CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern Baseball is back home this weekend as the Buccaneers welcome High Point to Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark for a series running on April 1-2. The series will start with a single game on Thursday at 6 p.m., while Friday's doubleheader is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Thursday's contest will also be carried live on ESPN+.

Weekend Schedule
Game One – Thursday, April 1, 2021
Charleston Southern vs. High Point
6 p.m. * Charleston, S.C. * Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark * Live Stats * ESPN+
Projected Starters: CSU RHP R.J. Petit (2-3, 3.19 ERA) vs. HPU RHP Grey Lyttle (2-3, 1.64 ERA)

Game Two – Friday, April 2, 2021
Charleston Southern vs. High Point
1 p.m. * Charleston, S.C. * Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark * Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU RHP Krishna Raj (1-2, 4.97 ERA) vs. HPU RHP Dawson Place (1-1, 6.38 ERA)

Game Three – Friday, April 2, 2021
Charleston Southern vs. High Point
40 minutes following first game * Charleston, S.C. * Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark * Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU RHP Daniel Padysak (2-2, 3.81 ERA) vs. HPU RHP David Keith (1-0, 5.63 ERA)

Game Notes for CSU Baseball vs. High Point

Back Home Again
It has been nearly three weeks, but the Buccaneers are scheduled to be back at Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark this weekend as the Bucs host High Point for a three-game series. The Bucs' last contest at home came all the way back on March 12-13 as CSU hosted UNC Asheville in a conference-series weekend. CSU opened conference competition with back-to-back series wins at home against both Longwood and the aforementioned Bulldogs. Overall, CSU boasts a 4-2 record at Nielsen Field and look to get back to their winning ways with the home stand.

Bucs in Big South Play
Charleston Southern sits firmly in the mix in the conference standings through the Bucs' first 14 games of Big South play. CSU (7-7) is currently in a three-way tie for fifth overall in the conference standings with Radford (6-6) and Campbell (5-5) also at .500 in Big South competition. The top four teams in the Big South standings will advance to the conference's postseason tournament held at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. on May 27-29.

Big South 40-Flex-10
The Big South Conference announced prior to the start of the season that the schedule would be a "40-flex-10" model this season featuring 40 conference games, while allowing for up to 10 nonconference contests on the year. The Bucs only play single series against High Point, USC Upstate, Campbell, and Radford this season, while matching up against the other conference foes multiple times on the year.

Recapping Last Weekend
It was a tough weekend for the Buccaneers over March 26-27 as Charleston Southern fell in all three games of the doubleheader on the road at Presbyterian College. The Bucs were unable to take advantage of quality starts from R.J. Petit, Krishna Raj, and Daniel Padysak in falling in all three contests at the PC Baseball Complex.

In Friday's opener, Petit retired 15 of the first 16 batters and struck out five in a row at one point on his way to a career-high 11 strikeout performance. However, a pair of costly errors in the sixth frame led to both Presbyterian runs as the Blue Hose took the series opener, 2-1.

Fielding miscues were also the name of the game in Saturday's opener to the doubleheader as Krishna Raj went seven innings and struck out three in the contest. The Blue Hose took advantage of a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to offset hits at the plate from Houston Parker, Reid Hardwick, and MJ Sasapan in the opening 3-0 win.

Daniel Padysak tacked on the Bucs' third strong start of the weekend as the freshman went 7.0 innings and struck out four. The Blue Hose took advantage of a two-run home run early to offset a late Andrew Bullock RBI single in completing the series win.

Last Time Against High Point
High Point took the series against the Buccaneers in the two-programs' last meeting back at the end of March in the 2019 season. The Bucs captured the middle game of the series, while High Point took the first and third contests to secure the series win.

In CSU's win over the Panthers, the Buccaneers relied on clutch performances from alum Tyler Weekley and R.J. Petit from the bullpen in the 6-5 victory. Weekley threw 3.1 innings of relief, while Petit struck out the side in the ninth in the save.

The Panthers relied on big innings throughout the series with High Point utilizing a five-run seventh inning to pull away in the opening 9-4 win. HPU jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead in the final contest of the weekend with Panthers picking up a pair of early home runs in the 8-2 victory in Sunday's finale.

