CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern continues its longest road trip of the 2021 season this week as the Buccaneers make the trip up to Rock Hill, S.C. and The Winthrop Ballpark for a Tuesday night matchup against the Winthrop Eagles. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Game Day
Charleston Southern at Winthrop
6 p.m. * Rock Hill, S.C. * The Winthrop Ballpark * Live Audio * Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU RHP Chase Gockel (0-0, 3.37 ERA) vs. WU RHP Willie Lumpkin (0-0, 9.53 ERA)

Recapping Last Weekend
Charleston Southern took two of three this past weekend against Gardner-Webb to run their conference series winning streak to three consecutive weekends. The Bucs won the first and third contests against the Runnin' Bulldogs to take the series in Boiling Springs this past weekend.

R.J. Petit went eight strong innings and posted a season-high 10 strikeouts in the Bucs' opening win, while Christian Maggio, Tyrell Brewer, Houston Parker, and Reid Hardwick all had multi-hit games on the day to highlight the CSU offense over the first two games of the series.

Sunday's series finale saw another strong CSU pitching effort as Daniel Padysak went six strong innings in the Bucs' 7-4 win over the Runnin' Bulldogs. Andrew Bullock posted a three-hit game, including his first home run of the season, while Reid Hardwick connected on a pair of sacrifice flies in support of Padysak's second career 10-strikeout game.

Bullock, Petit, and Padysak were all recognized among the Big South's nominees for the conference's weekly awards for their performances over the last weekend.

Key Midweek Game
Charleston Southern currently sits tied atop of the Big South standings with USC Upstate through the first three weekends of play as the Bucs and Spartans both possess 7-3 records in the conference standings.

CSU picked up its record courtesy of their series wins over Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, and Longwood, as well as last week's midweek win over Presbyterian. USC Upstate swept its opening series against Radford and took two of three against High Point, but fell in the series against Campbell. The Spartans also picked up a midweek win over UNC Asheville.

Winthrop currently sits just behind both of the Big South's leaders on the season due in part to the program going through a brief COVID-pause. The Eagles took two of three this past weekend at Longwood in their first Big South matchup of the season to improve to 2-1 in conference play on the year.

About the Eagles
Winthrop was picked second overall in the Big South preseason baseball poll as voted on by the conference's head coaches. The Eagles received 82 points and one first-place vote overall to finish second in the polls. Two Eagles were listed among the top vote-getters for Big South preseason honors with Scout McFalls finishing second in the voting for Player of the Year, while Colten Rendon finished third in the voting for Pitcher of the Year.

Winthrop opened the season losing four of their first five games to start the 2021 season with the Eagles falling to Appalachian State (twice), South Carolina, and Towson to open the year. Since the rough start, Winthrop has bounced back to take the series over Towson and Longwood, while falling in another midweek matchup to South Carolina.

Winthrop's Dillon Morton paces the Eagles' offense with a .378 batting average with a team-high four doubles. Andrew Jenner (.372) is also among the team's hitting leaders with 16 hits, while Spencer Yankle paces Winthrop with seven RBI.

Tyler Jones (1-1, 2.40 ERA) and Andrew Coker (0-0, 6.75 ERA) have been among Winthrop's starters on the season, while the Eagles have utilized the strength of their bullpen throughout the season. Among the leaders in the 'pen includes Dalton Mims' team-high five appearances, while Rendon has picked up the team's lone save on the year.

25 Years
Charleston Southern baseball is off to one of the best starts in Big South play in program history as the Buccaneers hit the road on Tuesday for their matchup against the Eagles.

Following this past weekend's series win over Gardner-Webb, the Bucs improved to 7-3 in conference competition in their first year under head coach Marc MacMillan. The record pushed CSU to their best start since the 1996 season in conference play when the Bucs started 17-4 in conference competition on their way to winning the Big South's regular season crown and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Filling Up the Stats Sheet
The Buccaneers have put several players at or near the top in a number of different statistical categories early in the Big South Conference schedule as CSU continues to impress in conference play.

Bucs Among Big South Leaders (Top Three)

• Runs Scored – Kyle Sandstrom (12, 2nd)
• Hits – Houston Parker, Connor Aldrich (14, T-2nd)
• RBI – Connor Aldrich (10, T-3rd)
• Doubles – Tyrell Brewer (5, T-2nd)
• Triples – Johnny Oliveira (3, 1st)
• Triples – Dylan Stewart (2, 2nd)
• Walks – Kyle Sandstrom (9, T-2nd)
• Sacrifice bunts – Dylan Stewart (2, T-2nd)
• Sacrifice Flies – Reid Hardwick (3, T-1st)
• Stolen Bases – Kyle Sandstrom (5, 1st)
• Batters Struck Out – Daniel Padysak (22, 2nd)
• Games in Relief – Jordan Bridges (5, T-1st)

All-Time Series
Winthrop leads the all-time series over the Bucs with the 63-34 edge dating back to the first contest in 1988, a CSU 11-1 win over the Eagles. The Eagles also boast a 33-7 record at home in Rock Hill in the series, including winning the last four contests between the two programs at The Winthrop Ballpark dating back to 2016.

CSU's longest winning streak in the series came back in the 2011 and 2012 seasons when the Bucs won five consecutive games. More recently, CSU won three of four over the 2017 and 2018 seasons with all games occurring in Charleston.
The Bucs are scheduled to face-off against the Eagles four more times in the 2021 season with a midweek matchup against Winthrop on April 20 at Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark, as well as a three-game series in Charleston over the May 7-8 weekend.

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 26-27 at Presbyterian
• April 1-2 vs. High Point
• April 9-10 at Campbell
• April 13 at South Carolina
• April 16-17 vs. USC Upstate

Follow the Bucs on Social Media
For more information and news, stay up-to-date with Buccaneer Baseball via Twitter, Instagram and CSUSports.com.

Join the Bullpen Club
If you are looking to support Charleston Southern Baseball, then join Bullpen Club. There are multiple different ways you can show your support. For more information go to http://csuniv.webconnex.com/bucclub