Baseball Travels To UNC Wilmington For Wednesday Matchup
4/6/2011 3:29:00 AM | Baseball
Game 29 - April 6, 2011
College of Charleston (19-9, 6-3 Southern)
RHP #35 Robert Jeroszko (2-2, 5.11 ERA)
at
University of North Carolina Wilmington (15-11, 6-3 Colonial)
LHP #16 Steven Davis (0-0, 4.50 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.
RANKINGS UPDATE
Despite a 3-0 week and improving to a 19-9 overall record, the Cougars have not returned to a national ranking in any of the four major collegiate baseball polls.
LAST WEEK
(3-0 vs. Western Carolina)
Sophomore RHP Christian Powell tied a career-high with eight strikeouts and scattered five hits over eight innings to lead the College of Charleston to a 15-3 victory over Western Carolina Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point. The Cougars outhit WCU 13-6 and complete the weekend sweep, improving to 19-9 overall and 6-3 in the Southern Conference.
Five College of Charleston batters had multi-hit efforts and junior LHP Josh Renfro struck out seven in seven innings as the Cougars scored 13 runs in the first two innings on the way to a 15-8 victory over Western Carolina Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point.
Junior RHP David Peterson struck out six Western Carolina batters over seven innings to lead the College of Charleston to a 6-3 victory Friday evening over the Catamounts in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point.
ALL-TIME VS. UNC WILMINGTON
The Cougars lead the all-time series, 3-2. Earlier this season at Patriots Point, senior RHP Robert Jeroszko struck out a career-high seven batters and redshirt-junior 1B Jose Rodriguez knocked in the winning run with the bases loaded in the 12th inning as the College of Charleston defeated UNC Wilmington 5-4. In each of the last two seasons, the home team has won the meeting between the two clubs. Last season, the Seahawks won in Wilmington 3-2 on May 20, while Charleston scored a 10-8 victory at Patriots Point on May 22.
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. Overall, the Cougars play 23 of their first 28 games at Patriots Point.
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.
