Baseball Hosts Elon In SoCon Action This Weekend

Games 40-42
College of Charleston (28-11, 12-6 SoCon) vs. Elon (25-14, 11-7 SoCon)

Friday, April 23 - 6:00 p.m.

RHP #32 Christian Powell (5-2, 5.65 ERA) vs. LHP #13 Jimmy Reyes (5-3, 5.53 ERA)

Saturday, April 24 - 1:00 p.m.

RHP #9 Kevin Decker (4-0, 3.95 ERA) vs. RHP #26 Daniel Britt (3-2, 4.62 ERA)

Sunday, April 25 - 1:00 p.m.

RHP #23 David Peterson (5-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP #19 Jared Kernodle (4-1, 4.66 ERA)

BATTING PRACTICE

Senior 1B Greg Blake went 4-for-5 with three RBI and junior DH Kolby Epley blasted a grand slam in a 10-run third inning as College of Charleston pounded crosstown rival The Citadel 16-7 in a non-conference clash Tuesday evening at Riley Park. Junior RHP Josh Salay earned the win for CofC, his first of the season. Junior CF Cole Rakar added four hits and leads the team with a .401 average, 67 hits, 17 doubles and 18 stolen bases. Sophomore 3B Matt Leeds tops the team in home runs with 16 and the RBI chart with 58. He also has a .784 slugging percentage.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX

Elon dropped a 6-4 decision at home against High Point Wednesday night after taking a weekend series from Western Carolina, two game to one. Neal Pritchard leads the Phoenix with a .347 average, while Mike Melillo has a team-high 52 hits, four triples and 41 RBI. Tonight's starter, Jimmy Reyes was last week's SoCon Pitcher of the Week after tossing a complete-game, three-hit shutout of Western Carolina. He is 5-3 in nine starts, with a 5.53 ERA and has opponents hitting .296 against him. He has 53 strikeouts in 57 innings and has allowed 66 hits with 15 walks.

ALL-TIME VS. ELON

The Cougars lead the all-time series 15-9 against Elon, but have dropped the last four meetings. At Elon last season, Charleston lost by scores of 25-6, 11-8 and 13-11. The last victory against the Phoenix was on April 20, 2008, a 13-6 triumph at home.

START IT UP

FRIDAY - Freshman RHP Christian Powell makes his 10th start this season. In his last outing, Powell tossed 6.1 innings in an 8-2 win over Wofford, improving to 5-2 on the season. The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits with a career-high eight strikeouts.
SATURDAY - Senior RHP Kevin Decker takes the mound for his sixth straight start after five appearances out of the bullpen. In his last appearance, he went five innings in a 17-6 win against Wofford on April 17. Decker allowed nine hits and five runs, with three strikeouts to improve to 4-0.
SUNDAY - Sophomore RHP David Peterson returns to the mound after earning his fifth victory of the season against Wofford on April 18. Peterson scattered six hits in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs and striking out a career-high eight batters.

CHARLESTON PLAYER NOTES

Here is a look at some of the Cougars' key players in the last four games (April 16-20):

SS Joey Bergman - batted .368 with a grand slam and five RBI... scored seven runs... 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts... returned to action at the plate against Charleston Southern on March 24 after hamate bone surgery put him on the shelf earlier this season.

1B Greg Blake - team-high .533 average on eight hits, including a double, triple, home run and seven RBI.

DH Kolby Epley - batted .267 with a grand slam in the 10-run third inning of 16-7 win over The Citadel on Tuesday... added a RBI single in the 5th inning of last Friday's win and two doubles in Saturday's victory.

2B/RF Baker Knox - had thee hits and a .273 average and three RBI... took four walks.

C Rob Kral - walked three times and had five hits for a .273 average in the four games... had a RBI single in the five-run 2nd inning of last Friday's win.

3B Matt Leeds - SoCon Player of the Week - had two singles, three doubles and two home runs in last four games... added two hits and three RBI in win over Wofford last Friday... first multi-home run game of the season in Saturday's victory... has 12 home runs in his last 20 games.

INF Jesse Mesa - had a .375 average with three hits, including a pinch-hit solo home run in Saturday's win over Wofford.

CF Cole Rakar - had a .2471 average last week, including five doubles... hit a two-run double in five-run 2nd inning of last Friday's win... went 2-for-4 with three runs scored in Saturday's win... had four walks.

