CofC Heads To Georgia Southern For Crucial Series

The Cougars will travel to Georgia Southern (12-14, 3-6) this weekend for a highly anticipated SoCon series pitting the two teams projected to lead the conference at the beginning of the season. Game times in Statesboro, Ga., are slated for 6 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 1:30 p.m.

College of Charleston (20-6, 10-2) is coming off a 2-0 midweek slate that featured a nail-biting 10-inning win over rival Charleston Southern and a record-setting 16-3 rout of Jacksonville to put the Cougars at 20 wins for the year, the first SoCon school to reach that plateau. The Cougars are currently in first place in the conference while Georgia Southern sits eighth.

On Tuesday, CofC trailed the Bucs 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth when Brandon Murray lifted a solo home run to right field to tie the game. In the 10th, Daniel Aldrich grounded into a double play that scored Cody Martin from second for the game-winning run.

On Wednesday night, the Cougars scored 12 runs on 10 hits in the first inning as the entire lineup batted around twice. Rob Harding finished with 4 RBIs and a two-run home run while Bradley Goodson hit a solo home run in the 16-3 win. Marty Gantt extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

On Air

Georgia Southern’s EagleVision will carry the weekend series on a subscription video package at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. A free radio stream of the Georgia Southern Radio Network is also available on the site.

Series Notes

The Cougars and Eagles have been evenly matched over the all-time series with the Cougars holding a slight 25-24 advantage. GSU knocked off College of Charleston 7-6 in the team’s last meeting in the SoCon Tournament semifinals last season. Overall, the Cougars went 2-4 against Georgia Southern last year.

Scouting the Eagles

After struggling in SoCon play by losing two of three at Furman and getting swept by Elon, the Eagles responded this week by splitting two games with 21st-ranked Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

The Eagles have been playing without the services of Preseason All-SoCon Player of the Year Victor Roache who suffered a wrist injury earlier in the season. The Preseason Pitcher of the Year Chris Beck has gone 2-2 with an ERA of 3.67 with 45 strikeouts.

Georgia Southern has been led offensively by Eric Phillips who is hitting .402 with 3 HRs and 33 RBIs. He ranks second in the conference in batting average and first in RBIs. The Eagles team ERA of 5.87 ranks last in the league.

CofC In the Statistical Rankings

The Cougars currently lead the SoCon in pitching with a team ERA of 2.21 and an opposing batting average of just .205. The staff ERA ranks fourth nationally, while the Cougars are fifth in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings (6.72).

Christian Powell is second in the league with an ERA of 1.34, while Matt Pegler is second in the Southern Conference with an opposing batting average of .176. Josh Renfro is third in the league with 41 strikeouts.

David Peterson is tied for second place in the SoCon for saves with 6. That mark ranks 15th nationally.

Marty Gantt leads the conference and is seventh in the country in runs scored with 33 and is third in the SoCon in batting average (.398). Gantt’s slugging percentage of .680 ranks fourth in the league and his on-base percentage of .484 is second.

Slugger Daniel Aldrich is in first place in the conference and 28th in the country in triples with three, while he’s tied for sixth in the SoCon in walks (16).

The Cougars are 11th in the NCAA in home runs per game with 1.04 per contest.

Murray Named SoCon Player of the Week

College of Charleston left fielder Brandon Murray was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week, the conference office announced on March 26.

Murray led the Cougars’ offensive output in a series sweep over Davidson over the weekend. He led the team with a batting average of .636 and a slugging percentage of 1.182, hitting two home runs and tallying eight RBIs. He had multiple hits in each of the games against Davidson and scored five runs.

A sophomore from Nassau, Bahamas, Murray tallied a career-best five RBI including a two-run home run in a 16-3 offensive explosion over the Wildcats on Friday. Murray hit a solo home run in the first inning in Saturday’s win, and knocked in two RBI on Sunday. This award is Murray’s first SoCon Weekly honor.

Going Streaking

Marty Gantt has led the team all season in batting average after opening with a strong series at South Alabama. Gantt currently sports a team-best 23-game reached base streak and is currently on a 10-game hitting streak. He has failed to get a hit in just two games this year.

Gantt has shown that he can hit for power and contact as he leads the team in batting average (.398), slugging percentage (.680), on-base percentage (.484), RBI (26), runs (33), stolen bases (12) and is second in home runs (5).

Weekend Warriors

Going into the series with Georgia Southern, the Cougars are 15-3 in weekend games with three sweeps in the last three weekends. Weekend starters Josh Renfro, Christian Powell and Matt Pegler have a combined record of 13-2 and each is in the top three of the conference in a different category.

Renfro Deals and Delivers

CofC senior lefty Josh Renfro has proven to be the master of the strikeout. Renfro ranks third in the conference in K’s with 41 after two straight weeks with career-high 11-strikeout outings. Each time the Cougars get 12 strikeouts in a home game, the fans are treated to Kickin Chicken bucks. Renfro has helped Cougar fans win the promotion twice this season, and came one strikeout short on a third occasion.

Between a rock and a 'Hard' place

Senior Rob Harding has come through when it’s counted this year. A team-best 13 of his 24 RBIs have come in 2-out situations, and he is hitting .313 overall when there are two outs. Harding is second on the team with an average of .484 with runners in scoring position.

B-Murr, Benz or Bentley

College of Charleston sophomore Brandon Murray has been a power generator at the plate, blasting a team-best seven home runs and boasting a slugging percentage of .627. 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).

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 15-1 when leading after the fourth inning and are 2-5 when trailing after the fourth inning.