All-Time Series against the Panthers
Charleston Southern holds the 28-27 all-time advantage over High Point dating back to the programs' first-ever matchup back in 1999. In the inaugural contest, the Bucs offense exploded for 20 runs in CSU's 20-6 victory over the Panthers. The 20-run game is one of four 20-plus run contests the Bucs have put up against the Panthers over the years with CSU scoring 28 in a weekend contest in 2002.

The Bucs' longest winning streak against High Point came over the 2002-2004 seasons when CSU rattled off nine consecutive wins over the Panthers. The winning streak marked a stretch where the Bucs won 16 of 17 games against High Point as CSU dominated the early series margin against the Panthers.

Since then, High Point has battled back and recently posted an 11-game winning streak against the Bucs before CSU's win in the second game of the 2019 series.

The Bucs are 11-16 all-time against the Panthers at home and 23-25 all-time against High Point in Big South competition.

About High Point
High Point enters the weekend matchup with an 8-12 overall record and 6-8 mark in Big South play on the year. The Panthers have posted a Big South sweep over UNC Asheville, while adding single wins over Longwood, USC Upstate, and Campbell.

The Panthers currently sit eighth overall in the Big South standings with their 6-8 record in conference competition. High Point was fifth overall in the conference's preseason poll as voted on by the head coaches prior to the season. The Panthers received 67 points and one first-place vote overall.

Cole Singsank paces the Panthers' offense on the season with a .333 batting average with a team-high 12 RBI and five stolen bases. Joe Johnson is the team's hit leader (23) with a .311 batting average, eight doubles, and four home runs, while Peyton Carr (.300) added three home runs and 10 RBI to the Panthers' totals on the year.

Grey Little (2-3, 1.64 ERA) and Dawson Place (1-1, 6.38 ERA) have combined for 11 starts for the Panthers on the season, while Trent Harris (0-1, 3.46 ERA) has taken the mound at the start of the game three times on the year. The Panthers' bullpen features a number of arms that have seen action in multiple contests paced by Nick Hernandez (0-0, 2.70 ERA, 6 APP) and Parker Dean (1-1, 3.95 ERA, two saves).

Houston, We Have a Slugger
Houston Parker has been arguably the Buccaneers' top hitter in the 2021 spring season after the junior infielder joined the program after transferring in from Arkansas-Little Rock. The Saltillo, Miss. native has hit safely in 13 of 17 games and currently boasts a team-high batting average, while also pacing the Bucs in hits, doubles, RBI, and slugging percentage.

Parker started off the 2021 season strong with hits and RBI in three of his first four games, while adding a pair of doubles early in the year. Parker has produced hitting streaks of four games and six games already this year and has added seven multi-hit games highlighted by a three-hit performance against UNC Asheville on March 13 that included his first home run.

He's firmly established himself in the middle of the Bucs' lineup and paces CSU on the season with a .328 batting average with a team-high 21 hits. He's tied for the team lead with five doubles (tied with Tyrell Brewer) and 11 RBI (tied with Connor Aldrich), while adding one of the Bucs' six triples on the year. He also was successful in his only stolen base attempt of the season.

Weekend Aces
Charleston Southern's weekend trio is projected to head out to the mound for the sixth consecutive weekend as the Buccaneers take on the Panthers on Thursday and Friday. The trio of R.J. Petit, Krishna Raj, and Daniel Padysak all combined to go at least seven innings this past weekend against Presbyterian, marking the first time all season the Bucs have had all three starters post a quality start on the year.

Petit started off the Bucs with his second consecutive double-digit strikeout contest and third outing in the last four to go at least seven innings against the Blue Hose. The sophomore right-hander surrendered a season-high six hits over seven innings, but allowed just one earned run and did not issue a walk for the second time this year. He became the first Buccaneer since the 2015 season to post back-to-back 10-K games after fanning a career-high 11 PC batters in Friday's opener.

Raj continues to get stronger with each outing as the Wellington, Fla. native went a season-high 7.0 innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs in the Saturday opening start against Presbyterian. The Tulane transfer struck out just three batters in the contest, but mixed pitches successfully throughout the game allowing just two extra-base hits in the contest.

