College of Charleston Hosts UNC Asheville On Senior Weekend
5/10/2012 10:28:00 PM | Baseball
Game times for this weekend were moved from the originally announced schedule to 7 p.m., 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. to accommodate College of Charleston graduation.
The Cougars won their first game in the all-time series against Clemson with a 4-2 victory on Monday. Matt Pegler and Kyle Owings combined for a dominating pitching performance while Daniel Aldrich hit his seventh home run of the season in the game.
CofC then defeated Savannah State by a score 12-0 on Tuesday night as lefty Jake Zokan picked up the win in his first start of 2012. The Cougars were leading Charleston Southern, 6-2, on Wednesday when the game was suspended in the fifth inning.
Sunday's home game will be Senior Day for the Cougars as the team will honor the careers of Marty Gantt, Rob Harding, Josh Renfro, Kyle Owings, Nick Osterman and David Peterson.
ON AIR
Fans can watch all of the weekend's action on the Charleston Sports Network on CofCSports.com. The games will also be live on radio on ESPN 910 AM with Jeff McCarragher and Dennis Trapani calling the action.
SERIES NOTES
The Cougars hold a 2-1 record all-time against UNC Asheville as the two teams have only met in a series once, back in February of 2010 at Patriots Point.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday
RHP #19 Dean Roland, Asheville, 4-4, 3.78 ERA, 78.2 IP, 25 BB, 46 K
RHP #20 Christian Powell, CofC, 8-2, 2.39 ERA, 75.1 IP, 21 BB, 61 K
Saturday
RHP #11 Ryan Dull, Asheville, 4-4, 3.28 ERA, 68.2 IP, 9 BB, 70 K
LHP #19 Josh Renfro, CofC, 6-5, 3.86 ERA, 67.2 IP, 13 BB, 60 K
Sunday
RHP #29 Brian Connolly, Asheville, 5-3, 3.96 ERA, 50.0 IP, 6 BB, 23 K
RHP #22 Matt Pegler, CofC, 8-2, 2.84 ERA, 69.2 IP, 19 BB, 48 K
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs enter the weekend after a mid-week loss to Georgia State (13-8) and a weekend sweep of High Point. Asheville is 10-14 on the road this season.
The Bulldog offense is led by Hunter Bryant with a .312 batting average and Bill Creighton who boasts a team-best 31 RBI.
Asheville is hitting .273 as a team, while the pitching staff has an ERA of 4.52.
COUGARS ON SPORTSCENTER TOP 10
College of Charleston baseball has begun to make it a habit of appearing on the famed SportsCenter Top 10 Plays (#SCTop10). This week, sophomore Brandon Murray made a diving catch in foul territory that nearly vaulted him over a wall. The play was selected as the number one overall top play for Wednesday, May 9.
Earlier this season, a diving stop and throw to first from Rob Harding landed at No. 8 on SportsCenter's Top 10.
GANTT EARNS NATIONAL, CONFERENCE HONORS
Senior CF Marty Gantt earned several honors two weeks ago for his outstanding play. On May 1st, Gantt was selected for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch LIst, one of 60 players eligible for the sport's top award. The following day, the Southern Conference tabbed Gantt as its baseball player of the month for April.
Gantt led the Cougars during April with a .426 batting average as he reached base in all but one game in the month. He sported five three-hit games and tallied nine hits in a series sweep against The Citadel.
The senior tallied a team-best 16 runs and posted eight doubles to lead the team with a .656 slugging percentage. He also drew 14 walks, with four intentional, for an on-base percentage of .539, while stealing 12 bases. Gantt made several diving catches in centerfield as he recorded 40 putouts against only one error.
A native of North Augusta, S.C., Gantt is currently third in the Southern Conference with a batting average of .385. His league-best 54 runs rank 21st in the nation, while Gantt also leads the league in doubles (18), walks (36) and on-base percentage (.498). He is second in the conference in stolen bases (25) and slugging percentage (.654).
NEW LINEUP = GREAT SUCCESS
In the last 15 games since head coach Monte Lee moved Gantt to the leadoff spot in the order, the Cougars have posted an 11-4 record with Gantt hitting .415 with an on-base percentage of .581 and 17 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Bradley Goodson in the six and three spots is hitting .365 with 15 RBI and a slugging percentage of .524 and 14 runs.
Gantt is 16-32 (.500) when leading off an inning in those games, and Goodson is 10-28 with runners in scoring position and has successfully advanced runners at over 55 percent.
Goodson was named the SoCon Player of the Week on April 16 and Gantt was picked as the SoCon Player of the Month for April.
NEW ERA
College of Charleston starter Christian Powell has proved to nearly unhittable this season, as he sports a league-best 2.39 ERA. Powell has boasted three starting performances where he has not allowed an earned run and has one partial shutout this season. His eight wins are tied for second in the SoCon and rank 15th in the NCAA.
Powell was recently named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List, the only representative of the SoCon on the 51-player list.
CLOSING THE DOOR
College of Charleston senior David Peterson has embraced his new role of closer in 2012 and has provided several stellar outings recently to save games for the Cougars, including a two-inning performance at South Carolina.
Peterson is currently in first place in the conference in saves with 10, putting him 12th in the NCAA. That mark also ranks sixth for most in a season in CofC history.
Peterson was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List along with 44 other relievers.
NO FREE LUNCHES
Not only has Cougar pitching kept opponent runs off the board, CofC has limited the number of walks allowed. The Cougars have only walked 129 batters while striking out 383, for a strikeout-walk ratio of 2.97, ranking 12th in the country. Both Josh Renfro and Ryan West are averaging less than one walk per pitching appearance.
WHAT'S HAPPENED BY THE 4TH INNING?
CofC games this season have largely been determined by the action in the first four innings. The Cougars are an impressive 28-2 when leading after the fourth inning and are 2-12 when trailing after the fourth inning. The Cougars do not easily give up leads as they are 24-6 on the season when scoring first.
SENIOR HITS HARD
College of Charleston senior and corner infielder Rob Harding has made big-time plays in big situations for the Cougars. After starting the season at third base, Harding has moved to first where he has continued to make run-saving defensive plays. Harding leads the team with a .490 average with runners in scoring position, while he's tallied a team-best 16 two-out RBI.
In the win over Clemson, Harding delivered the game-sealing RBI and then snagged a liner down the third baseline to get the lead runner in the 8th inning. He also hit a walk-off single to defeat The Citadel in the 11th inning (4/22).
B-MURR, BENZ OR BENTLEY
College of Charleston sophomore Brandon Murray has been a power generator at the plate, blasting a team-best 11 home runs and boasting a slugging percentage of .545. Murray is fourth in the league in home runs.
Murray was named the SoCon Player of the Week on March 26. He hit a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning that led to the Cougars extra-inning win over CSU (3/27).
CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL
While the College of Charleston has based its 2012 reputation off of the strength of its pitching staff, the Cougars are still hitting for power in a big way. CofC is a close second in the Southern Conference in team home runs with 51, a mark that currently ranks 10th in the country.
College of Charleston has seen power from a number of different bats as Brandon Murray (11), Marty Gantt (9), Bradley Goodson (7), Daniel Aldrich (7) and Tyler Jackson (6) all have six or more long balls. CofC is 25-8 this season when the squad hits a home run in a game, and 11-1 when the Cougars hit two or more long balls.
WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
College of Charleston has seen its share of rain interruptions this season, including a game cancellation at Charleston Southern on March 21 and suspension with no resumption of the same game on May 9. Overall, 10 games have been moved or delayed because of weather conditions this season. CofC is 7-2 in games affected by rain.
