CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College baseball team (14-20, 2-7 Big South) hits the road for a Big South Conference weekend series at High Point (21-14, 6-3) that begins on Friday at 6 p.m. The Blue Hose will look to build on Tuesday's 13-5 rout of Davidson in a road trip to High Point for the second consecutive season. PC went 1-2 in last week's non-conference series at UNC Greensboro.
PC trails the Panthers in the series since 2000, 3-6. The Blue Hose took all three of its wins in consecutive fashion, winning the 2010 series finale, 10-9, before rattling off two straight wins in last year's series at High Point. The Panthers edged PC in the finale, 4-3, and own a 4-2 all-time advantage at home. All nine meetings have taken place since the 2009 season.
High Point enters the weekend with a 21-14 overall marker and a 6-3 Big South record, matching second-place Campbell and Radford for the same record. The Panthers dropped their last two games at Radford on Saturday, 8-3 and 10-4. Sal Pezzino leads the squad with a .376 batting average, 24 RBI and two home runs. The Panthers ended last weekend's action with the fourth-best team batting average (.279) and team earned run average (3.81) in the Big South.
The Blue Hose will likely start Bud Jeter, Chandler Knox and Beau Dees over the weekend. The three provided strong outings against UNC Asheville and UNC Greensboro, combining for a 2-1 record and holding opponents to a .267 batting average over the last two weekends. Against UNC Greensboro, Dees pitched a no-hitter through five innings and Knox locked up a Friday win with six innings of one-run, five-hit ball.
PC posted a season-high 13 runs—four on a grand slam from Kenny Bryant—and the Blue Hose knocked off visiting Davidson in a rout on Wednesday, 13-5. PC posted a season-best 18 hits. Bryant hit a grand slam in the sixth inning for his team-leading fifth home run while Brad Zebedis and Chong also went yard in the effort. Senior Matt Nodelman earned his first career win with four solid innings of early relief, allowing only one unearned run and one hit.
Over the last five games, Andrew Williams has paced the team with a .385 average (5-for-13) in four games and Kenny Bryant seconds in with a .381 average and eight RBI. Bryant has also tallied a .762 slugging percentage with one home run over the team's last five contests.
Bryant cranked his team-leading fifth home run with a grand slam on Wednesday and Brad Zebedis became the 10th different Blue Hose to yard this season. Nate Chong also hit a home run on Wednesday for his fourth of the season and the Blue Hose come into the weekend with 21 on the year. Bryant ranks second among all active players with 21 career home runs, while Tony Micklon leads the pack with 27. Brad Zebedis ranks fourth, with 14.
Billy Motroni hit safely on Wednesday against Davidson, extending his on-base streak to 13 games and setting a new season-best for the Blue Hose in the process. The freshman overtook Robby Swab's 12 game-streak for the team lead. Kenny Bryant and Brandon Paul hold the longest active hitting streaks, at five games.
Bryant's .315 batting average puts him in the midst of a career year. The senior's previous best came in 2010, when he hit .276. He has also already set a new career high in doubles for a season (11) and he leads the team in RBI (23), home runs (five), slugging percentage (.535). He has also commited only one error at first base while registering 255 putouts.
The Blue Hose return to Clinton for a five-game homestand, beginning with a Wednesday afternoon matchup against NC Central. PC next hosts Charleston Southern in its second-to-last home weekend series of the season.