Padysak has gone at least five innings in each of his last four starts and is one game removed from his first 10-strikeout game of the season after fanning 10 Runnin' Bulldogs in the series finale at Gardner-Webb. He went seven innings allowing two earned runs and did not walk a batter, while striking out four against PC.

Bullpen Arms Coming Through
The Charleston Southern bullpen highlighted the efforts the group has made this season under the tutelage of pitching coach Anthony Izzio as the unit combined to put together one of their best weeks of the season. Overall as a group, the bullpen recorded 10.1 innings on the mound and combined for nine strikeouts, while allowing just three walks and two runs over the four-game stretch.

The bullpen dominance started in the Tuesday matchup against Winthrop as Sam Massey and Hunter McIntosh highlighted a unit that went 7.1 innings and posted six strikeouts, while allowing two runs. Overall, five pitchers surrendered seven hits over the span in the relief effort that shut down the Eagles early in the contest.

From then on, the bullpen was lights-out the rest of the way as the pitchers combined to record three strikeouts and surrendered just two hits and one walk over the entirety of the weekend series at Presbyterian. Connor Yoder put together a two-strikeout performance in the opener against the Blue Hose, while Bradyn Kail saw two appearances over the weekend.

For the season, the Bucs' bullpen has posted a 5.25 ERA on the year with 59 strikeouts in 58.1 innings' work. CSU has allowed opponents to hit just .232 after bringing in a reliever from the bullpen.

Big South Players of the Week
Charleston Southern has claimed three Big South Weekly honors so far in the 2021 spring baseball season with the Bucs claiming Starting Pitcher, Player, and Freshman of the Week honors over the year. R.J. Petit (SP) and Dylan Stewart (Freshman) both claimed weekly recognition following the Bucs' weekend series against Longwood, while Houston Parker (Player) claimed honors following CSU's win over UNC Asheville.

Petit, a two-time Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year, showcased why his name is expected to be called early in June as he used just 94 pitches to get through the Longwood lineup in his first collegiate complete-game effort. Petit carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and did not allow a runner to pass second base in the Bucs' 7-0 win over the Lancers.

Stewart earned Freshman of the Week honors for the first time after the Goose Creek, S.C. native paced the Bucs' offense over the weekend. Stewart opened the weekend with a pair of RBI triples on his way to a .556 batting average over the three-game series with the Lancers. He capped off the weekend with the game-winning RBI sacrifice fly in the Bucs' 6-5 win in the series finale.

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 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.

Big South Conference Leaders
Charleston Southern continues to put up big numbers in Big South Conference play as the Buccaneers have placed several players among the leaders in the conference-only statistics on the season

Bucs Among Big South Leaders (Top Three)

• Runs Scored – Kyle Sandstrom (13, 2nd)
• Hits – Houston Parker (19, T-1st)
• Triples – Johnny Oliveira (3, 1st), Dylan Stewart (2, T-2nd)
• Sacrifice Flies – Reid Hardwick (3, T-1st)
• Stolen Bases – Kyle Sandstrom (5, T-1st)
• Opposing Batting Average – R.J. Petit (.184, 3rd)
• Innings Pitched – R.J. Petit (26.2, T-1st), Daniel Padysak (25.1, 3rd)
• Strikeouts – R.J. Petit (30, T-1st)
• Appearances – Jordan Bridges (7, T-1st)
• Games in Relief – Jordan Bridges (7, T-1st)
• Fielding Chances – Christian Maggio (105, 3rd)
• Fielding Double Plays – Reid Hardwick (10, 2nd), Houston Parker (9, 3rd)

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

• April 9-10 at Campbell
• April 13 at South Carolina
• April 16-17 vs. USC Upstate
• April 20 vs. Winthrop
• April 23-24 at UNC Asheville

Attendance Policies at Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark
Charleston Southern Athletics has made the decision to limit the number of spectators at all home events this spring. At this time, only a limited number of guests on the home team's pass list will be allowed in attendance. Visiting team guests will not be permitted unless on the home team pass list.

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