A pair of teams both in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will face off this weekend on the baseball diamond as Wofford welcomes Villanova to Spartanburg for three games. The Terriers are 15-7 after splitting a pair of midweeks against Big South opposition, first taking down UNC Asheville on the road before dropping a neutral site match-up to USC Upstate in Greenville. Villanova is 11-8 after claiming a 3-2 midweek triumph over Princeton. The programs have only played three games against one another, a three-game sweep for the Terriers back in 2017. Wofford outscored Villanova 28-3 that weekend in Villanova, Pennsylvania. This weekend will mark the first games between the teams in Spartanburg.
 
Probable Pitchers
Friday: Wofford's RHP Branton Little (2-2, 7.30 ERA) vs. Villanova's RHP Bobby Olsen (1-1, 2.73 ERA)
Saturday: Wofford's RHP Cullen Condon (0-0, 6.87 ERA) vs. Villanova's TBD
Sunday: Wofford's LHP Dylan Rhadans (0-0, 5.09 ERA) vs. Villanova's TBD
 
Quick Hits
• Wofford's 12-5 triumph over No. 23 Kentucky is the program's first ranked win since besting No. 18 Dallas Baptist in 2022.
• Ryan Wynn hit for the cycle in the series finale on opening weekend against Ohio, marking the third cycle in program history.
• Champ Davis was named SoCon Pitcher of the Week on March 17, the first such honor of his career.
• Five of the six qualified Terriers are batting over .300 with James Layman leading the way at .344.
• Adam Haber currently ranks as the third-toughest player to strikeout in the SoCon with a rate of one every 10.9 at-bats.
• Niko Brini swiped four bases at UNC Asheville and owns 14 on the season, sixth in the SoCon and 24th in the country.
• Champ Davis owns the second-best ERA in the SoCon at 1.27, ranking 24th in the nation.
• The Terriers have been hit 52 times at the plate, ninth most in the nation.
• Wofford was selected third in the SoCon preseason poll behind only UNCG and Samford.
• With 147 steals last season, Wofford has stolen 100 or more bases in 11-straight full seasons dating back to 2013, the longest active streak in Division I.
 
Top Dogs
Wofford ranks among the conference and national leaders in many statistical categories. The Terriers lead the SoCon in hit-by-pitch (52). The plunked batters are ninth nationally. Wofford is second in the league in walks (125), double plays (16), fielding percentage (.973), sacrifice flies (13), stolen bases (80), and stolen bases per game (3.64). Wofford's walks are 19th in the country. The sacrifice flies check in at 28th nationally, and the steals are second with the steals per game clip also second.
 
Setting the Table...
Getting on base is imperative for the small ball offense that Wofford runs, and every player in the lineup buys in to help set the table. Six of the seven players to own at least 10 lead-off opportunities this season are getting on base successfully at least 50 percent of the time in those situations. Tyler Hare leads the way at 71.4 percent (10-of-14). Harrison Campi (66.7, 8-of-12) and Adam Haber (68.4, 13-of-19) are both above 60 percent as well, and Tyler Bak is successful 54.5 percent of the time (6-of-11). David Wiley (9-of-18) and James Layman (12-of-24) both post a 50 percent success rate. Multiple Terriers are hitting over .300 with the bases empty to help set the table with Bak's .412 mark (7-for-17) best on the squad with a minimum of 10 at-bats. Campi and Hare are both hitting .385 with Hunter Herndon at .360. Haber hits .342 in that situation with Layman at .355 and Wiley at .343.
 
...Cleaning Things Up
With many Terriers successful at getting on base and applying pressure to the defense, a trio are reaping the benefits and clutching up to clean things up. Three Terriers - Niko Brini, Tanner Hardin, and Ryan Wynn - own better batting averages with runners on base than with the bases clear. Brini hits .357 (5-for-14) with runners on compared to .250 (2-for-8) with the bases empty. Hardin improves his average from .273 (3-for-11) to .350 (7-for-20) when runners get on for him. Wynn sees perhaps the biggest jump on the squad, going from a clear average of .204 (10-for-49) to a .409 mark (18-for-44) with runners on.
 
Keep it Inside
On Saturday, March 15, Niko Brini recorded an inside-the-park home run at Elon, his first-career homer. Brini is just one of two players in the country to record his first-career homer by way of an inside-the-parker this season (JT Waldon, Pacific). There were only two such instances last season - Ball State's Houston King and UTRGV's Evan Janner. In 2023, Virginia Tech's Brody Donay accomplished the feat. Over the past three seasons, they are the only five players to notch an inside-the-park home run as their first-career round-tripper. With program records incomplete on the matter, Wofford head coach J.J. Edwards noted that Brini's is the first by a Terrier in his 14 seasons with Wofford. This means Brini's inside-the-parker is the first by a Terrier in at least 14 seasons.
 
On Deck
Wofford hits the road for a midweek battle in Alabama against Troy. First pitch against the Trojans is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 25. The Terriers then travel to Charleston, South Carolina, to kick off conference play against The Citadel. The three-game series begins on Friday, March 28, at 6:00 p.m.