Bucs Ready For Final Home Series; Follow the Action Online

CSU baseball will host its final series of the 2008 season with Liberty coming to Buccaneer Field for a set of three games this weekend. It will begin with a 3 p.m. game on Saturday before wrapping up with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday. While the Buccaneers do have a final home game on May 14, this will be last Big South action on Buccaneer Field for the year.

Full Game Notes for Liberty series (May 3 & 4)

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

Live Stats (GameTracker)

Series Notes
Liberty holds a 28-19 advantage in the all-time series with CSU. Last season, the Flames took two of three games from the Buccaneers to record their third straight series victory over the Bucs. CSU last won a series against Liberty in 2004, coming out victorious in two of three closely-fought contests.

Scouting the Flames
With a 9-6 record in league play, Liberty enters the weekend series sitting in third place in the Big South Conference Standings. The Flames have recorded series victories over UNC Asheville, Radford and VMI in conference action this season.

Pitching has led the way for Liberty, posting a 4.96 earned run average as a staff, ranking third in the league. It leads the conference with an average of eight strikeouts per nine innings. David Stokes and Dustin Umberger lead the unit, ranking second and third, respectively, in the Big South strikeout totals. Umberger leads the league with an average of 9.7 Ks per nine innings.

On offense, the Flames get multiple contributions with five regulars batting over .300 on the season. David Giammaresi leads the way with a .342 average, followed closely by the .340 mark of Cody Brown. Ranking among the conference leaders, P.K. Keller has a team-high 30 runs batted in, while Errol Hollinger boasts a team-best seven home runs.

Last Time Out
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Savannah State built an early lead and freshman Michael Allegretti held the CSU offense at bay to help the Tigers record a 7-2 win at Buccaneer Field on Thursday. Redshirt-freshman Nick Chinners led the Bucs with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, while freshmen Tom Burkett and Taylor Black recorded two hits each. With four of his team’s five runs batted in, junior Brandon Javis led the way for Savannah State.

Among the Best
Senior Payton Tweddale was one of only five lefties listed among the 45 relief pitchers on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. Tweddale leads the Bucs and is fourth in the Big South Conference with a 2.84 earned run average, having given up just 14 earned runs in 44 and a third innings of work. Already the program leader in career saves (18), Tweddale is nearing Nino Fasulo’s record of 100 career appearances, having taken the mound 97 times in four years with the Bucs.

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 .383 thanks in large part to 23 drawn walks, which is best on the squad. He has thrown out 15 of 38 runners trying to steal bases on him this season, thwarting nearly 40 percent of the attempts, which ranks among the conference leaders.

Finding His Stride
Redshirt-freshman Nick Chinners went 3-for-4 against Savannah State on Thursday, giving him an eight-game hitting streak, the longest current streak on the team. Chinners has raised his average to .313 during the streak, making him the sixth Buccaneer with a mark over .300 at this point in the season.

On The Horizon
Having played its final home series of the season, CSU will hit the road next week for midweek games against Furman and the College of Charleston before traveling to UNC Asheville for a Big South Conference weekend series.