Nothing has stopped Ethan Petry from hitting this season ... except Mother Nature

Off the bat, Ethan Petry had a pretty good feeling this one would travel far. He hit a 113-mile-per-hour rocket that, on a normal day during the season, would’ve probably cleared the batter’s eye in dead centerfield at Founders Park.

But with the temperature in the 30s and wind blowing straight in last Wednesday, not even South Carolina’s top slugger stood a chance. His hard-hit fly ball only carried to the warning track, where the Queens centerfielder hauled it in for the final out of the inning.

“I thought it was going to cut the wind. I thought I was strong enough,” Petry said. “But it’s baseball. Sometimes the home runs are lucky. You’re going to hit 91-mile-per-hour home runs and not get 113 out. A lot of hardouts this year. That’s all we’re looking for this year. Those things are going to fall during the season.”

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Luckily for Petry, he hasn’t had to wear a ski mask and deal with the outdoor elements every game. A few of his fly balls have cleared the fence as the hits have kept on coming for the junior first baseman.

Petry is off to a hot start to begin this season. He’s slashing .452/.564/.806 (14-for-31) with two homers and 10 RBI. He’s currently on an 11-game hitting streak, which dates back to May 31 of last season.

“Yeah, I feel great. I’m just grateful to be back. February baseball is great, you know, when it’s cold I wasn’t really used to that. The last two years I’ve been here, it’s been pretty warm during the February season,” he said.

“I think I’m just feeling good, feeling confident, feeling strong. I’m taking the weight room seriously. Being more relaxed at the plate, I think, is one key. A seasoned veteran is what I would call myself now. I’ve played almost 130 games now. I think that’s kind of why I’ve been more relaxed and more able to get to pitches that I haven’t been able to get to in the last couple of years.”

While most know him for his bat, his defense looks to be much sharper now that he’s playing primarily at first base. He’s also been playing some in right field, where he started for the first two years of his college career.

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Petry has only made two errors this season. Coincidentally, they came in the same game where the wind knocked down his not-meant-to-be home run against Queens. But he’s been doing just fine with the glove as he’s fielded nearly every ball hit to him. He owns a .967 fielding percentage this year, which could be much higher if not for the one game where he made his errors.

“I’m working hard over there. Every day, I take a lot of time working on defense and I think it’s come a long way,” Petry said. “I’m a lot more comfortable at first base than I’ve ever been picking balls, getting to ground balls. Obviously, in right field, I’m more comfortable out there too. I think just the more reps, the better you’re going to play.”

As the season wears on, so will the competition that Petry will face. With a few weeks until he faces SEC pitching every weekend, he and the Gamecocks will play a three-game series against No. 13 Clemson starting on Friday. It’s a challenge that he’s been looking forward to as he hopes to continue his early season success.

“I love being a Gamecock, and I think this rivalry comes with being a Gamecock,” Petry said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to show how battle-tested we are and how disciplined we are when it comes to playing Clemson. (They’re) a great squad. A lot of respect for them. They beat us last year, and I think this is going to be a good test for us and a good test for them.”

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