Baseball Starts Big South Tournament Wednesday Night
5/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
More Information:
Coastal Carolina (29-25)
2006 Bojangle’s Big South Tournament
May 24-27
Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field - Conway, S.C.
Tournament Rotation
LHP Andy DeLaGarza (3-6, 4.59 ERA)
RHP Bobby Gagg (3-1, 3.29 ERA)
RHP Kevin Salmon (4-4, 4.68 ERA)
RHP John Mariotti (5-2, 5.95 ERA)
Coastal Carolina (29-25) starts the postseason with the 2006 Bojangle’s Big South Tournament May 24-27 in Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. The Chanticleers earned the third seed in the tournament and will face fourth-seeded High Point University (26-30) Wednesday, May 24 at 7 p.m. If Coastal wins, it will face the winner of the Winthrop-Liberty game Thursday, May 25 at 7 p.m. If the Chanticleers lose, they will face the winner of the Birmingham-Southern-UNC Asheville game Thursday at 3 p.m. Coastal and High Point are meeting for only the second time in Big South Tournament history. Coastal defeated the Panthers 14-2 in the 2002 tournament. The Chants have won seven games in a row, including a three-game sweep of UNC Asheville this past weekend.
BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Coastal is 48-19 all-time in Big South Tournament history. The Chanticleers have won the eventh seven games, including winning four in a row from 2001-04. The Chanticleers made it to the championship game in 2005 against Winthrop and forced a second championship game after defeating the Eagles 4-3 on a walk-off home run by Aaron Verrett (Jupiter, Fla./Polk C.C.). The Chants fell short of a title, losing 13-7 in the second championship game. Verrett, Mike Valter (Bloomingdale, N.J./Briarcliffe C.C.), Mike Costanzo, Ricky Shefka and Michael DeJesus were named to the All-Big South Tournament team in 2005.
CHANTS RIDE WIN STREAK INTO TOURNEY: Coastal has a seven-game winning streak heading into the Big South Tournament. Coastal has outscored its opponents 67-18 and is hitting .378 in the winning streak, while the pitching staff has a 2.14 earned-run average in the seven games.
HOME RUN DROUGHT ENDS AGAINST UNCA: Coastal Carolina belted four home runs this weekend, ending a six-game power outage for the Chanticleers. Freshman David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Graham) hit a three-run home run May 19, which was instrumental in defeating the Bullodgs 7-3. It was Coastal’s first home run since junior Adam Vrable (Bay City, Mich./Grand Rapids C.C.) and classmate Matt Sutton (La Grange, N.C./UNC Wilmington) went back-to-back May 8 against VMI.
KILLER B’S: Sophomore Tommy Baldridge (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) and freshman Tyler Bortnick (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) have been on fire the last 10 games. Baldridge is hitting a scalding .560 with four doubles and five RBI in the last 10 games, while Bortnick is hitting .531 with eight RBI while playing shortstop and third base for the Chants.
MARIOTTI DEALS AGAINST THE PIRATES: Junior John Mariotti (Toronto, Ontario/Gulf Coast C.C.) made his fourth start of the season a memorable one in a 9-4 win over East Carolina May 16. Mariotti struck out seven in six innings, both career highs, while allowing only two runs and five hits. Mariotti came back on May 21 and pitched five scoreless innings with five strikeouts against UNC Asheville. He now leads Coastal with five wins.
GILMORE WINS #400 AT COASTAL: Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore won his 400th game as head coach of the Chanticleers in a 11-0 win over Radford May 12. Gilmore now has a 406-248 record at CCU in 11 seasons and a 659-350 overall record in 17 years of coaching.
LET’S PLAY TWO...AGAIN: Coastal competed in its seventh doubleheader of the season May 13 against Radford, winning both ends by counts of 14-1 and 7-4. For the season, Coastal has swept two doubleheaders, split in four and was swept in one double dip. Coastal also completed suspended games against Liberty April 23 and UNC Asheville May 21.
DELAGARZA PITCHES GEM VS. RADFORD: Junior Andy DeLaGarza (Ossian, Ind./Norwell) pitched eight innings, giving up only three hits and one run in a 14-1 win over Radford May 13.
DeLaGarza gave up an infield single to the first batter of the game, but did not give up his second hit until the eighth inning. He also struck out nine batters, one off of a career high. He lowered his ERA to 4.77 and earned his second win of the season.
GAGG NAMED BIG SOUTH PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Coastal Carolina University baseball freshman Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J./Wallkill) has been named the Big South Conference’s New Balance Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced today (May 9).
Gagg helped the Chanticleers take an important Big South series from VMI in Lexington, Va., with a complete game, three-hit shutout of the Keydets May 8, winning 2-0. He faced just two batters over the minimum, struck out three and did not walk a batter en route to his second-straight complete game. Gagg retired the first 12 hitters of the game and allowed just one runner to reach second base.
CHANTS GO BACK-TO-BACK FOR WIN: Junior Adam Vrable (Bay City, Mich./Grand Rapids C.C.) and classmate Matt Sutton (La Grange, N.C./UNC Wilmington) hit back-to-back home runs in the 10th inning to give Coastal a 6-4 win over VMI May 8. It was Sutton’s team-leading 11th home run of the year, while it was Vrable’s first home run as a Chanticleer. It was the first time Coastal’s has hit back-to-back jacks since Aaron Verrett (Jupiter, Fla./Polk C.C.) and Tommy Baldridge (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) did the trick March 1 against Furman.
