Game 49 - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 • 6:00 p.m.
College of Charleston (35-13, 19-8 SoCon)
RHP #36 Josh Salay (1-3, 6.82 ERA)
vs.
USC Upstate (16-33, 6-18 Atlantic Sun)
RHP #25 Austin Moyer (1-4, 7.41 ERA)
The Citadel's Bryan Altman roped a bases-loaded double to key a five-run eighth inning as the Bulldogs rallied to steal the final game of the Southern Conference series against College of Charleston 6-3 Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point. The loss snapped the Cougars' seven-game winning streak.
Junior CF Cole Rakar leads the team with a .373 average, 75 hits, 21 doubles and 18 stolen bases. Sophomore 3B Matt Leeds tops the team in home runs with 17, the RBI chart with 64 and leads the team with a .741 slugging percentage.
USC Upstate leads the all-time series, 1-0 over the Cougars. The Spartans jumped to an early 5-1 lead, then rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Andre Harris singled home the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded liner to right, shocking College of Charleston 11-10 on April 13 at Harley Park.
TUESDAY - Junior RHP Josh Salay makes his sixth start this season. In his last start, a non-conference tilt with The Citadel on April 20, Salay earned his first victory of the season as the Cougars defeated their local SoCon rival 16-7 at Riley Park. The junior right-hander scattered five hits and allowed three runs in five innings with five strikeouts. Since then, Salay has appeared out of the bullpen twice, earning his first save on May 8 tossing 2.1 innings of shutout relief in a 7-3 win over The Citadel.
Here is a look at some of the Cougars' key players in last weekend's series with The Citadel:
SS Joey Bergman - batted a team-high .583 (7-12) on the weekend... scored six runs and knocked three doubles, a triple and a RBI... 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 - had four hits, including a two-run home run, for a .364 average... added a double and three RBI.
SS Jamie Holler - went 2-for-9 with a solo home run and two RBI.
C Rob Kral - batted .455 with a double, a home run and three RBI... scored four runs and walked three times.
3B Matt Leeds - went 1-for-12 with a RBI double and a walk.
CF Cole Rakar - batted .333 with a double and four RBI... scored three runs and added a sacrifice fly.
LF Jose Rodriguez - batted .417 with five hits and two doubles... added three RBI and scored twice... went 0-for-4 on Sunday, snapping a 14-game hitting streak.
- 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
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
- LEEDS NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Sophomore Matt Leeds was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III First Team. The honor is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) whose schools are in the region. By being named to the first team, Leeds advances to the national Academic All-America ballot.
In order to be nominated for this honor, a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve with legitimate athletic credentials and at least a 3.30 grade point average in both undergraduate and graduate work. The student-athlete must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and completed at least one full academic year at the same school.
Leeds, an economics major with a 3.89 GPA, leads the Cougars with 17 home runs and 64 RBI. The sophomore is batting .324 on the season with a team-best .741 slugging percentage. His 17 round-trippers is tops in the Southern Conference and places him 6th in the nation, while his 64 RBI ranks 5th in the country.
- DENNY'S GRAND SLAM HAS NOTHING ON US
Sophomore Matt Leeds and redshirt-sophomore 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.
- KRAL EARNS SECOND SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Redshirt-sophomore C Rob Kral was named the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Week for the period from Apr. 26 - May 2. It marks the second time this season he has received the honor. Kral hit three home runs and six RBI to lead the Cougars to a three-game sweep over Davidson this past weekend. He went 7-for-12 (.583) and posted a .643 on-base percentage while adding five runs for CofC. After recording a double and scoring twice in the series opener, Kral hit a home run and RBI on Saturday. He belted a pair of home runs in the series finale, giving him 13 on the season.
- 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 redshirt-sophomore 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 redshirt-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.
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.
The Cougars travel to face ACC foe North Carolina in a non-conference clash in Chapel Hill tomorrow evening. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
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