CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team closes out its 2023 home slate with a visit from Longwood beginning on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. from Clinton for a doubleheader. The home finale is set for Sunday at 2 p.m… Sunday's series finale will be shown on ESPN+.
Prior to first pitch in game two on Saturday night, the Blue Hose will honor seniors Kyle Decker, William Farrar, Alex Flood, Chase Hughes, Kyle Merkle, Dalton Reeves and Logan Ymker.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
WHAT: Longwood (20-28, 8-13 Big South) vs Presbyterian (18-31, 9-12 Big South)
WHERE: PC Baseball Complex (Clinton, S.C.)
WHEN: 3 p.m. (Sat.) | Approx. 6 p.m. (Sat.) | 2 p.m. (Sun.)
THE SERIES (Since 2008): PC Leads 15-10
FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast (Sat. G1) | Stat Broadcast (Sat. G2) | Stat Broadcast (Sun.)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Sun.)
RADIO: Fox Sports Spartanburg (98.3 FM, 1400 AM) (Saturday)
TWITTER: @PresbyterianBSB
GAME NOTES
ON THE MOUND
Saturday Game One
LW – RHP Ryan Miller (3-5, 4.73 ERA, 50 K)
PC – RHP Duncan Howard (3-4, 5.68 ERA, 48 K)
Saturday Game Two
LW – RHP Guillermo Garcia Jr. (1-2, 4.91 ERA, 31 K)
PC – LHP Charlie McDaniel (3-7, 6.40 ERA, 53 K)
Sunday
LW – LHP Ethan Walker (3-0, 3.82 ERA, 33 K)
PC – RHP Daniel Eagen (0-1, 11.25 ERA, 4 K)
About the Blue Hose
• The Blue Hose are set to close out their home schedule with a conference series against Longwood set to begin on Friday night. PC comes off of a tight 7-6 defeat at the hands of Western Carolina on Tuesday night while the Lancers took down VCU on Tuesday night in their most recent on-field action.
Scouting the Lancers
• Longwood enters the weekend with a 20-28 record including an 8-13 mark in league play as the Lancers took two-of-three from Radford a few weeks ago in their last Big South action.
• The Lancers are led offensively by Eliot Dix who's totaled a .343 average with a team-high 13 doubles and five homers with seven steals. Gregory Ryan is also a key piece of the Longwood offense with a .314 average as he's recorded 12 doubles, four triples and 12 homers along with 54 RBIs. James Nelson has tallied a .309 average with seven doubles and five homers. Ethan Barnes leads Longwood with 14 stolen bases. Longwood as a team is second in triples with 13 led by Ryan's four.
• On the mound, Longwood is led by Andrew Melnyk who's 1-1 with a 3.07 ERA as he's allowed five earned over 14.2 innings with 24 strikeouts. Ethan Walker has appeared in 15 games with seven starts and is 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA. Logan Berrier leads the Lancers with 56 strikeouts on the season in his 13 appearances. The Lancers pace the conference with 10 saves as a team led by Dominick D'Ercole with four and Guillermo Garcia tallying three on the season.
Head to Head vs Longwood
• PC and Longwood have met 25 times in the Blue Hose DI era with Presbyterian holding a 15-10 lead in the head-to-head series including winning four of the past five games between the two teams. PC is also 7-3 in the last 10 contests with Longwood.
• The Blue Hose are 5-4 in true home games with Longwood as this weekend's series marks the first time the two teams play in Clinton since May of 2018.
• In 2022, Brody Fahr led the Blue Hose hitting .545 (6-of-11) with three runs scored and a homer. Dalton Reeves scored five runs and connected on a pair of homers with eight RBIs a season ago against Longwood.
Blue Hose Close Season as Road Warriors
• With the Blue Hose on the home stretch of the 2023 season, PC will have to do a majority of the work on the road as the Blue Hose are set to play 11 of their final 14 games away from Clinton.
• PC has it's lone home series over the final 14 games with the Lancers in town this weekend for senior weekend. The final four regular season road games are set for next week beginning on Tuesday in Montgomery against Alabama State before treking to Radford for a three-game set with the Highlanders beginning next Thursday.
Smith Named to NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List
• Presbyterian College baseball senior pitcher Tanner Smith was one of 57 pitchers named to the 2023 NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List as announced by the association.
• The award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball with this being the 18th year of the award. In total 25 conferences have representation with 10 of those leagues having two representatives.
• Smith is currently 1-3 on the season with a 2.90 ERA along with an impressive 1.1 WHIP. He has allowed 10 earned runs in 31 innings of work and has totaled 42 strikeouts.
• He leads the Big South with six saves and has not allowed an earned run in 14 of his 21 outings which includes a stretch of 10.2 innings he didn't allow an earned run over six appearances. Smith earned a pair of relief pitcher honors from the league in back-to-back weeks on March 20 and 27.
Blue Hose in the Ranks
• Brody Fahr is tied for fourth in the league with three triples on the season. He's also seventh in the conference in hits with 62 on the year. He's also sixth in the Big South with a .348 batting average this season.
• Tanner Smith is atop the league in saves with six.
• Charlie McDaniel is second in the Big South with a 4.08 strikeout-to-walk ratio. McDaniel is tops in the conference with 1.81 walks allowed per nine innings. He sits among the top 10 nationally in games started with a team-high 13 starts this season.
• Colbey Klepper, Tanner Smith and Luke Gibson are tied for fourth in the league in appearances with 23 on the season.
Deal Opening 2023 Season in Mississippi
• Former Blue Hose pitcher Hayden Deal has began his 2023 season tossing 11.1 innings over nine outings allowing six earned runs with 13 strikeouts for the Mississippi Braves, the AA Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
•As he begins his sixth year in pro baseball in 2023, Deal is 24-18 with a 3.32 ERA as over 387.1 innings pitched he has racked up 346 strikeouts. He also added five saves in his minor league career.
Fenderson Named Big South Freshman of the Week
• Presbyterian College baseball freshman Trey Fenderson (Spanish Fort, Ala.) has been named the Big South Freshman of the Week for games played April 17-23, as announced by the league office on Monday.
• Fenderson finished the week with a .313 average (5-of-16) with four runs scored along with a double and a pair of homers in a 2-2 week for the Blue Hose. The PC third baseman also tallied five runs knocked in and drew a pair of walks in the four-game week for Presbyterian.
• He got off to a quick start in the midweek battle with ETSU connecting on his second homer of the season in a six-run first that helped carried PC past the Bucs 16-3 on Wednesday night.In the series opener against Gardner-Webb he tallied another base knock before opening Saturday's tilt with a solo homer as part of a seven-run first against the Runnin' Bulldogs. He also added an RBI single that capped the 13-3 victory over Gardner-Webb. In the series finale, Fenderson added an RBI single along with drawing a bases-loaded walk that gave him his second multiple RBI contest in as many days.
