The last home weekend of the 2024 campaign for the Presbyterian College softball team may very well be the most entertaining, welcoming arch-rival USC Upstate for a three-game set that starts tonight.
Saying goodbye to four traditional seniors and another fifth-year performer, the Blue Hose will joust with the Spartans at 6:00 PM on Friday before seeing a 1:00 doubleheader the following day.
The entire Big South series will be streamed live on ESPN+, the fourth conference matchup out of six for head coach David Williams’ squad and the end of an eight-game homestand.
Kaitlyn Tucker, Jillian Hewes, Bailey Watkins, and Kara Starnes will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to Saturday’s twinbill, essential pieces for a program that has accumulated 90 wins since arriving on campus back in 2021.
This weekend will also be Jenna Greene’s final appearances at the PC Softball Complex, a graduate who underwent Senior Day festivities a year ago and already possesses nearly every pitching record in Presbyterian’s 16-year NCAA Division I history.
GAMEDAY INFO – FRIDAY, APRIL 12
Presbyterian (14-26, 4-5) vs. USC Upstate (19-15, 7-2)
WHERE / WHEN: PC Softball Complex | 6:00 PM
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, APRIL 13
Presbyterian (14-26, 4-5) vs. USC Upstate (19-15, 7-2)
WHERE / WHEN: PC Softball Complex | 1:00 & 3:00 DH
WATCH (GAME 1): ESPN+
LIVE STATS (GAME 1): Stat Broadcast
WATCH (GAME 2): ESPN+
LIVE STATS (GAME 2): Stat Broadcast
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Having been nearby rivals since Upstate’s admittance to the Big South in 2015, PC’s annual series with their Spartanburg enemies will occur against an opponent that presently harbors the best league record of all seven schools (7-2).
- Conquering their last four meetings after a 6-4 W against Western Carolina earlier this week, the Spartans have emerged victorious in each of their last five Big South encounters.
- Longwood visited head coach Chris Hawkins’ club last weekend only to be swept when the dust had settled from a very competitive series. Upstate managed a one-run victory in the opener before finishing off the broom job with a 5-3 win in the finale.
- The Spartans have only taken part in five true road bouts throughout the season’s first two-and-a-half months, promptly winning all but one of those contests. That lone loss was Game 1 against Charleston Southern in a 1-0 slugfest, although shaking that off to chart back-to-back victories over the Bucs (9-5 and 5-1) that turned the series around in a hurry.
- A bit spotty during the feeling-out portion of the season, USC Upstate has kicked into another gear by winning 11 of their last 13 games. They finished two games back of the Big South regular season championship last spring, eluding the tournament title thus far despite numerous success.
- Outfielder Denver Lauer’s .318 batting average lands inside the division’s top ten, while pitcher Sierra Maness has burst onto the scene quickly with a .219 ERA, the second-lowest number in the league as a true freshman (and 115 innings of play to back that number up).
LAST TIME OUT
- Although a walk-off 4-3 triumph against Charleston Southern put the Blue Hose in a favorable spot to win their second Big South set in three tries, CSU ended up flipping the script last weekend with consecutive three-run wins in Clinton on Saturday.
- Despite the losses, PC still displayed some terrific individual outcomes such as newbie Kasey Wolfe, who was granted the Big South Freshman of the Week honor for the third time in 2024, a feat that has only been accomplished one other time by a Presby player.
- Wolfe sparked three doubles and her first two career homers against the Buccaneers and South Carolina State earlier in the week, currently leading the roster in both BA (.309) and on-base percentage (.427).
- Presbyterian has captured 28 wins on their home turf since February of last year, a point of emphasis for Williams and co. who have found 11 of their 14 W’s this semester within their own backyard.
- The last time that USC Upstate strolled into Clinton two years ago, it was PC who obtained a Game 3 decision by a 6-4 difference. Trailing by one entering the 5th, the Scotsmen nailed a pair of home runs that propelled them to the win, part of a record-breaking 36-win campaign from the 2022 unit.
- PC has penned a .970 fielding clip, narrowly trailing Gardner-Webb for the highest figure in the conference alongside the smallest number of errors.
SENIOR DAY
- Tucker (a native of Oakboro, North Carolina) has earned the reputation as being one of the most dependable players in Blue Hose history, ranking in the school’s all-time top ten in five different offensive categories. Among them, she ranks 1st in both total walks (98) and OBP (.436). An All-Big South second team member as a sophomore, she has started in every single game that she has appeared in at second-base (167), competing in 138 straight bouts without missing any.
- Making all-league first team status in the 2022 campaign, Hewes (a native of Simpsonville) will approach her final weekend series at home with a career total of 87 hits, 18 doubles, 11 homers, and 45 runs-batted-in. She has slugged .412 since her rookie year while starting 123 times, receiving 485 putouts at first-base on a .975 fielding clip.
- Although sitting out her senior stint due to injury, Watkins (an Easley, S.C. product) was able to contribute to the program over her first three seasons behind 141 at-bats and 49 starting roles. She scored 18 runs while donning the blue and garnet next to 12 RBI, smacking 31 hits and her first career longball as a sophomore.
- Transferring into PC from James Madison, Starnes has competed in 84 games as an outfielder – including 52 starts – as a native of Marshville, North Carolina. Holding a .976 fielding percentage on 79 putouts, she has scored 17 runs on 15 hits.
- Not formally recognized on account of her traditional Senior Day last spring, Greene will also compete at home for the final time while leaving a trail of remarkable records in her wake. Hailing from Hamlet, N.C., she is number one in PC history in total wins (56), shutouts (21), and strikeouts (694, a number that also sits eighth among all pitchers in the history of the Big South). Her next start – presumably against the Spartans – will be her 100th in a Presby uniform, another school-record. A seven-time league Pitcher of the Week, she ranks second in PC history in ERA (2.46), complete games (62), and innings thrown (605.2).
