Baseball to Host Holy Cross and Charleston Southern in Wednesday Doubleheader
3/2/2010 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Games 8 & 9
CofC (6-1, 0-0 SoCon) vs. Holy Cross (1-2, 0-0 Patriot)
Wednesday, March 3 • 1:00 p.m.
RHP Matt Pegler (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Bobby Holmes (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
CofC (6-1, 0-0 SoCon) vs. Charleston Southern (2-5, 0-0 Big South)
Wednesday, March 3 • 5:00 p.m.
LHP Jake Zokan (0-0, 12.00 ERA) vs. RHP Stew Brase (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
College of Charleston is coming off a 2-1 weekend against UNC Asheville last weekend at Patriot Point. After dropping the opening game of the series, the Cougars regrouped to take the final two contests and improve to 6-1 on the season. Charleston set a season-high for hits with 17 in Saturday's 12-11 win over the Bulldogs. Junior Cole Rakar (Mount Pleasant, S.C./Wando) leads the Cougars with a .480 batting average, 10 runs scored and a .588 OB%. Junior Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla./Broward College) leads the team in home runs (3), RBIs (11) and slugging% (.815). With the 3-1 win on Sunday, freshman Christian Powell (Greenwood, S.C./Greenwood) improved to 2-0 and leads the pitching staff with a 2.45 ERA and is tied for the team lead in strikeouts with junior Josh Salay (Spartanburg Methodist College) with 13.
• Scouting the Crusaders
Holy Cross enters tonight's contest with a 1-2 record, after taking the final game of a three-game series at Georgia Southern. Sophomore Chris Sinteos' sacrifice fly in the sixth inning gave the Crusaders a 3-2 win Monday night. Holy Cross was picked to finish third in the 2010 Patriot League Preseason Poll after a 2009 campaign that finished 22-27.
• All-Time vs. Holy Cross
This is the first time the Cougars have met Holy Cross.
• Scouting the Bucs
Charleston Southern makes the trip down I-26 to face the Cougars with a 2-5 record. The Bucs are coming off three straight losses to Virginia Tech last weekend, falling by a combined score of 34-5. Matt Still leads the Bucs with a .444 average and four doubles on the season, while Tyler Thornburg has a team-high three home runs. Charleston Southern was picked to finish seventh in the Big South 2010 Preseason Coaches Poll after a 2009 campaign that finished 16-37.
• All-Time vs. Charleston Southern
Charleston leads the all-time series, 40-14, and has won the last 10 meetings between the two squads. The Cougars went 4-0 against CSU last season, picking up wins of 13-4 and 15-8 on the road and 10-3 and 5-2 victories at Patriots Point. The last loss against Charleston Southern was Feb. 20, 2007, a 17-9 loss on the road.
• Start It Up
WEDNESDAY (HC) - Freshman Matt Pegler (Greenville, S.C./Riverside) makes his first collegiate start on Wednesday after making two appearance out of the bullpen. The right-hander has allowed two hits and one run in two relief innings this season.
WEDNESDAY (CSU) - Freshman Jake Zokan (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) takes the mound for the second time this season after a no-decision last week against Jacksonville. The southpaw tossed three innings, allowing five hits and four runs with three strikeouts.
• 2009 in Review
The Cougars went 35-22 overall and 17-13 in the SoCon last year, which put them fifth in the league standings. The comforts of home staked the Cougars a 22-5 record at Patriots Point Field in 2009. Last season, the Cougars were fourth in the country in home runs (110) and scoring (9.7 runs/game), and ninth in team batting average (.345).
• All-SoCon Cougars
College of Charleston senior Joey Bergman (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) was selected as the Southern Conference Player of the Year by the league's baseball coaches, the SoCon announced Thursday. Two other Cougars were also named to preseason all-conference teams.
Bergman led the country in both runs (88) and on base percentage (.551) in 2009 while finishing second nationally with a .452 batting average. Splitting time between shortstop and third base, Bergman also hit 15 home runs and had 57 RBIs while recording two or more hits in 35 of the 56 games. The senior is one of three returning starters to the Charleston lineup.
Senior Ryan Daniels (Victoria, Texas/Blinn College) joins Bergman on the Preseason All-Conference First Team at the designated hitter spot. Daniels hit .363 with 10 home runs and 64 RBIs last year in 50 games. His .457 on base percentage was third on the team. Junior Cole Rakar (Mount Pleasant, S.C./Wando) earned a second-team preseason all-conference spot in the outfield. He started 56 contests for the Cougars, hitting .317 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs. He tied the school record of three home runs in a single game on Mar. 28 against Furman.
College of Charleston baseball has been picked to finish third in the Southern Conference Preseason Poll by the media. The Cougars were tabbed to finish fourth in the coaches poll.
• 2010 Cougar Radio Schedule
Fans of Cougar baseball will have 14 opportunities to listen to the action on ESPN Radio 910-AM in Charleston or through the school's website at www.cofcsports.com.
Nine home games will be broadcast over the airwaves, up from just one last season. The final two games of the Cougars' fourth home series of the season, against Samford on Mar. 13-14 will be available on the radio. Both games start at 1 p.m.
2010 Radio Broadcast Schedule
Mar. 13 vs. Samford 1 p.m.
Mar. 14 vs. Samford 1 p.m.
Mar. 27 at Western Carolina 3 p.m.
Mar. 28 at Western Carolina 2 p.m.
Apr. 3 vs. Georgia Southern 1 p.m.
Apr. 4 vs. Georgia Southern 1 p.m.
Apr. 7 at South Carolina 7 p.m.
Apr. 17 vs. Wofford 1 p.m.
Apr. 18 vs. Wofford 1 p.m.
May 8 vs. The Citadel 6 p.m.
May 9 vs. The Citadel 1 p.m.
May 15 at Appalachian State 3 p.m.
May 16 at Appalachian State 1 p.m.
• Bergman Earns Second Preseason All-America Nod
Senior shortstop Joey Bergman (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) was selected to the 2010 Louisville Preseason All-America Baseball Team by Collegiate Baseball.
Bergman, who was named to the second team, received All-American status for the second time this preseason. He was also named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America Pro-Line Athletic Preseason All-America third team.
Elected the 2009 Southern Conference Player of the Year, Bergman had a .452 average while drilling 15 home runs last season. He became the 10th player in Southern Conference history to record 100 hits in a single season. He garnered third-team All-America status by Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Season Long Promotions:
Two-for-Tuesdays - Two tickets for $5 to all Tuesday night games
Faculty/Staff Fridays - free entry to College of Charleston faculty and staff with their staff ID card
Family Fun Saturdays - free entry for two children with an adult ticket purchase
Military Appreciation Sundays - up to four free tickets with a military ID at all Sunday home games.
