Baseball Travels to South Carolina for Salute the Troops Weekend

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Army West Point baseball travels to the Palmetto State for the second time in as many weeks for South Carolina's Salute the Troops Weekend, taking on the host Gamecocks on Friday before facing rival Air Force on Saturday.

The Black Knights then conclude the weekend with a matchup at The Citadel on Sunday in Charleston.

Friday's game vs. South Carolina will commence at 2:00 p.m. and be streamed on SEC Network Plus. Sunday's matchup at The Citadel will be streamed on ESPN+ and is slated to get underway at 1:00 p.m. Saturday's 5:00 p.m. contest vs. Air Force is not set to be streamed.

2026 Season Outlook

• The Black Knights bring 38 players into 2026, with 25 returners and 13 newcomers, all freshmen. Army lost 11 players from 2025 to graduation.
• Of Army's top nine position players from a season ago, it returns seven. C/INF Coleson Titus and RHP/INF Justin Lehman serve as the two departing position player starters.
• Army brings back RHP Andrew Berg from last season's starting rotation but loses Lehman.
• Head coach Chris Tracz returns to Army for year four, as does associate head coach Mike Cole. Assistant Coach John Sheehan returns for his third year, and assistant coach Dylan Hoy enters his first season on staff, after previously serving as a graduate assistant for a Louisville team that reached the 2025 College World Series.

Notes and Storylines

• Army and Clemson played on opening weekend Feb. 13-14 and recognized Clemson's Heroes Weekend over the three games.
• In the middle of the fourth inning of each game, Army's players joined in on Clemson's tradition of greeting and thanking veterans in attendance.
• Both teams players hung dog tags in an on-field ceremony during Game 2 of the series, to honor fallen service members.
• The Black Knights led in Friday night's series-opener, taking a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning stretch. However, the Tigers tied the game with a two-run home run in the seventh and took the lead for good in the eighth.
• Clemson won both games in Saturday's doubleheader.
• Army will open Salute the Troops Weekend at South Carolina vs. the home standing Gamecocks on Friday at 2:00 p.m.
• The Black Knights face an SEC team for the first time since 2024, when they took on Georgia in the NCAA Athens Regional.
• Army last defeated a power 4/5 conference foe in 2022, when it defeated Pitt.
• Army will face Air Force at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday for the Silver Star at Founders Park.
• The Black Knights are winners of four of their past seven vs. the Falcons, but dropped two of three games in Colorado Springs a season ago.
• Army won last season's series finale at Air Force last year, 16-5. In 2024, Army won its single scheduled game vs. Air Force in Sugar Land, Texas, 13-2.
• The Black Knights have won 21 of their past 32 games against academy rivals.
• The Black Knights depart Columbia on Saturday evening and travel to Charleston to close the weekend with a Sunday matchup at The Citadel.
• The Black Knights and Bulldogs get together for just the second time ever and the first time since 1998.
• RHP Andrew Berg was one of five Black Knights and three conference starting pitchers to garner 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League accolades.
• Berg started on the mound for Army on opening day, providing 6.1 innings and allowing just two earned runs at Clemson, striking out four batters.
• Catcher Jack Quinlan hit .333 for Army on opening weekend at Clemson, and hit a solo home run in the seventh inning on opening day to go with a double.
• Ahead of 2026, Quinlan was named to the Buster Posey Award Preseason Watch List as well as the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
• Army's Carter Hewitt made his first game appearances since opening day on 2025, starting each game at Clemson at first base.
• In his first three games back since suffering a torn labrum on his second at-bat of 2025, Hewitt batted a combined .400 at Clemson, recording a pair of doubles.
• Hewitt played in 27 games and made 21 starts in 2024.
• Army freshman David Dubrule hit .300 on opening weekend, making his first three career starts at third base at Clemson.
• Army fans are likely to recognize incoming player Dubrule as the younger brother of Kevin Dubrule. Kevin Dubrule graduated from West Point in 2023 after four seasons with the Black Knights' program, batting .405 with nine homers in '23.

Next Up

Army returns to the Carolinas next weekend for a three-game series against Queens in Charlotte.

Follow the Black Knights

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Baseball Travels to South Carolina for Salute the Troops Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Andrew Berg

David Dubrule

Carter Hewitt

Justin Lehman

Jack Quinlan

Coleson Titus

Army West Point Athletics