CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team kicks off the final week of the regular season on Tuesday with a short trip to Columbia, S.C., to face the No. 12 South Carolina Gamecocks at Carolina Stadium at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on FOX Sports South.
Eric Thacker will also call the game on GoBlueHose.com and 91.9 WKRI-FM.
PC (24-28) will look to build on a Sunday win over Longwood and derail South Carolina's (37-14) four-game winning streak this season and eight-game streak over the Blue Hose. The Gamecocks hold a 43-19 series edge all-time against PC.
The Blue Hose went 1-3 last week, falling to No. 1/2 Vanderbilt by a 5-2 result on Wednesday before winning the series finale against Longwood, 4-0. PC did not commit an error in any of the four games last week and senior catcher Robby Swab (Kernersville, N.C.) posted two RBI in three straight games and enters the week on a six-game hitting streak, his longest of the season.
Freshman Jacob Midkiff (Greer, S.C.) started all four games at third base (first career starts at the hot corner) last week and did not commit an error. Nate Chong (Duluth, Ga.) hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season on Sunday and freshman Ryan Hagan (Sugar Hill, Ga.) hit the first of his career on Saturday.
Brandon Paul (Augusta, Ga.) leads the team with a .304 batting average. Brad Zebedis (Rock Hill, S.C.) sits six points behind him with a .298 average and his 30 RBI pace the squad in that category. Both Zebedis and Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) boast 17 multiple-hit games while Zebedis's 10 multiple-RBI games put hive five clear of four teammates in that category.
South Carolina ended last week ranked No. 12 in the NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls and will likely move up following a weekend sweep of Georgia at home. Tuesday's game wraps a seven-game homestand that also saw the Gamecocks take down Wofford in a 9-3 verdict on Wednesday night. LB Dantzler leads the team with a .337 batting average, 12 home runs and 45 RBI. The team also holds a 27-6 record at Carolina Stadium after Vanderbilt took two of two on May 3 and May 4.
Following Tuesday night's game, the Blue Hose wrap up the regular season at Gardner-Webb in a series that begins on Thursday night at 6 p.m.