LF Jose Rodriguez - batted .313 with a double and two RBI.

2010 COUGARS BASEBALL RADIO SCHEDULE

The College of Charleston announced its updated radio broadcast schedule which includes five road games and eight home games, as well as the Southern Conference Tournament. Games are scheduled to air on ESPN Radio 910-AM in Charleston and can also be heard live on the internet at www.CofCSports.com. Ted Byrne will be handling the broadcasting duties for the baseball season.

Remaining 2010 Cougar Baseball Radio Broadcast Schedule
Apr. 24   vs. Elon   1 p.m.
Apr. 25   vs. Elon   1 p.m.
May 1   at Davidson  2 p.m.
May 2   at Davidson  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.
May 22   vs. UNC-Wilmington 6 p.m.
May 26-30 at the SoCon Tournament

DENNY'S GRAND SLAM HAS NOTHING ON US

Sophomore Matt Leeds and junior Rob Kral both hammered grand slams in a 12-run second inning and freshman Dre Watts added a third grand slam in the eighth as College of Charleston cruised to a 28-6 victory over host Charleston Southern March 24 at CSU Ballpark. The 12 runs in the inning set a program record for most runs in the second inning and the three grand slams in a game tied a Cougar baseball mark set by the team in 2008, as Jeremie Tice, Gabe Marchant and current junior Cole Rakar all hit grand slams in a 31-3 win over Davidson on March 21. The second-inning output was one off the all-time record of 13, set in the fifth inning of a 27-9 win over Furman on March 29, 2009.

LEEDS GARNERS SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Sophomore 3B Matt Leeds was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for all games from April 12-18 after leading College of Charleston to a 3-1 week, including a weekend sweep of visiting Wofford at Patriots Point. Leeds batted .556 (10-18) on the week with three home runs, three doubles, a triple and 13 RBI.

Leeds had at least two hits in all four games last week and reached the five-RBI plateau in two games. In the midweek clash at USC Upstate, his three-run blast to straightaway center cleared the backdrop at approximately 440 feet, as he went 3-for-4 adding a single and a triple. During the week, Leeds drove in 13 of the Cougars 38 runs (34.2%) for the week and only struck out twice in 18 at-bats.

COUGARS SWEEP SOCON WEEKLY AWARDS

College of Charleston junior DH Rob Kral was named the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Week, while teammate senior RHP Kevin Decker was selected as the league's Pitcher of the Week on March 22.

Kral had a career day at the plate on March 19, hitting three home runs with five RBIs in the Cougars' series-opening win at UNC Greensboro. Kral's three home run output ties the program's record for home runs in a game with four others, including current head coach Monte Lee (1999). The sophomore had at least one RBI in all five games for the Cougars that week as CofC went 5-0. He had four multi-hit games, 10 RBIs and slugged 1.000.

Decker went 2-0 in two appearances that week, coming out of the bullpen to pick up the victory versus No. 8 Coastal Carolina and then making his first start at UNC Greensboro. The senior right-hander allowed only three hits in nine total innings, highlighted by two frames of hitless, shutout ball against the nationally-ranked Chants on March 16. He followed that by allowing two runs on three hits in seven innings of work against the Spartans March 20. Decker held opponents to a .103 batting average, giving up two singles and a double over 34 batters.

ALL-SOCON COUGARS

College of Charleston senior Joey Bergman was selected as the Southern Conference Player of the Year by the league's baseball coaches, the SoCon announced Thursday. Senior Ryan Daniels joins Bergman on the Preseason All-Conference First Team at the designated hitter spot. Junior Cole Rakar earned a second-team preseason all-conference spot in the outfield. 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.

BERGMAN EARNS SECOND PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA NOD

Senior shortstop Joey Bergman was selected to the 2010 Louisville Preseason All-America Baseball Team by Collegiate Baseball. Bergman, who was named to the second team, received All-America 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 ABCA.

ON DECK

The Cougars travel to face Davidson in a three-game SoCon series next weekend, April 30 - May 2. Friday's first pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 and 1:00 respectively.

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.

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Schedule

Players Mentioned

Joey Bergman

Greg Blake

Ryan Daniels

Kevin Decker

Kolby Epley

Rob Kral

Gabe Marchant

David Peterson

Cole Rakar

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