Ethan Petry sets South Carolina freshman home run record
Ethan Petry just ticked off the first record of what has been a historic freshman season at South Carolina.
Petry hit home run No. 18 today, which officially sets a new record for home runs by a freshman at South Carolina.
He breaks Justin Smoak’s record of 17, which stood since the 2006 season. Smoak hit 17 over the course of 66 games that year while Petry did it in the Gamecocks’ first 36. He did it off of Devin Futrell, one of the better pitchers in the SEC.
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Petry tied Smoak’s record Friday night against Vanderbilt, crushing a pitch off of Bryce Cunningham in what was a tie game at the time.
“I mean what else can you say about the kid at this point?” Mark Kingston said after that game. “I’m very happy I get to write his name in the lineup in the three-hole every day. He just keeps doing it.”
It’s the first of potentially many records Petry could break this season, especially when it comes to freshman records at South Carolina.
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He’s on pace to be in contention for the freshman records for hits in a single season, freshman slugging percentage and average adn RBI by a freshman.
“Dude, he’s unreal. I’ve never seen anything like this from anybody. Maybe Ivan Melendez last year but I didn’t see him that long,” Michael Braswell said. “This is ridiculous. He’s batting .440 in the SEC with 17 jacks. That’s unreal. I can’t even explain it.”
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It’s a testament to Petry, who didn’t even start the first two games of the season and struggled mightily in the preseason before getting his opportunity in game three of Opening Weekend.
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He hasn’t left the lineup since, hitting well over .400 for the season and in SEC play. Petry’s won SEC Freshman of the Week honors three separate times and league player of the week once.
Hank Small currently owns the South Carolina record for batting average by a freshman at .379, set in 1974. Jackie Bradley Jr. set the freshman hit record in 2009 with 89 while Smoak holds the record for RBI (63), total bases (143) and slugging percentage (.586).
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If Petry keeps up his pace, which he’s certainly not showing signs of slowing down, it could be the best season ever by a South Carolina freshman and one of the best in NCAA history.
He’s easily the National Freshman of the Year if the season ended right now and one of the front-runners for the player of the year.
