On Tuesday, the South Carolina Gamecocks received some less-than-ideal news about their star player, Ethan Petry.
According to Gamecock Central’s Jack Veltri, the power-hitting prospect in Columbia has an AC joint strain. South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri estimates a recovery timeline of 2-4 weeks, which could potentially sideline him for the remainder of the regular season.
Petry was a preseason All-American heading into the 2025 college baseball season. He was batting .329 with an on-base percentage of .446. He also had 10 home runs and 34 RBIs.
As it currently stands, Petry is second all-time in career home runs in South Carolina baseball history. Only Justin Smoak has more, and he went on to have a notable professional career in the MLB from 2010 to 2020.
Due to this AC joint injury, Petry missed most of the series the Gamecocks had against the Kentucky Wildcats this past weekend. He also missed Tuesday night’s midweek game against Charleston Southern at Founders Park.
It will be tough sledding for South Carolina if they must go the rest of the season without Petry. Their remaining SEC series are against the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers, and LSU Tigers. They also have a midweek game against Winthrop, which will be played on May 13.
South Carolina is 26-20 overall and 5-16 in SEC play. They are second-to-last in the SEC standings, and only the Missouri Tigers are worse; they have yet to win an SEC game.
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