CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern closes out the home portion of its 2021 spring season on Tuesday night as the Buccaneers welcome Presbyterian College to Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark for a single game. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTE: 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.
GAME TIME CHANGE
Tuesday's game was originally scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch start time. Due to projected inclement weather in the Charleston area, the game time has been moved up to 3:30 p.m. at Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark. Due to the time change, the game will no longer be carried on ESPN+.
Game Day Information – Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Charleston Southern vs. Presbyterian
5 p.m. * Charleston, S.C. * Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark *
Live Stats
Projected Starters: CSU LHP
Kyle Sandstrom (1-0, 2.45 ERA)Â vs. PC RHP Alex Flood (0-2, 4.15 ERA)
Final Home Game
Charleston Southern wraps up the 2021 home schedule on Tuesday night as the Buccaneers welcome Presbyterian to Nielsen Field for the first time this season. The Bucs are 9-10 this season at Nielsen Field after their first three games of the season were shifted down to Shipyard Park. CSU has posted Big South series wins at home over Longwood, UNC Asheville, High Point, and USC Upstate, but the Bucs have hit a skid as of late falling in six of their last seven at home.
Multiple CSU players have found their stroke at Nielsen Field this year with
Dylan Stewart posting a robust .362 batting average with four triples at home this season, while
Connor Aldrich (.356 average) has recorded a team-high 15 RBI.
Tyrell Brewer (.323) and
Houston Parker (.310) have also posted above-.300 batting averages at home this season, while
Andrew Bullock has come on late with three home runs and 10 RBI.
Pitching-wise,
Sam Massey leads the way with a 1.98 ERA over 13.2 innings' pitched with a 17:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Chase Gockel has also stood out among the Bucs' pitchers with a 2.70 ERA and eight strikeouts over 3.1 innings of work, while
Bradyn Kail and
Jordan Bridges have combined for 21 appearances over the Bucs' 22 home games this season.
Bucs in Big South Play
Charleston Southern enters the final stretch of the season with a 14-19 mark in Big South play on the year following this past weekend's loss to Winthrop. The Buccaneers currently sit tied with UNC Asheville for fifth overall in the conference standings with both teams 1.5 games back of Presbyterian (13-14) for the final spot in the 2021 Ingles Baseball Championship.
CSU has struggled as of late as they look to recapture their early season form. The Bucs have dropped seven of their last eight in conference play after starting the year strong with three consecutive Big South series wins. The Bucs have added conference series wins over two of the top three teams in the standings taking two of three in their first matchup against Gardner-Webb, while adding two of three wins against USC Upstate over April 16-17.
CSU enters the final stretch of the year with the key midweek contest against Presbyterian on Tuesday night. Following the contest, CSU travels to Radford (12-17) for a three-game series this weekend, before closing out the year with a three-game series at Longwood (8-20) with a berth in the four-team conference championships potentially on the line.
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.
Big South Postseason Implications
The top three spots at the 2021 Ingles Big South Baseball Championships are likely secured as USC Upstate (24-9), Gardner-Webb (21-9), and Gardner-Webb (22-10) are likely to advance to the four-team postseason championships. Less sure is the fourth seed with potentially up to six teams still in the mix for the final spot at the tournament that will be held at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. for the second time in the last three seasons.
Presbyterian (13-14) is currently in the driver's seat with the Blue Hose sitting 1.5 games ahead of CSU (14-19), and UNC Asheville (14-19). The Blue Hose finish up the year on an eight-game road trip heading to CSU on Tuesday, a three-game series at High Point (12-18) on May 14-15, and a pair of doubleheaders at Winthrop (12-17) on May 21-22.
CSU enters the final stretch of the year with the key midweek contest against Presbyterian on Tuesday night. Following the contest, CSU travels to Radford (12-17) for a three-game series this weekend, before closing out the year with a three-game series at Longwood (8-20) with a berth in the four-team conference championships potentially on the line.
UNC Asheville (14-19) has arguably the toughest stretch of the three teams sitting in the fourth and fifth positions to date with the Bulldogs hosting USC Upstate four times, while traveling to Gardner-Webb over the final two weeks of the season. Asheville hosts USC Upstate for a midweek game on Tuesday night before traveling to Gardner-Webb for a three-game series this weekend. They return home to host USC Upstate for a final three-game series on May 20-21.
Radford (12-17), Winthrop (12-17), and High Point (12-18) are all currently dark horses in the conference tournament leadup heading into the final two weeks of the season. The Highlanders host the Buccaneers this weekend, while Winthrop welcomes Longwood (8-20) to Rock Hill this weekend. High Point hosts Presbyterian in a three-game series.
Recapping Last Weekend
Charleston Southern fell in all three games of the weekend series against Winthrop this past weekend at Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark. The Bucs dropped an extra-inning contest on Friday night, 4-2, and then fell twice on Saturday by scores of 17-4 and 9-7.
