Baseball . April 15, 2024

Baseball Travels to Charleston for Tuesday Matchup vs. The Citadel

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FOR STARTERS

South Carolina finishes off its road trip with a trek to Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C., for a 7 p.m. first pitch at The Citadel.
Tuesday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Tuesday’s game also will be on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Cade Crenshaw and Stuart Lake on the call.

SCOUTING THE CITADEL

The Bulldogs head into Tuesday’s game with a 16-18 overall record and an 0-9 mark in the Southern Conference.
The Citadel won the middle game of its three-game series with USC Upstate, 12-2, as Garrett Dill had five RBI with a home run in the win over the Spartans.
Javier Crespo leads the Bulldogs with a .383 batting average and has 21 RBI. Travis Lott has a team-best 24 RBI and Anthony Hausner has nine doubles and five home runs.
Sawyer Reeves, brother of Gamecock catcher Dalton Reeves, is hitting .319 with 21 RBI. Citadel pitcher Matthew Polk also is the brother of Gamecock pitcher Michael Polk.
Tony Skole is in his seventh season at The Citadel. Skole is a 1991 graduate of The Citadel and was on the 2019 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team coaching staff with Mark Kingston.
Former Gamecock great Blake Cooper is The Citadel’s pitching coach. Cooper was a second team All-American in helping the Gamecocks to a 2010 national championship.

SERIES VS. THE CITADEL

Carolina leads the all-time series with The Citadel 142-50-1, including 54-28 in Charleston.
The Gamecocks defeated The Citadel, 7-1, on March 5 as Talmadge LeCroy was a home run away from the cycle and Gamecock pitching struck out 13 Bulldogs in the win.

GAMECOCKS EARN SERIES WIN AT FLORIDA

The Gamecocks earned a series win at Florida for the first time since the 2011 season with wins on Friday (10-3) and Saturday (9-8).
Cole Messina had three hits while Parker Noland, Talmadge LeCroy and Will Tippett all homered in Friday’s win.
Ethan Petry had two home runs and six RBI in the series.
Tyler Pitzer picked up his first save in his career by pitching a perfect ninth on Saturday.
Carolina snapped Florida’s 15-series home winning dating back to April of the 2022 season.

REEVES PROVIDES JOLT IN GAMECOCK LINEUP

Fifth-year senior Dalton Reeves homered on Saturday and Sunday in the Florida series.
In the three-game series, Reeves was 4-for-8 with a double, two home runs, five RBI, three runs scored and two walks.
His two-run home run on Saturday in the seventh inning gave Carolina an 8-3 lead.
On the season, Reeves is hitting .360 with four home runs and 12 RBI.

FRIDAY NIGHT FINE FOR ELI

Junior Eli Jones pitched six innings on Friday in a 10-3 win over Florida.
He struck out six and allowed five hits and one run with a pair of walks, earning his third win of the year.
Jones had 1-2-3 innings in the first, second and fourth frames.
On the season, Jones is 3-1 with a 3.57 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 45.1 innings pitched.

GAMECOCKS WIN CAROLINA BATTLE

Carolina picked up a 2-1 win over No. 13 North Carolina on April 9 in Charlotte.
The Gamecocks scored runs in the third and eighth frames and held UNC to six hits on the night.
Dylan Brewer, who was 3-for-4 on the night, had a big RBI double in the eighth inning that scored Talmadge LeCroy and put Carolina up for good.
Roman Kimball and Connor McCreery struck out five Tar Heels apiece in relief. McCreery earned the win, going the last 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit.

GAMECOCKS LEAD THE NATION IN WALKS

Carolina has drawn 256 walks in 36 games this season, which leads the country in free passes. The Gamecocks lead second place Texas A&M by 11 walks.
Ethan Petry leads the team with 32 walks, which is tied for fourth in the SEC.
The Gamecocks walked 18 times in the 22-6 win over Longwood on March 10. It’s the most dating back to 2005 (first year of game-by-game stats available).
Carolina is averaging 7.11 walks per game.

PETRY: 30 FOR 3(8)

Sophomore Ethan Petry hit a home run in the 11-9 loss to Florida on April 14, his 38th career home run as a Gamecock.
Petry is now in a tie for 12th place on Carolina’s all-time home runs list and is the 29th Gamecock to hit 30 or more home runs in a career.
The last player to achieve that feat was Braylen Wimmer (2020-23), who had 32 career home runs. Wes Clarke (2019-21) also had 32 home runs in his Gamecock career.
Petry is tied with Eric Stanton (1996-98) for the 12th spot. He needs three more to pull into a tie for ninth with James Darnell (2006-08), Tripp Kelly (1998-2001) and Charlie Aldrich (1985-87).

MILESTONE CENTRAL

Head Coach Mark Kingston earned his 200th win at South Carolina in the Presbyterian game on March 26. Kingston now has 205 wins at Carolina and 478 wins overall.
Ethan Petry recorded his 100th career RBI in the Presbyterian win. Petry now has 112 RBI in only 99 career games.
Cole Messina recorded his 100th career hit at Carolina March 26 vs. Presbyterian. Messina now has 114 hits, joining Talmadge LeCroy (110) and Ethan Petry (124) in the 100-hit club at Carolina.
Ty Good recorded his 300th career strikeout March 30 at Alabama. Good has 313 strikeouts between the College of Charleston and Carolina.
Kennedy Jones and Parker Noland both are in the 200-hit club in college. Jones has 211 hits between UNC Greensboro and Carolina while Noland has 222 hits between Vanderbilt and Carolina.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
South Carolina Tyler Pitzer (Fr. RHP) 4-1, 3.12 ERA, 26.0 IP, 12 BB, 38 SO
The Citadel Conner Cummiskey (Sr. RHP) 2-3, 7.64 ERA, 17.2 IP, 18 BB, 18 SO

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