Photo credit: Chris Crews
Charlotte is now above .500 after a Tuesday night win after a tight 4-3 game against the Winthrop Eagles. The Niners jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the game and found themselves holding on for the remainder of the game.
Will Butcher and Brandon Stahlman both had good days with two hits apiece and combining to drive in 3 of the 4 runs for the Niners for the night. What really solidified the Charlotte win was another solid performance on the mound for their pitching staff. Hale Sims stuck out a ridiculous 8 hitters in 3 1/3 innings, contributing to a 15-strikeout day for the Niners. Charlotte
certainly missed some opportunities to bust the game open, but nonetheless, a win is a win, and they improved to 16-15.
Charlotte Needs a Sweep
Despite the record, Charlotte’s RPI is still in a decent spot in the mid 60s, they need to get that number up as we move closer towards postseason play. Every game matters, especially in conference. Without a late surge, Charlotte will have to make a deep run in the conference tournament, if not win the whole thing, if they want to play in a regional. The margin for error becomes smaller the more Charlotte continues to stay around that .500 mark.
Rice will enter the weekend at 16-18 overall and 6-6 in conference, coming off a loss to Mcneese State. A sweep is very doable and would be a great opportunity to project Charlotte towards the top of the conference. Their ace Parker Smith boasts a 1.9 ERA, outside of that, the Rice pitching staff can be had. Charlotte has to take advantage of that and put together a good weekend, then get hot through the final stretch of conference play.
Cam Fisher, and who else?
Cam Fisher had an unbelievable year, that’s no question, but he and Will Butcher are the only two Niners hitting over .300. Several others are in the area. Jack Dragum has heated up as well as Brandon Stahlman, but Charlotte has had the potential all year to score a bunch of runs. Could this be the weekend Charlotte’s lineup finally reaches potential and swings it for three games and come back to the queen city with a big series sweep? They’ll need Fisher to suit up and be healthy in Houston, he left the midweek contest and there’s been no info on his status.
Series Info
The 3-game tilt will take place in Houston, Texas at Reckling Park. Unfortunately the series will be aired on CUSA.tv, so most fans that want to follow will need to do so via Charlotte’s audio stream and/or live stats, which you can find here.
First pitches are as follows, Friday at 7:30pm ET, Saturday at 3:00pm ET, and Sunday at 2:00pm ET.