Cougars to Visit CSU Ballpark on Wednesday

photo by Tim Andrews

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Buccaneers will host a familiar foe to close out the home portion of their nonconference schedule when the College of Charleston visits CSU Ballpark on Wednesday afternoon.  The Bucs and the Cougars will face off at 1:30 p.m.  (NOTE: First pitch has been moved from previously scheduled time of 3 p.m.)

GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS

SERIES HISTORY
The meeting on Wednesday will be the 55th meeting between the Bucs and Cougars. The College of Charleston leads the overall series with Charleston Southern 42-12.  The two teams split the series last season while College of Charleston won the meeting earlier this season 2-1 in 10 innings.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
03/27/2012 College of Charleston 3 CSU 2 The Ballpark at Patriots Point
04/13/2011 CSU 4 College of Charleston 3 The Ballpark at Patriots Point
04/12/2011 College of Charleston 10 CSU 9 CSU Ballpark
03/30/2010 College of Charleston 9 CSU 4 The Ballpark at Patriots Point
03/24/2010 College of Charleston 28 CSU 9 CSU Ballpark

PROBABLE STARTERS
CSU: Junior RHP Kevin Buran (0-4, 5.00 ERA, 45.0  IP, 16 BB, 23 K)
CofC: Senior RHP Ryan West (4-3, 3.57 ERA, 53.0 IP, 11 BB, 46 K)

CASHING IN
Senior relief pitcher Corey Deighan collected two saves over the weekend versus Winthrop, giving him six saves on the season. Deighan is currently tied for fifth in the Big South in saves and is just two shy of tying the CSU single-season record. He had seven saves for the Bucs last season. Deighan is also tied for fifth in the Big South in appearances with 24.

STEADY DOES IT
True freshman Bobby Ison has been a mainstay at the top of Stuart Lake’s lineup for the Bucs. Despite missing his first two games of the season on Friday and Saturday this past weekend, Ison is still tied for seventh in the conference in total hits with 60. He currently sports a .331 batting average and leads the team in runs scored (26).

LEADING LATE
Charleston Southern has shown confidence in holding a lead late this season. Entering Wednesday’s game the Buccaneers are 11-2 when leading after seven innings and 14-1 when leading after eight. Along with Deighan, relief pitchers Denis Buckley (1.42 ERA) and Zach Hagaman (2.28 ERA) have played large roles in this success for the Bucs.

STEPPING UP
First baseman Robbie Streett has made a big splash since entering the Buccaneer lineup. Streett has now hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games for CSU. Over that stretch he is hitting .434 and has a slugging percentage of .566, including seven doubles by the freshman.

SENIOR LEADER
Charlie McCready continues his stellar campaign on the mound for CSU. The senior continues to lead the starting rotation with a 3.54 ERA and is currently tied for 10th in the Big South in opponent batting average, as teams are hitting just .265 against the crafty southpaw.

ON DECK
Coming up next for Charleston Southern is a three-game Big South series at VMI this weekend. The Buccaneers enter the series in sixth place in the Big South at 9-9 while VMI enters in 11th at 6-15.