Charleston’s baseball team is set to play East Carolina University in a neutral site matchup at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on February 25. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and will not be broadcast.
The College of Charleston comes into the contest after securing a win against South Alabama. Redshirt junior Braeden Smith hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, marking only the eighth walk-off home run in program history with his 380-foot shot over the right-center wall. Redshirt senior Alex Lyon pitched 4.2 scoreless innings during that game, maintaining his record this season of not allowing any runs across 9.1 innings and limiting opponents to a .188 batting average.
Graduate student Dylan Johnson contributed significantly last week, going five-for-eleven at bat with four walks and starting Sunday’s rally with a leadoff double in the ninth inning. On the pitching staff, redshirt sophomore Ryan Hench has made four relief appearances so far this season and currently holds a 2.25 ERA over four innings pitched, issuing just one walk.
In their series history, Charleston trails East Carolina with six wins to eleven losses but has won the last two meetings between these teams. The previous series took place in Charleston in 2022, where Charleston claimed victories by scores of 4-3 and 10-3. Wednesday’s game will be the first time these teams face each other at a neutral location.
Following this matchup, Charleston continues its stretch of neutral site games by playing James Madison on February 27 and Illinois on February 28 at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.
“Charleston salvaged the series against South Alabama with a redshirt junior Braeden Smith walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth Sunday to earn the 7-6 win.”
“Smith hit the eighth walk-off blast in program history sending a ball 380 feet over the right-center wall.”
“Redshirt senior Alex Lyon tossed his second outing of 4.2 innings of scoreless ball of the campaign.”
“Lyon has yet to allow a run across 9.1 frames while holding opponents to a .188 batting average.”
“Graduate Dylan Johnson, who led off the bottom of the ninth Sunday with a leadoff double, hit .455 (5-for-11) with four walks last week for CofC.”
“On the mound, redshirt sophomore Ryan Hench leads the team with four relief appearances. Hench has a 2.25 ERA across his 4.0 innings of work this season while allowing just one free pass.”
“CofC is 6-11 against East Carolina in the all-time series but have won the last two ballgames between the two teams.”
“Charleston hosted the Pirates in 2022 for a three-game series, taking the final two contests by scores of 4-3 and 10-3, respectively. Wednesday is the first neutral site matchup in the series with East Carolina.”
