#20 Baseball Hosts Jacksonville Wednesday Night
3/16/2011 2:23:00 AM | Baseball
Game 18 - March 16, 2011
#20 College of Charleston (14-3, 2-1 SoCon)
RHP #35 Robert Jeroszko (1-1, 3.00 ERA)
vs.
Jacksonville University (11-6, 2-1 A-Sun)
LHP #29 Tony Mollica (2-0, 3.31 ERA)
BATTING PRACTICE
• The Cougars' 8-0 start this season equaled the mark set in 2002 for the best start to a season in program history.
• 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.
NATIONAL POLLS UPDATE
For the first time this season, the Cougars are ranked in all four of the major collegiate baseball polls. After a 4-1 week, the College of Charleston moved up to a #20 ranking in the lastest Baseball America poll, up a spot from #21 the week before. The Cougars rose to #21 in the NCBWA poll after being ranked #22 last week. CofC stayed even in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll, remaining at #23 for the second consecutive week. After being on the outside looking in all season, Collegiate Baseball ranked the Cougars for the first time season, as Charleston broke through into the #28 spot of the paper's Top 30.
LAST TIME OUT
Redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds had four hits and four RBIs, including a three-run home run in the third inning and junior LHP Josh Renfro struck out six over six innings as #21 College of Charleston roughed up Davidson College 13-2 Sunday afternoon at Wilson Field. The Cougars took the weekend series from the Wildcats and improve to 14-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Southern Conference.
SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
Jacksonville enters the game with an 11-6 mark after taking two of three games from USC Upstate last weekend. The Dolphins are led by preseason all-Atlantic Sun picks Adam Brett Walker and Daniel Gulbransen. 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 5-3 all-time against Jacksonville after defeating the Dolphins earlier this season and sweeping the home-and-home series last season. In Jacksonville on March 1, redshirt-junior 1B Jose Rodriguez snapped a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning with a three-run home run to right field to lift Charleston to a 9-5 victory. Rodriguez also added solo shot in the ninth to seal the win for the Cougars. In last season's meeting in Jacksonville, 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.
LEEDS NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY
Redshirt-junior Matt Leeds, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year, was honored by the league today as he received February Athlete of the Month honors. Leeds batted .417 with a pair of home runs and 16 RBIs as the nationally-ranked Cougars started the season with a perfect 7-0 record in February. A preseason All-SoCon First Team honoree, Leeds led Charleston to an 11-6, season-opening win against Kentucky with six RBIs, including a three-run home run in the third inning. He followed that performance with four more runs driven in during a win over Miami (Ohio) the following afternoon. Leeds recorded a hit in all but one contest while reaching base at a .568 clip and slugging .708.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING!!!
Redshirt-freshman LF Daniel Aldrich is in the midst of a season-high 12-game hitting streak for the Cougars. The Mount Pleasant, S.C. native has collected 16 hits in the streak, starting with a 2-for-4 performance against Youngstown State on February 25.
HOME COOKING
The Cougars started 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, two of them accounting for six 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.
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