Baseball Hosts USC Upstate and Ball State in Midweek Clashes
3/8/2011 2:44:00 AM | Baseball
Games 13 & 14 - Patriots Point - Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
#21/22 College of Charleston (10-2, 0-0 SoCon)
USC Upstate (4-7, 0-1 A-Sun) - Tuesday, March 8 - 5:00 p.m.
Ball State (1-9, 0-0 MAC) - Wednesday, March 9 - 5:00 p.m.
Projected Pitching Matchups
Tuesday W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO
CofC Christian Powell (So., RHP) 1-0 4.70 3/1 7.2 6 4 4 5 5
UPST David Roseboom (Fr., LHP) 0-1 8.38 3/2 9.2 16 12 9 5 3
Wednesday W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO
CofC Robert Jeroszko (Sr., RHP) 0-1 4.50 2/2 8.0 9 7 4 2 11
BSU TBA
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.
RANKINGS UPDATE
After a 3-2 week, the College of Charleston moved down to a #21 ranking in the lastest Baseball America poll, down three spots from #18 the week before. The Cougars fell to #22 in the NCBWA poll after being ranked #19 last week. CofC jumped a pair of spots in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll to #23 after being ranked #25 in the previous poll. Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game do not have the College of Charleston included in their rankings.
LAST TIME OUT
Junior RF Marty Gantt hit an inside-the-park-home run and added four RBIs, while redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs as #18 College of Charleston used a 13-run fourth inning to rout New York Tech 23-4 Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point in the CofC Classic. The Cougars improve to 10-2 on the season, while New York Tech falls to 0-3.
ALL-TIME VS. USC UPSTATE
The two programs are tied 1-1 in the all-time series. Last season, 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. The Cougars exacted revenge later in the season as Matt Leeds went 5-for-5 with three doubles and two home runs to propel the College to a 20-3 victory over USC Upstate on May 11 at Patriots Point. The 14 total bases for Leeds set a program single-game mark, while his three doubles equaled the Cougars' single-game record.
ALL-TIME VS. BALL STATE
Charleston holds a 3-0 all-time record against Ball State. Last season, Greg Blake knocked a two-run home run and Cole Rakar batted 3-for-5 as the College defeated Ball State 7-5 at Patriots Point on March 10. The teams first met in 1994 with the Cougars blanking Ball State 8-0 on March 7. The two squads paired off again in the 2006 NCAA Regional in Lexington, Ky. with CofC taking an 11-0 victory in the second game of the regional.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING!!!
Senior Jesse Mesa opened the season with a seven-game hitting streak for the Cougars. The Mirimar, Fla. native saw the streak snapped with a 0-for-5 performance in the Cougars' 9-5 win at Jacksonville on March 1. Mesa is sixth on the team in hitting with a .313 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.
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