CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team begins a five-game homestand on Wednesday as the Blue Hose welcome in ETSU for a 6 p.m. first pitch on ESPN+ from Clinton.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: ETSU (15-18) vs Presbyterian (14-23)
WHERE: PC Baseball Complex (Clinton, S.C.)
WHEN: 6 pm (Wed.)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): First All-Time Meeting
FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES
ON THE MOUND
Wednesday
ETSU – RHP Trevor Hanselman (0-0, 11.05 ERA, 7 K)
PC – LHP Charlie McDaniel (1-6, 6.75 ERA, 38 K)
About the Blue Hose
• The Blue Hose come into midweek action following a series setback at the hands of Winthrop on the road over the weekend. PC begins its final stretch at home playing five of its final eight home games over the next week. ETSU enters following being swept by Mercer on the road over the weekend.
Scouting ETSU
• ETSU comes in 15-18 overall following the aformentioned sweep to Mercer in its last on-field action. The Bucs have played three other Big South foes tallying wins over Winthrop and Radford while falling to Asheville. Nick Iannantone leads the Bucs with a .448 average totaling eight doubles and 13 RBIs. Cody Miller sits at .359 with four doubles, two triples along with a homer and six steals. Camerson Sisneros has totaled 10 doubles while Tommy Barth has 12 doubles and a pair of triples. Cade Carlson leads the Bucs on the mound with a 2-0 record along with a 1.93 ERA over 23.1 innings pitched.
Head to Head vs ETSU
• Wednesday marks the first time the two teams have met in the Blue Hose DI era.
Blue Hose in the Ranks
• Kyle Decker is tied for ninth in the league with 11 steals. Decker is tied for sixth in league games with six steals as the fifth-year senior has gone 6-for-7.
• Brody Fahr is tied for second in the league with three triples on the season. He's tied for the top spot in league play with a pair of triples.
• Tanner Smith is atop the league in saves with six. Luke Gibson is ninth in the league with a pair of saves.
• Charlie McDaniel is tops in the Big South with a 4.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio. McDaniel is tops in the conference with 1.54 walks allowed per nine innings.
• Colbey Klepper is second in the league and eighth in the nation in appearances with 21 on the season.
• Freshman Kyle Mueller is tied for the top spot in league play with four victories. He also leads the team and is inside the top 10 in the league with five overall wins.
• As a team, PC leads the conference with nine saves led by Smith with six saves.
Mueller's Fifth Win Nets Freshman of the Week Honors
• Following 4.1 shutout innings in the Blue Hose 10-3 victory over Winthrop, Presbyterian College baseball freshman Kyle Mueller (Winter Haven, Fla.) has been named Big South Freshman of the Week for games played April 10-16, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• Mueller entered with a 4-3 lead and two outs in the fourth and after recording a quick lineout to push to the fifth inning he was able to sit the Eagles down 1-2-3 in the inning.
• The Blue Hose freshman worked around a one-out single in the sixth without harm before a strikeout in the scoreless seventh inning. He worked around a two-out single in the eighth with a strikeout to tally the victory. Mueller was also pushed to a 10-3 lead during his outing with six runs of support on the offensive side of the ball.
• Mueller currently sits with a 5-1 record with a 4.66 ERA over 29 innings making 14 appearances with three starts on the season. The Winter Haven, Fla. native has 24 strikeouts compared to nine walks on the season. He's tied for the top spot in Big South play with four wins in his league outings this season
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.
