Baseball Hosts Western Carolina This Weekend
4/1/2011 12:33:00 AM | Baseball
Games 26-28
College of Charleston (16-9, 3-3 SoCon)
vs. Western Carolina (11-11-1, 2-7 SoCon)
Friday, April 1 • 6:00 p.m.
RHP #23 David Peterson (3-2, 5.04 ERA) vs. RHP #33 Matt Benedict (1-1, 3.25 ERA)
Saturday, April 2 • 3:00 p.m.
LHP #31 Josh Renfro (4-2, 2.86 ERA) vs. RHP #28 Jordan Smith (3-2, 3.48 ERA)
Sunday, April 3 • 1:00 p.m.
RHP #20 Christian Powell (2-0, 2.29 ERA) vs. LHP #40 Adam Curtis or RHP #21 Kyle Stewart
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 second straight 1-3 week, the Cougars fell out of all four major collegiate baseball polls. Charleston continues to receive votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
LAST WEEK
Georgia Southern RHP Andy Moye tossed a complete-game six-hitter and struck out eight to lead the Eagles to a 7-1 win over the College of Charleston Sunday morning in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point. With the win, GSU takes the weekend series, two games to one.
Junior LHP Josh Renfro struck out six over seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits to lead the College of Charleston to a 3-2 victory over visiting Georgia Southern in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point.
Five Georgia Southern batters had multi-hit performances and the Eagles used a pair of four-run innings to defeat the College of Charleston 11-7 Friday evening in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point.
Adam Matthews knocked two home runs and had a career-high eight RBIs to lead #4 South Carolina to a 24-4 victory over the College of Charleston Tuesday evening at Carolina Stadium.
ALL-TIME VS. WESTERN CAROLINA
The Cougars lead the all-time series, 30-15. Last season in Cullowhee, Charleston took the opener of the three-game series 11-8, but fell 4-3 on Saturday and dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker in 13 innings. The extra-inning difficulties continued for the Cougars in the SoCon tourney as Charleston was ousted by WCU with a 7-6, 12-inning defeat at Riley Park.
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.
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.
LEEDS SELECTED AS A DAVE HART SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Redshirt-junior Matt Leeds has been selected by the Southern Conference as a Dave Hart Scholarship award winner. The postgraduate-studies award is chosen by a five=person committee based on accomplishments in academics, athletics and community service.
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.
