CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College baseball team (16-21, 4-8 Big South) begins a Big South Conference series when Charleston Southern (15-25, 6-6) visits the PC Baseball Complex for a three-game stretch that begins Friday at 3 p.m. Rain washed away PC's game against NC Central on Wednesday as the Blue Hose enter the weekend with wins in three of their last four games.
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will be selling flip-top water bottles for $5 at Friday's game. The proceeds will fund PC student-athlete representatives to travel to leadership conferences.
PC holds a 7-5 edge in the all-time series against Charleston Southern after the Buccaneers took two of three from the Blue Hose in North Charleston last season. PC clipped Charleston Southern in the final game, 5-4, thanks to a ninth-inning comeback and an RBI single from Andrew Williams. The last time the Bucs visited Clinton, PC won the first two games of the series before dropping the series finale in 10 innings.
Charleston Southern enters the weekend with a 15-25 record and a 6-6 tally in Big South action. The Buccaneers picked up an 11-7 home win against Savannah State on Wednesday after dropping a 3-2 road decision at Clemson on Tuesday. The team took the first and third games of a weekend series against Gardner-Webb and are led by Chase Shelton's .346 batting average and 20 RBI.
The Blue Hose will likely start Bud Jeter, Chandler Knox and Beau Dees over the weekend. Over the last three weekends, PC's big three have held opponents to a combined .247 batting average. Last week, Chandler Knox pitched seven innings and allowed one run to set up Gabe Grammer for a win while Beau Dees threw a no-hitter through five innings en route to his second win of the season.
PC won its weekend series over High Point by taking the final two games of the road series. The Blue Hose received strong pitching from Chandler Knox and Beau Dees to earn the wins, coupled with Kenny Bryant's team-leading sixth home run of the season on Sunday. PC has won its last two Big South Conference series against UNC Asheville and High Point.
Over the last five games, Robby Swab paces the team with .438 batting average (7-for-16) and a .550 on-base percentage. Kenny Bryant tallied seven RBI over PC's last five games, thanks in part to two home runs that included a grand slam against Davidson on April 10.
Kenny Bryant cranked his team-leading sixth home run on Saturday in a 3-1 win over High Point. Bryant hit a grand slam on Tuesday and Brad Zebedis became the 10th different Blue Hose to yard this season in that game. The Blue Hose come into the week with 22 on the year, tied for second-most in the Big South. Bryant ranks second among all active players with 22 career home runs, while Tony Micklon leads the pack with 27. Brad Zebedis ranks fourth, with 14.
Freshman Billy Motroni saw a 14-game on-base streak snapped on Saturday, ending the longest on-base streak this season for the Blue Hose. Robby Swab enters Wednesday with a 10-game on-base streak, four shy of Motroni's record and two shy of his own longest streak this season.
Kenny Bryant's .317 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 (26), home runs (six), slugging percentage (.540). He has also committed only one error at first base while registering 284 putouts.
PC ends its truncated four-game homestand with an April 25 contest against the Furman Paladins. The team then embarks on a three-game road trip at Radford before a non-conference series at Central Florida.
