Baseball Travels To Jacksonville For Non-Conference Matchup
2/28/2011 9:39:00 PM | Baseball
Game 8
March 1, 2011 • 4:00 p.m • John Sessions Stadium
#18 College of Charleston (7-0, 0-0 Southern)
at
Jacksonville University (6-2, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
Projected Pitching Matchup
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO
CofC Christian Powell (So., RHP) 0-0 6.75 1/1 4.0 4 3 3 1 5
JU Matthew Tomshaw (Sr., LHP) First Start of 2011 (2010 Stats: 8-2, 4.99 ERA)
BATTING PRACTICE
• Charleston has won at least 30 games in nine straight seasons and at least 35 games in seven straight.
• The 44 wins last season marked the fourth time that the Cougars have tallied at least 40 victories.
RANKINGS UPDATE
The College of Charleston moved up to a #18 ranking in the lastest Baseball America poll, up one spot from #19 the week before. The Cougars improved to xx in the NCBWA poll after being ranked 25 last week. CofC made its first appearance in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll at #25 after being unranked in the preseason edition. Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game do not have the College of Charleston included in their rankings.
SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
Jacksonville enters the game with a 6-2 mark after completing a four-game sweep of SoCon member Samford last weekend. The Dolphins are led by preseason all-Atlantic Sun OF Daniel Gulbransen, who is batting .429 on the season. Today's starter, LHP Matthew Tomshaw, was also selected to the preseason all-Atlantic Sun team with OF Adam Brett Walker. The Dolphins were picked to finish fourth in the conference this season. Closer Chris Kaminski has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason “Stopper of the Year” Watch List.
ALL-TIME VS. JACKSONVILLE
The Cougars are 4-3 all-time against Jacksonville after sweeping the home-and-home series last season. In last season's meeting in Jacksonville, redshirt-junior Jose Rodriguez belted two home runs as Charleston used a pair of four-run outbursts to defeat the host Dolphins 15-7, while ninth-inning heroics were needed by fellow redshirt-junior Rob Kral to post a 3-2 win at Patriots Point.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING!!!
Senior Jesse Mesa has a seven-game hitting streak to start the season for the Cougars. The Mirimar, Fla. native is fourth on the team in hitting with a .370 average and has six RBIs. Mesa has recorded three multi-hit games this season, all two-hit efforts.
HOME COOKING
The Cougars start the 2011 season with 13 of the first 14 games played at the familiar confines of Patriots Point. CofC hosts three weekend tournaments this season, accounting for nine of the 13 home contests before the Southern Conference begins on the road at Davidson on March 11.
RAKAR NAMED 2011 SOCON PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior Cole Rakar has been selected as the 2011 Southern Conference Preseason Player of the Year as chosen by the league's baseball coaches. Rakar headlines a conference-high six Cougars chosen to the Preseason All-Conference teams.
As a junior, Rakar led the Southern Conference in runs (76), hits (102) and doubles (26) while finishing in the top 20 nationally in each category. His .378 batting average was third-highest in the league. The center fielder had a team-high 31 multi-hit games, including six three-hit and six four-hit efforts. He ended the season on a nine-game hitting streak and was honored in 2010 as a first team All-SoCon selection, as well as earning NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional All-Tournament Team honors.
SIX COUGARS NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-SOCON TEAMS
Joining senior Cole Rakar on the first team are senior Casey Lucchese and redshirt-juniors Rob Kral, Jose Rodriguez and Matt Leeds. Junior David Peterson was named to the second team.
COUGARS TABBED AS SOCON PRESEASON POLL FAVORITES
The College of Charleston was chosen as the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference baseball championship in 2011 as selected by the league's coaches and media. The Cougars received all 10 possible first-place votes and 100 points in the coaches' balloting, as coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
CofC also grabbed 19 of 22 first-place votes and 239 points in the media poll. The Maroon and Gold return six of eight starters in the field, as well as a pair of weekend starting pitchers from the 2010 team that was 44-19 overall and finished second in the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional.
LEEDS EARNS COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRESEASON HONOR
Redshirt-junior Matt Leeds was selected to the Louisville Slugger 2011 Pre-Season All-American team, it was announced today by Collegiate Baseball. Leeds was named to the third team. The 2010 ABCA All-American led the Cougars in slugging percentage (.690), RBI (88) and was fifth in batting average (.326) and third in hits (79). His 21 home runs led the team and the Southern Conference and put him 35th in the country, while his 88 RBI ranked him first in the league and second nationally.
UP NEXT
The Cougars return to Patriots Point Wednesday for a rematch of last season's NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional Final with Coastal Carolina. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. Senior RHP Robert Jeroszko will take the mound for the Cougars.
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