Bucs and Cougars Square Off Once Again; Follow the Action Online

Wednesday won't be the average mid-week game for the CSU baseball team. Before playing their regularly-scheduled game at 2:30 p.m, the Buccaneers and the College of Charleston will finish their April 1 game that was suspended due to lightning. The game will resume at 1 p.m. with the Cougars leading 4-0 while batting with runners on the corners and two outs in the top of the seventh inning

Full Game Notes for April 16

Media Coverage
Live Video (Big South Edge, subscription service)

Live Stats (GameTracker)

Series Notes
With a 12-4 victory over CSU at Patriot’s Point on March 5, the College of Charleston took a 31-11 lead in the all-time series with the Buccaneers. Freshman Tom Burkett had a three-run home run for CSU in the loss. The Cougars won the series 3-1 last season, with the Bucs lone victory coming on February 20, 2007 at Buccaneer Field. Junior Mark Perry went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

Scouting the Cougars
Coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of Furman over the weekend, the College of Charleston will be looking to get back on the winning track. The Cougars bring a high-powered offense to Buccaneer Field, having outscored their opponents by nearly 100 runs, 376-277, on the season.
The trio of Jeremie Tice, Gabe Marchant and Michael Harrington, each with double digit home run totals on the year. Tice leads the team in both runs batted in (52) and batting average (.394), while ranking second on the team in homers (13). Marchant’s 14 dingers leads the squad and he ranks second behind Tice with 48 RBI. On their heels, Harrington had belted 12 home runs and driven in 45 runs this season.
The Cougar pitching staff has taken advantage of the offense’s support, compiling a 6.81 staff earned run average while its opponents surrender 9.50 earned runs per contest.

Last Time Out
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Matching its best offensive inning of the season, the CSU baseball team cruised to a 15-8 victory over the visiting Reinhardt College Eagles on Tuesday. The first four hitters in the Buccaneers’ lineup went 9-for-20 at the plate and combined for 11 runs batted in. Sparking the offense was the leadoff man, junior Mark Perry, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and three RBI.

Making His Mark
Senior Payton Tweddale has already cemented his place in CSU baseball history, recording five saves (tied for first in the Big South Conference) this season to push his program-record career total to 18. But the lefty is approaching another milestone as he continues to make appearances for the Bucs. In his four season, Tweddale has made 93 appearance, inching closer to the program record of 100 made by Nino Fasulo from 2002-05. His 1.75 ERA this year is also tied for second in the league.

Dynamic Duo
Freshmen Steven Antolik and Derek Smith have shown why head coach Jason Murray has placed them in the heart of the Buccaneer batting order. Despite it being their first season of collegiate baseball, both have belted seven home runs on the season, tied for seventh in the conference. Smith also ranks seventh in the Big South in batting average (.364) and fourth in slugging percentage (.627).

On The List
Junior catch Jake Cox has been named to the 2008 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award Watch List, given annually to the top division one collegiate catcher. On the season, Cox has an on-base percentage of .362 thanks in large part to 18 drawn walks, which is second on the squad. He has thrown out 11 of 31 runners trying to steal bases on him this season, thwarting over 35 percent of the attempts, which ranks among the conference leaders.

On The Horizon
The Bucs continue Big South Conference play with a three-game series against Winthrop over the weekend. There will be on game on Friday at 2 p.m. and a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday.