CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern Baseball continues its longest road trip of the 2021 season as the Buccaneers head to Boiling Springs, N.C. and Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium for a three-game series running on March 20-21. The series will start with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m., while Sunday's series finale is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
Weekend Schedule
Game One - Saturday, March 20
Charleston Southern vs. Gardner-Webb
2 p.m. * Boiling Springs, N.C. * John Henry Moss Stadium *
Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU RHP
RJ Petit (1-2, 5.63 ERA) vs. GWU RHP Mason Miller (2-0, 2.37 ERA)
Game Two - Saturday, March 20
Charleston Southern vs. Gardner-Webb
40 minutes after the conclusion of game one * Boiling Springs, N.C. * John Henry Moss Stadium *
Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU RHP
Krishna Raj (1-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. GWU LHP Isaac Campbell (0-2, 8.36 ERA)
Game Three - Sunday, March 21
Charleston Southern vs. Gardner-Webb
3 p.m. * Boiling Springs, N.C. * John Henry Moss Stadium *
Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU
Daniel Padysak (1-1, 4.11 ERA) vs. GWU RHP Casey Young (0-2, 7.00 ERA)
Weekend Schedule Change
Charleston Southern's series this weekend against Gardner-Webb has been adjusted from a Friday-Saturday series to a Saturday-Sunday three-game set at Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium due to a COVID-related pause within the Gardner-Webb program. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 2 p.m., while Sunday's series finale is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
All-Time Against the Runnin' Bulldogs
Gardner-Webb holds a narrow 23-20 all-time record versus Charleston Southern, however the Bucs recent stretch could put the record back at .500 after this weekend. This weekend features one of two weekend series between the Bucs and the Runnin' Bulldogs this season with GWU scheduled to come to Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark on April 30-May 1.
The last series between the Buc and the Runnin' Bulldogs came over the April 12-14 weekend with the Bucs winning the first and third contests in the series. CSU has won each of the last two series over Gardner-Webb and four of the last five contests overall.
The all-time series dates back to January 1971 with CSU taking the inaugural contest against the Runnin' Bulldogs, 3-1. Traditionally, CSU's offense has put up strong numbers against Gardner-Webb with the Bucs averaging 5.86 runs per game.
About Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb enters the weekend coming off a COVID-pause within the baseball program as the Runnin' Bulldogs have not lined up against an opponent since the conclusion of their March 5-6 series at Campbell. Prior to the pause, the Runnin' Bulldogs had posted a 2-7 record on the year with a 1-2 mark in conference play after taking the series opener at Campbell on March 5.
Gardner-Webb opened the season taking the opener against Wofford, before falling in all three contests at Georgia to wrap up the early potion of their non-conference schedule. The Runnin' Bulldogs' efforts in their opening win over the Terriers were highlighted by a pair of Cam Pearcey and Keiji Parkhurst home runs, while Mason Miller pitched six innings of four-hit ball while striking out 11.
For the season, Parkhurst leads the Gardner-Webb offense with a .306 batting average, while powering two of GWU's six home runs of the season. Parkhurst leads the team with three doubles and nine RBI on the year. Patrick Ferguson is also hitting .300 on the year in limited action, while Pearcey is the team leader with four stolen bases.
Miller has picked up both wins for the Runnin' Bulldogs on the season and paced GWU with a 2.37 ERA and a 24:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Kyle Skidmore has been GWU's relief ace with six appearances and a 1.59 ERA, while Bobby Alcock and Langdon Wilson have also taken the mound four times on the season. Mason Miller and Isaac Campbell have also started three games apiece on the season.
Let's Make It Three
Charleston Southern won back-to-back series to start Big South play for the first time since the 2004 season as the Buccaneers continue to make strides under the helm of first-year head coach
Marc MacMillan. The Bucs midweek contest against Presbyterian will count toward current Big South standings, but CSU's next series against Gardner-Webb over the weekend will continue the Bucs' ascendancy in conference play
You'd have to go all the way back to the 2002 season for the last time CSU opened Big South play with three consecutive conference series wins as the Bucs topped Liberty, Radford, Coastal Carolina, and UNC Asheville. CSU has a favorable slate ahead with Gardner-Webb (2-7), Presbyterian (1-5) and High Point (5-7) as the next three conference weekend series on schedule as the Bucs will look to continue to set records and make history to start MacMillan's tenure.
Tuesday's Recap
Charleston Southern utilized a balanced hitting performance and strong pitching to take the Big South Conference midweek contest at Presbyterian as the Buccaneers topped the Blue Hose, 8-2.
CSU took the lead on
Kyle Sandstrom's RBI single in the third inning, while
Johnny Oliveira and
Reid Hardwick connected on RBI extra-base hits in the fourth to provide the Bucs' pitching staff all the support they would need in CSU's first road game of the season.