Charleston Southern was unable to respond to a Winthrop late-inning rally in the opener as the Buccaneers fell to the Eagles on Friday night. The Eagles took advantage of a pair of two-out RBI base hits from Andrew Jenner and Ty Hooks in the top of the 11th inning to take the two-run lead over the Buccaneers late in the contest. CSU mounted a late comeback with two on base in the bottom of the 11th, but the Bucs were unable to push the needed runs across the plate in the loss.
In Saturday's opener, Winthrop scored seven runs over the first three innings on their way to taking control of the first game on Saturday early in the contest. The Bucs were paced by doubles from
Houston Parker and
Derek Horton, while
Alex Andronica scored a pair of runs in the loss.
Saturday's series finale saw Winthrop take advantage of another big inning and held off a late CSU rally in the ninth as the Buccaneers fell short in the series finale on Saturday afternoon.
Andrew Bullock's three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning sparked a CSU comeback attempt, while
Connor Aldrich (double) and
Dylan Stewart (triple) added extra-base hits for the Bucs in the contest.
Season Against Presbyterian
The Bucs enter the weekday matchup looking for their second midweek win of the season against the Blue Hose as the teams line up on Nielsen Field for the first time in 2021. All four games of the season so far have been played at the PC Baseball Complex with CSU posting a 1-3 record against the Blue Hose this spring.
The opening contest featured a balanced CSU 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.
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.
All-Time Against the Blue Hose
Presbyterian holds the all-time 26-12 series edge over the Buccaneers dating back to their first contest back in the 1993 season. The Blue Hose hold the 14-6 advantage on games played in Charleston, S.C.
CSU's longest winning streak in the series came during a three-game stretch against the Blue Hose over the 2010 and 2011 seasons, while PC's longest winning streak, a six-game run, came over the 2008-2010 years.
In the 2019 season, the Bucs took the opener of the weekend, 10-5, highlighted by a two-double game by
Brooks Bryan in the CSU win. PC would rally back to take the final two games and the series with a 6-4 win on Saturday and a 15-6 win in the series finale.
About Presbyterian
Presbyterian enters the midweek contest with losses in six of their last eight games, including dropping back-to-back weekend series to USC Upstate and Gardner-Webb. The Blue Hose salvaged a midweek win over UNC Asheville and the series finale against GWU to keep their lead in the race for the final position of the Big South Conference tournament field.
The Blue Hose have been strongest at home in the 2021 season with a 9-6 record at the PC Baseball Complex, including series wins over CSU and Campbell. The road has not been as kind to the Blue Hose with PC sitting 5-13 away from Clinton, S.C. this spring. The Blue Hose wrap up the year on a seven-game road trip heading to CSU, High Point, and Winthrop over the final two weeks of the season.
Chris Veach continues to pace the Blue Hose offense on the season with a .344 batting average over 21 games played. Zaccheus Rasberry is also hitting above .300 on the year with a .301 average with a team-high 34 hits and 24 runs scored. Rasberry (5), Eric Toth (5), and Sean Klein (6) have powered the PC offense and sit among the team's home run leaders, while Toth is the program's RBI leader this year with 26 runs batted in.
Pitching-wise, the Blue Hose have posted a team-ERA of 6.39 on the season with six different pitchers reaching double-digit appearances on the season. Toth has doubled up on the mound and is the Blue Hose' most effective reliever with a 2.25 ERA over 11 appearances and 24 innings pitched. Veach (3.46) and Alex Flood (4.15) have also posted lower ERA's for the Blue Hose this spring with Flood recording 30.1 innings and sitting second on the team with 26 strikeouts on the year.
Among Big South Conference Leaders
Charleston Southern has several players dotting the top-10 in the Big South this season in individual categories.
- Triples – Dylan Stewart (4, T-1st), Johnny Oliveira (3, T-5th)
- Home Runs – Andrew Bullock (6, T-10th)
- Hit By Pitch – Houston Parker (12, T-4th), Reid Hardwick (10, T-9th)
- Stolen Bases – Kyle Sandstorm (12, T-2nd)
- ERA – R.J. Petit (2.36, 2nd)
- Opposing Batting Average – R.J. Petit (.222, 3rd)
- Inning Pitched – R.J. Petit (72.1, 2nd)
- Batters Struck Out – R.J. Petit (67, 4th)
- Wins – R.J. Petit (4, T-7th)
- Appearances – Bradyn Kail (17, T-3rd)
- Fielding Percentage – Sam Trend-Beacom (1.000, T-1st), Kyle Sandstrom (1.000, T-1st)
- Assists – Reid Hardwick (85, 8th)
Among the NCAA Leaders
Charleston Southern has several players dotting the top-100 in the NCAA this season in individual categories.
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.
Final Series
- May 14-15 at Radford
- May 20-21 at Longwood
- May 27-29 at Big South Championships
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