Baseball Set for Three-Game Series at EKU

Doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.

CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team continues a busy stretch of action opening a three-game series with Eastern Kentucky on Friday at 4 p.m. on ESPN+. Due to expected inclement weather on Sunday in the area, the two teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m….

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Presbyterian (7-6) at Eastern Kentucky (4-9)
WHERE: Earle Combs Stadium (Richmond, Ky.)
WHEN: 4 p.m. (Fri.) | 1 p.m. (Sat.) | Approx. 4 p.m. (Sat.)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): EKU Leads 6-2

FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Sidearm Stats (All Three Games)
VIDEO: ESPN+ (Fri. Only)
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES: Presbyterian Notes

ON THE MOUND
Friday
PC – RHP Duncan Howard (0-0, 5.50 ERA, 12 K)
EKU – RHP Rese Brown (1-1, 5.54 ERA, 22 K)

Saturday Game One
PC –  RHP Fenix DiGiacomo (2-1, 7.20 ERA, 10 K)
EKU – RHP Nathan Lawson (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 5 K)

Saturday Game Two
PC –  LHP Charlie McDaniel (1-2, 10.93 ERA, 12 K)
EKU – TBA

About the Blue Hose
• The Blue Hose in the midst of a nine-game stretch away from Clinton hit the road for a three-game series against Eastern Kentucky serving as a final tuneup before Big South play commences next week. PC split its two midweeks defeating Western Michigan 17-11 before falling 5-3 on Wednesday at Clemson. Eastern Kentucky comes into the weekend losing its last six after falling on Wednesday 10-5 to Cincinnati.

Scouting the Colonels
• Eastern Kentucky sits at 4-9 on the season entering the weekend. The Colonels are led offensively by Miguel Larreal who's hitting .341 on the season with two doubles, two homers and 10 runs scored. Will King sits at .300 with three doubles and two homers. On the mound, Cameron Kalandros has appeared in three outings with one start pitching 13 innings with 13 strikeouts. Nathan Lawson has allowed one earned run over six innings with five strikeouts.

Head to Head vs EKU
• Eastern Kentucky leads PC in the head-to-head series 6-2 as the two teams split a doubleheader during the 2021 season at EKU.
• The 2021 meeting marked the only time the two teams have met at EKU in the Blue Hose DI era with the prior six meetings taking place at Presbyterian College.

Blue Hose in the Ranks
• Jack Gorman and Brody Fahr begin the weekend tied for second in the league with 18 hits apiece.
• Gorman is also tied for the conference's top spot in doubles with six including three in each of the last two games PC has taken part in.
• Trey Fenderson is second in the league with his two sacrifice flies.
• Luke Gibson leads the Big South with 4.85 hits allowed per nine innings throughout his 13 innings of work this season.
• Gibson and Tanner Smith are tied for the top spot in the league with a pair of saves.

Last Five Games
• Fenderson leads the way for PC over the last five games with a .455 (5-of-11) average with four runs knocked in.
• Gorman is second on the team with a .429 (9-of-21) clip as he has tallied three doubles, four RBIs and five runs scored. Joel Dragoo sits at .400 in the last five contests with six runs scored.
• Colbey Klepper has tossed 4.1 scoreless innings while Tanner Smith has seen action in three innings without allowing an earned run.
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 Wetherington were 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.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Joel Dragoo: INF; 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R

#2 Brody Fahr: INF; 5' 11"; Junior; L/R

#1 Jack Gorman: INF; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#25 Duncan Howard: RHP; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#34 Colbey Klepper: RHP; 6' 4"; Senior; R/R

#31 Charlie McDaniel: LHP; 6' 3"; Junior; L/L

#32 Dalton Reeves: C; 6' 5"; Junior; L/R

#16 Tanner Smith: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#21 Jay Wetherington: OF; 5' 9"; Junior; L/L

#7 Evan Cuervo: OF; 6' 4"; Freshman; L/R

Players Mentioned

#5 Joel Dragoo
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R
: INF

#2 Brody Fahr
: 5' 11"; Junior; L/R
: INF

#1 Jack Gorman
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#25 Duncan Howard
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

#34 Colbey Klepper
: 6' 4"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#31 Charlie McDaniel
: 6' 3"; Junior; L/L
: LHP

#32 Dalton Reeves
: 6' 5"; Junior; L/R
: C

#16 Tanner Smith
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#21 Jay Wetherington
: 5' 9"; Junior; L/L
: OF

#7 Evan Cuervo
: 6' 4"; Freshman; L/R
: OF