CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team hits the road on Friday for the opener of a three-game series in Rock Hill against Winthrop set for 6 p.m. before a 3 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and a 1 p.m. finale on Sunday. All three games will be shown on ESPN+ from Rock Hill.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Presbyterian (13-21, 6-6 Big South) at Winthrop (15-19, 4-8 Big South)
WHERE: Winthrop Ballpark (Rock Hill, S.C.)
WHEN: 6 p.m. (Fri.) | 3 p.m. (Sat.) | 1 p.m. (Sun.)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): PC Leads 19-17
FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast (Fri.) | Stat Broadcast (Sat.) | Stat Broadcast (Sun.)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Fri.) | ESPN+ (Sat.) | ESPN+ (Sun.)
RADIO: Fox Sports Spartanburg (98.3 FM, 1400 AM)
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES: Presbyterian Notes
ON THE MOUND
Friday
PC – RHP Duncan Howard (2-2, 5.72 ERA, 37 K)
WU – RHP Brady Houston (0-0, 5.48 ERA, 13 K)
Saturday
PC – LHP Charlie McDaniel (1-6, 6.70 ERA, 36 K)
WU – RHP Caleb Jones (0-1, 7.13 ERA, 16 K)
Sunday
PC – TBA
WU – TBA
About the Blue Hose
• The Blue Hose return to action on Friday with a key Big South series at Winthrop coming off of a midweek defeat at the hands of Wofford on Tuesday. The host Eagles suffered a midweek loss to Charlotte in its most recent action.
Smith Among the Best Relief ERAs in the NCAA
• The Blue Hose senior closer sits in the top 10 nationally in closer ERAs as Smith sits sixth among relief pitchers with a 1.23 ERA who have at least six saves. There are currently 40 pitchers who have tallied six saves to qualify for the stat. He's also third among mid-major pitchers.
Scouting Winthrop
• Winthrop comes into the weekend with a 15-19 record including a 4-8 mark in league play this spring. The Eagles are led at the plate by Ty Hooks who's hitting .319 on the season as McKinley Erves sits with a .310 average including a team-high 10 doubles and a pair of homers with 15 RBIs. Brody Hopkins leads the way for Winthrop with four homers on the season. Joseph Szvetitz and Charlie Evans lead Winthrop with eight steals apiece. Zan Rose leads Winthrop on the mound with a 2.14 ERA as he's tallied 22 strikeouts over 21 innings with a pair of saves. Nate Butcher has allowed five runs in 12 innings. Josh Bookbinder is 5-0 over 13 outings wiht a 4.40 ERA.
Head to Head vs Winthrop
• PC holds a 19-17 edge over Winthrop in the DI era as PC earned a three-game sweep a season agao over the Eagles. The Blue Hose have earned a trio of three-game sweeps over Winthrop including last year while the Eagles have three of their own.
• In the 2021 series, Dalton Reeves hit .500 (6-of-12) with a homer and five RBIs while Jack Gorman went 5-of-12 (.417) with five runs scored and a double. On the mound, Duncan Howard tossed seven frames allowing one unearned run with four strikeouts to earn a win. Charlie McDaniel went eight innings allowing two earned runs getting a win as well. Logan Ymker tossed 2.1 innings over two outings with an unearned run along with a win and a save.
Blue Hose in the Ranks
• Kyle Decker is ninth in the league with 11 steals. Decker is tied for second in league games with six steals as the fifth-year senior has gone 6-for-7.
• Brody Fahr is tied for the top spot in the league with three triples on the season.
• Tanner Smith is atop the league in saves with six. Luke Gibson is eighth in the league with a pair of saves.
• Charlie McDaniel is tops in the Big South with a 6.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. McDaniel is tops in the conference with 1.26 walks allowed per nine innings.
• Colbey Klepper is second in the league and fifth in the nation in appearances with 20 on the season.
• As a team, PC leads the conference with nine saves led by Smith with six saves.
Late Offense & Solid Pitching Pushes PC to a DH Split with #14 Campbell
• Behind a three-run bottom of the eighth highlighted by a two-run double from Senior Kyle Merkle, the Presbyterian College baseball team was able to take game two by the score of 3-1 from #14 Campbell on Thursday night at the PC Baseball Complex. The Camels took game one by the score of 14-7 before the Blue Hose game two triumph. Merkle finished with five runs knocked in during the doubleheader highlighted by his game-winning two-run double in the late going on Thursday night.
• PC's victory in game two marks the first win over a ranked opponent since April 14, 2015, when the Blue & Garnet downed the #27 ranked South Carolina. It's the highest win over a ranked opponent since 2012 when the Blue Hose defeated UCF who was ranked #13 at the time of the win. The win is the second in eight tries for the Blue Hose in defeating a ranked opponent on their home field. PC's last home win over a ranked opponent was in April of 2009 when the Blue Hose downed #19, Coastal Carolina.
Smith Goes Back-to-Back with Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week Honors
• Following two Big South saves in the Blue Hose series win over Charleston Southern, Presbyterian College baseball senior Tanner Smith (Laurens, S.C.) has been Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week for games played March 20-26, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• Smith opened the week with three strikeouts over 1.1 scoreless frames at home against Davidson. He opened the outing with a walk before recording three strikeouts over the next five batters to earn the scoreless outing.
• He carried his momentum into Friday's outing with a scoreless inning totaling two strikeouts and facing one over the minimum in the ninth of the Blue Hose 6-3 win over CSU to earn his fourth save. He needed just 16 pitches to get out of the inning against the Bucs.
• He bounced back on Saturday he needed just 12 pitches and worked around a leadoff hit by pitch to record his second save in as many games as PC clinched the series with a 2-1 victory. Smith tallied a strikeout in the inning of work on Saturday.
• Smith has not allowed an earned run over his last 8.1 innings as the senior has totaled 12 strikeouts and allowed three hits in that stretch. He continues to lead the Blue Hose bullpen with a minuscule 1.12 ERA over his 16 innings of work this season. He is currently tied for 15th in the nation with his five saves
• He becomes the first Blue Hose player to earn back-to-back Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week honors since last April 4 & 11 when Logan Ymker earned two straight honors his third save of the season and give PC the 7-6 league opening win.
