Cougars Host Dukes To Resume CAA Play

Friday, April 6

Patriots Point

6:00 PM

College of Charleston

James Madison

Photo by: Al Samuels

4/5/2018 5:07:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)

CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The College of Charleston baseball team will resume Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend when James Madison comes to Patriots Point for a three-game series. Evan Sisk (Chester, S.C.) will take the ball for his eighth start of the season opposite James Madison senior Colton Harlow. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:00 pm.

How to Follow the Cougars
Twitter: @CofCBaseball
Live Stats: CofCStats.com
Video: Charleston Sports Network
Audio: None

Probable Pitchers
Friday | 6:00 pm ET: LHP Evan Sisk (5-2, 2.45 ERA, 35 K) vs. LHP Colton Harlow (2-2, 3.11 ERA, 27 K)
Saturday | 6:00 pm ET: RHP Griffin McLarty (5-1, 1.51 ERA, 35 K) vs. RHP Kevin Kelly (2-2, 3.45 ERA, 33 K)
Sunday | 1:00 pm ET: RHP Jakob Frishmuth (4-1, 3.58 ERA, 29 K) vs. RHP Nick Stewart (2-3, 3.56 ERA, 30 K)

Series Preview
The Cougars and Dukes meet for the 20th time on Friday with CofC leading the all-time series, 12-7. Charleston has won the last two against James Madison as part of a series win in Harrisonburg last season.

Last Time Out
The Cougars split a midweek home-and-home series with Charleston Southern, with the visiting team winning each game. In Wednesday's 5-4 win at CSU Ballpark, Logan McRae launched a two-run homer in the first, and Nathan Ocker struck out six in four scoreless innings to pick up his seventh save.

Finding His Grove
After CofC's 5-2 setback at East Carolina on March 7, Logan McRae had a slash line of .222/.327/.356. Since then, McRae has batted .394 (26-for-66) with eight doubles, five home runs, 23 RBIs, and 17 runs scored in the last 18 games to improve his slash line to .324/.409/.586. The redshirt junior now leads the team in RBIs (30), and ranks second in home runs (6), on-base percentage (.409) and slugging percentage (.586). McRae has also reached base in 19 straight games entering the weekend.

Commanding the Zone
The Cougars' pitching staff continues to set the national standard in painting the black and challenging opposing hitters while limiting base runners, and entered the week leading Division I in walks allowed per nine innings for the third straight week. Despite surrendering seven walks last Tuesday to Coastal Carolina, Charleston remains firmly in the national lead with an average of 2.32 walks per nine.

Lethal Table-Setters
Dupree Hart, Luke Morgan, Logan McRae, and Danny Wondrack have been nothing short of superb as the top four hitters in the Cougar batting order this season, entering the week with a combined slash line of .329/.410/.551 through the first 31 games to go along with 21 home runs, 85 RBIs and 96 runs scored. The quartet have accounted for 65.6 percent of the Cougars' home runs, and 52.2 percent of CofC's total hits in only 45.9 percent of the team's at-bats thus far.

Scouting James Madison
James Madison enters the weekend with a 15-12 overall record and a 2-4 mark in CAA play after dropping two-of-three to Northeastern this past weekend. The Dukes are hitting .260 as a team this season, and rank second in the nation in sacrifice bunts (30).

Josh Jones leads JMU with a .349 batting average, while Adam Sisk is batting .290 with four home runs and 17 RBIs. Friday starter Colton Harlow enters the weekend with a 2-2 record, a 3.11 ERA, and 27 strikeouts in seven starts.