Baseball to Host NC Central on Wednesday Afternoon
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The Presbyterian College baseball team (16-21, 4-8 Big South) kicks off a five-game homestand on Wednesday afternoon with a 3 p.m. matchup against North Carolina Central (12-26, 8-7 MEAC). The Blue Hose enter the week with wins in three of their last four games after taking the final two games of last weekend’s Big South Conference series at High Point.
The threat of inclement weather has canceled live video for Wednesday and Friday's games. The Big South Network will air PC baseball's game against Furman on Wednesday, April 25.
PC has won all seven games against NC Central in the team’s Division I history, including both matchups this year on March 6 and 7. The Blue Hose took the first game, 8-6, before winning the second game by a 3-1 margin. Kenny Bryant and Brandon Paul each went 4-9 and Bryant cranked two home runs for three RBI. Chad White and Tim Corbin earned wins on the mound.
NC Central enters the week with a 12-26 record and an 8-7 tally in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles snapped a three-game skid by taking two games in its series from North Carolina A&T by 8-5 and 10-5 scores. Wednesday’s game marks the first road game for NC Central in its last eight contests and Luiz Diaz leads the squad with a .370 batting average (50-for-135).
Matt Nodelman will make his second career start on Wednesday, opposite NC Central righthander Ruben Rios. Nodelman, a senior, picked up his first career win on April 10 with four innings of one-hit relief in which he allowed only one unearned run. He also started PC's second game at NC Central, going two innings and holding the Eagles scoreless. Nodelman has apperaed in nine games this season, maintaining a 3.57 earned run average.
PC won its weekend series over High Point by taking the final two games of the road series. The Blue Hose received strong pitching from Chandler Knox and Beau Dees to earn the wins, coupled with Kenny Bryant’s team-leading sixth home run of the season on Sunday. PC has won its last two Big South Conference series against UNC Asheville and High Point.
Over the last five games, Robby Swab paces the team with .438 batting average (7-for-16) and a .550 on-base percentage. Kenny Bryant tallied seven RBI over PC’s last five games, thanks in part to two home runs that included a grand slam against Davidson on April 10.
Kenny Bryant cranked his team-leading sixth home run on Saturday in a 3-1 win over High Point. Bryant hit a grand slam on Tuesday and and Brad Zebedis became the 10th different Blue Hose to yard this season in that game. The Blue Hose come into the week with 22 on the year, tied for second-most in the Big South. Bryant ranks second among all active players with 22 career home runs, while Tony Micklon leads the pack with 27. Brad Zebedis ranks fourth, with 14.
Freshman Billy Motroni saw a 14-game on-base streak snapped on Saturday, ending the longest on-base streak this season for the Blue Hose. Robby Swab enters Wednesday with a 10-game on-base streak, four shy of Motroni’s record and two shy of his own longest streak this season.
The Blue Hose returns to Big South Conference play this weekend when the squad hosts Charleston Southern in its second-to-last home weekend series of the season. PC then wraps up its five-game homestand on Wednesday against Furman.
