batting average (.325).

- Shortstop Layna Johnson, first baseman Jillian Hewes, and catcher Lath Freeman are all members of Presbyterian’s top 10 in terms of career slugging percentage (encompassing all players with at least 200 at-bats), helping PC cover 39 extra-base swings and 15 longballs since February.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team began its second straight five-game week on Tuesday suffering a 5-0 defeat at the hands of #16 South Carolina at Founders Park in Columbia, S.C…
 
FINAL SCORE: #16 South Carolina 5, Presbyterian 0
LOCATION: Founders Park (Columbia, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (7-10) | #16 South Carolina (17-1)   
W: Eli Jones (4-0) | L: Kyle Mueller (1-1)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
- South Carolina got on the board with three runs in the second to get the 3-0 lead over the Blue Hose.
- The Gamecocks connected on back-to-back homers in the third to push the lead to 5-0. Neither team got on the scoreboard over the six innings as the hosts earned a 5-0 victory on Tuesday afternoon.
 
NOTABLES
- Jack Gorman increased his reached base streak to 17 in the opening inning on Tuesday as Gorman drew his team-high sixth hit-by-pitch.
- With his second inning single, Brody Fahr has now reached base safely in 14 straight contests. Fahr's second inning single marked his team-high 20th base hit of the season.
- In his first college start, Kyle Mueller tallied a career-high with five strikeouts in his two innings of work.
- Senior William Farrar tallied a career-high on Tuesday with 3.0 shutout innings in relief.
- Freshman Trey Fenderson increased his reached base streak to nine consecutive games with a walk in Tuesday's defeat.
 
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team could not overcome a fast start from Duke on Wednesday night as the Blue Devils recorded a 15-2 victory at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C…
 
FINAL SCORE: Duke 15, Presbyterian 2
LOCATION: Fluor Field (Greenville, S.C.)  
RECORDS: Presbyterian (7-11) | Duke (11-6)
W: Jason White (2-0) | L: Luke Gibson (0-1)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
- Duke got on the board first with a pair of runs in the opening frame to get the early advantage on Wednesday night.
- The Blue Devils continued to put the pressure on PC in the second with three homers and seven runs in the inning to push it to a 9-0 game.
- Ryan Ouzts opened the second with a solo shot to left to make it a 9-1 score for Duke.
- The Blue Devils pushed across a pair of runs in the third and the fifth to make it 13-1 after 4.5.
- Duke pushed across two in the seventh inning to make it 15-1.
- Jay Allred tallied an RBI groundout in the ninth before the Blue Devils earned the midweek victory in Greenville.

NOTABLES
- With his three hits on Wednesday, Jack Gorman has now reached base safely in all 18 games to begin the season.
- Gorman also added his team-high seventh double in the opening inning against the Blue Devils.
- Ouzts connected on his second homer of the season in the second inning.
- Brody Fahr was able to extend his reached base streak to 15 in a row on Wednesday night. Fahr drew a walk in the ninth inning.
- Freshman Trey Fenderson reached base twice on Wednesday via the hit-by-pitch to increase his reached base streak to 10 straight games.
- Freshman William Nobles made his collegiate debut in the ninth inning pitching a scoreless inning with his first college strikeout.
 
UP NEXT
- PC begins league play on Friday with a 6 p.m. first pitch on the road against High Point on ESPN+.  

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