Oliveira posted a 3-for-5 performance from the plate that included his third triple of the season, while
Andrew Bullock added his first multi-hit game of the year to highlight CSU's efforts at the plate in the game.
Sam Massey went 3.1 innings in his first collegiate start, while
Christian Baker posted two shutout innings in recording his first win of the season.
John Sendziak,
Jordan Bridges,
Kyle Sandstrom, and
Hunter McIntosh combined to throw 3.2 innings of one-hit relief to close out the Bucs' win.
Recapping Last Weekend
The Bucs took two of three from UNC Asheville to win their second conference series in as many weekends as CSU bounced back from a Friday night loss to the Bulldogs to sweep Saturday's doubleheader.
Houston Parker (.500 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI) swung the hot bat for the Bucs over the series as the junior infielder connected on hits over every contest of the week.
Johnny Oliveira added a pair of RBI triples in the final game of Saturday's doubleheader, while the Bucs' pitching staff featured strong performances on the mound by
Krishna Raj and
Daniel Padysak in the pair of wins.
UNC Asheville took advantage of an eight-run fifth inning in the opening game of the weekend as the Bulldogs took the series opener on Friday night at Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark. The Bucs bounced back with a 15-5 win in the second game of the series as CSU exploded for 13 runs over a five-inning span, while Raj pitched into the sixth inning in picking up his first win in the Blue & Gold.
Padysak was on point in the final game of the series with the freshman right-hander going 7.1 innings and carrying a four-hitter before being removed late in the contest.
Dante Blakeney connected on a two-run, pinch-hit home run, while Oliveira's pair of RBI triples highlighted a Buccaneers offensive explosion that featured 24 run and 27 hits over the final day of the series.
Bucs Capturing the Big South's Weekly Honors
Houston Parker became the third Buccaneer to claim Big South Conference Weekly honors as the junior infielder claimed the conference's Player of the Week recognition for his performances against UNC Asheville this past weekend.
Parker paced the Bucs in hits, runs, RBI, and added a team-best three extra-base hits in the Bucs' series win over UNC Asheville. Parker hit safely in all three games and added a pair of multi-RBI efforts as CSU took their second conference series to start Big South play this spring.
Parker provided CSU's offense in the opener against UNC Asheville on Friday as the junior connected on two of CSU's eight hits in the game and added two RBI in the Bucs' 15-3 loss. On Saturday, Parker connected on the Bucs' first home run of the 2021 season with his two-run shot putting the Bucs back in the lead in the bottom of the third inning in the eventual 15-5 win. He scored two of CSU's runs in the Bucs' win in the series finale.
Digging The Long Ball
The Bucs finally cracked the home run column over this past weekend as
Houston Parker,
Reid Hardwick, and
Dante Blakeney all left Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark for the first time in the 2021 season. The trio of Bucs all connected on home runs in Saturday's doubleheader to pace CSU's sweep over the Bulldogs on the final day of the series.
Parker's shot, a two-run blast in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader gave the Bucs the 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning. It marked his first home run of the season and the Bucs' first of the year as a team.
Hardwick followed two innings later with a solo shot in the fifth inning for his first home run of the season and helped extend the CSU lead to 8-5.
Blakeney provided the fireworks in the final game of the series as the senior powered the ball down the right field line and over the fence for a two-run shot to cap the Bucs' scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Sliding Into Third
Just 10 games into the season and Charleston Southern has already seen two players record multiple triples in a single contest, while
Johnny Oliveira is tied for the national lead in three-baggers on the year. Overall, CSU has hit five triples on the season with CSU sitting 26th in the NCAA in the overall category, as well as 12th in triples per game (0.50).
Dylan Stewart hit a pair of RBI three-baggers in the first game against Longwood to become just the third player in CSU history with multiple triples in a single game. On Saturday afternoon against UNC Asheville,
Johnny Oliveira became the fourth Buccaneer to accomplish the feat as he slid into third on two separate occasions in the Bucs' 9-1 win over UNC Asheville. Both of his triples ended up on the right side of the field and both drove in runs to help key CSU's offensive explosion over the weekend.
Oliveira followed up with his third triple of the season against Presbyterian on Tuesday afternoon to tie him for the Big South individual lead, as well as put him in a 16-way tie for first in the NCAA Division I standings for triples in 2021.
Coming Up on the Schedule
Charleston Southern dives into Big South play as CSU is scheduled to remain in conference competition throughout the remainder of the 2021 spring season with the exception of a midweek contest against South Carolina on April 13.
Next Five Series
- March 23 at Winthrop
- March 26-27 at Presbyterian
- April 1-2 vs. High Point
- April 9-10 at Campbell
- April 13 at South Carolina
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