South Carolina Freshman Ethan Petry Sets Home Run Record

Ethan Petry broke the Freshman home run record of South Carolina Baseball great Justin Smoak after a first inning strike against the Commodores.

Freshman Ethan Petry has been incredible since stepping foot in Columbia. The Gamecocks are 30-5 this season, and Petry has been pivotal to that success. The Freshman leads South Carolina in almost every offensive statistic: batting average, hits, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and home runs. His excellence has given him sole claim to South Carolina's Freshman home run record. 

Justin Smoak previously held the record and was a Gamecock star from 2006-2008. Smoak played in the MLB from 2010-2020 with the Rangers, Mariners, Blue Jays, Brewers, and Giants. Smoak's Gamecock and MLB careers show not just how talented of a player he was but gives insight into how talented Ethan Petry is proving to be. 

However, Ethan Petry now has an opportunity to put the freshman home run record out of reach. Smoak's 17 home runs came over an entire season where the former Gamecock stepped to the plate 244 times across 66 games. Petry has hit 18 already in just 126 plate appearances across 36 games.

Given the amount of season left to be played, Petry can build even further on his incredible record. He's on pace to complete one of the best batting seasons in Division I baseball history. Only 21 players have ever surpassed 30 homers in a season, regardless of intraschool classification, and Petry is within range of becoming the 22nd. 

There seems to be no limit to how high the Gamecock Freshman can fly. Petry has shown time and time again that his batting prowess is unique, so putting a ceiling on the production he could achieve would be misguided. No matter how far Petry can stretch this record, baseball fans and Gamecock fans alike have witnessed and continually get to see the greatness and legend of Ethan Petry grow before their very eyes.

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