The latest on USC baseball star Ethan Petry after shoulder injury vs. Kentucky

South Carolina baseball’s season took another tough hit on Monday.

USC coach Paul Mainieri said it’s “questionable” when star slugger Ethan Petry will return from a shoulder injury suffered during last weekend’s series against Kentucky.

South Carolina has 11 games remaining, including three Southeastern Conference series, this season.

“Unfortunately, he is not feeling too well,” Mainieri said Monday during his weekly interview on 107.5 FM. “He hurt his left shoulder ... that is obviously a big blow to us. We played a game and half without him and may end up playing the rest of the season without him.”

After Tuesday’s win over Charleston Southern, Mainieri added he has a sprained AC joint and would take 2-4 weeks to heal.

Petry’s injury occurred during the first game of a doubleheader at Kentucky. He was attempting to catch a fly ball in foul territory when he crashed into the padding down the right-field line.

Petry stayed in the game and batted a half-inning later. He popped up the first pitch and left the game after grabbing his shoulder in pain.

Petry didn’t play the rest of the series.

The junior is hitting .329 with a team-high 10 homers and 34 RBIs. He is just eight home runs shy of tying Justin Smoak’s school-record home run mark of 62.

Petry is one of the top players in the country; MLB.com has him ranked as the 29th-best prospect for the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft.

Petry isn’t the only one battling an injury. Mainieri said former Lexington standout Nathan Hall, the team’s leading hitter, is dealing with a heel injury since the Texas A&M series and may not play Tuesday against Charleston Southern. Hall couldn’t run and didn’t practice Monday, Mainieri said.

“Without those two guys, we will have a tremendous challenge tomorrow night,” Mainieri said. “We will have to have the next man up attitude and play as hard as we can tomorrow.”

The loss of Petry will be a tough blow to the Gamecocks’ lineup. South Carolina is 24-18 including a 5-16 mark in the SEC play.

The Gamecocks host Charleston Southern on Tuesday and then open up a three-game home series with Florida on Friday. Jarvis Evans will start for the Gamecocks against CSU.

This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:29 PM.