CHANT PITCHERS HANDCUFF BRONC BATS: The Coastal Carolina pitching staff had an excellent weeked against Texas-Pan American. The Chants had a team earned-run average of 1.55, giving up only five earned runs in three games. Coastal also had 28 strikeouts, led by freshman Austin Fleet’s (Edmond, Okla./Santa Fe) nine in a 2-0 win.
TWIN KILLING: Coastal Carolina is 31st in the nation in double plays per game according to the latest NCAA statistics released May 16. Coastal is averaging 1.0 double plays per game and is .27 behind New Mexico for the top spot. Individually, junior Adam Vrable (Bay City, Mich./Grand Rapids C.C.) is fifth in the country in sacrifice hits per game. Vrable has 0.34 a game, trailing Ben Orlaff of UC Irvine by .09.
GAGG GOES DISTANCE AGAINST CAMPBELL: Freshman Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J./Wallkill) pitched a complete game in Coastal’s 7-2 win over Campbell April 25. Gagg struck out a career high six and allowed eight hits and two runs. He also lowered his ERA to 4.25 and helped Coastal pitching hold Campbell to three runs in three games against the Chants.
FUENTES CLEARS BASES WITH SMASH: Senior Mike Fuentes (Miami, Fla./North Florida C.C.) hit Coastal’s first grand slam of the season in a 7-2 win over Campbell April 25. It was Fuentes’ second home run of the season and first career home run in Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. Fuentes also caught a runner trying to steal in the win over the Camels, his 14th of the season.
RISSER MAKES SUCCESSFUL RETURN: Junior Travis Risser (Palmyra, Pa./James Madison) made his first appearance in over a month in the Liberty series. Risser struck out two and allowed only one hit and one walk in Coastal’s 6-4 loss April 22. He then allowed only two hits and struck out one while picking up the win in an 8-6 extra-inning victory over the Flames. Risser picked up his third win, going the last 4.2 innings in a 6-4 win over VMI May 8.
FREE BASEBALL vs. THE FLAMES: Coastal was on both ends of extra-inning games versus Liberty April 23-24. The Chants defeated the Flames 8-6 in 10 innings on a run-scoring triple from freshman David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Graham). Coastal then gave up two runs in the 12th inning to fall 4-3 April 24. Coastal is now 4-3 this season in extra-inning games.
RABER, SAPPELT RAKE AGAINST LIBERTY: Freshman David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Graham) and junior Chris Raber (Coplay, Pa./Whitehall) each had multi-hit games in all three contests against Liberty April 22-24. Raber hit .500 on the weekend with a double and an RBI, while Sappelt had nine hits in 15 at-bats, which included a triple, a home run and six RBI.
FLEET NAMED BIG SOUTH PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Coastal Carolina University baseball freshman Austin Fleet (Edmond, Okla./Santa Fe) has been named the Big South Conference’s New Balance Pitcher of the Week, the League announced April 18.
Fleet had a hand in both Coastal victories this past week. The freshman went five innings, allowing only three hits and a run while striking out six Camels in an 11-1 win. He then had a no-decision against Birmingham-Southern, but went eight-plus innings, allowing only five hits and four runs, while striking out a career high 10 Panthers. That strikeout total also is a season high for a Coastal pitcher. Coastal won the game 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. On the year, Fleet is 4-2 with a 3.39 earned-run average and leads the team with 53 strikeouts.
SALMON DELIVERS WIN OVER RANKED OPPONENT: Senior Kevin Salmon (Brentwood, N.Y./Briarcliffe C.C.) earned his second win of the season in a 10-3 win over the 17th-ranked College of Charleston April 18. Salmon pitched six-plus innings, striking out three and giving up six hits and two earned runs against a team that was hitting .341 going into the game. Salmon now has 11 strikeouts in 15 career innings against the Cougars.
COASTAL BROUGHT OUT BATS vs. BSC: Coastal Carolina hit .368 as a team in the three-game series against Birmingham-Southern April 14-15. Junior Adam Vrable (Bay City, Mich./Grand Rapids C.C.) was 5-for-10 with a double while classmate Brant Peacher (Milton, Fla./Florida State) drove in four runs. Coastal bumped its season average from .275 to .283 after the weekend.
MORE LAST AT-BAT HEROICS: Coastal won its fifth game in its last at-bat in a 7-6 win over Birmingham-Southern April 15. Sophomore Tommy Baldridge’s (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) sacrifice fly to left brought home senior DJ Burns (Lynn, Mass./Chandler Gilbert J.C.) with the winning run after the Panthers scored two in the top of the ninth to tie it. It was Baldridge’s second career last at-bat RBI, as he brought in the winning run April 10, 2004, in a 7-6 win over Radford.
CHANTS GET HEALTHY BEHIND THE PLATE: Junior Matt Rademacher (Bay City, Mich./Michigan) made his first start of the season in Coastal’s 11-1 win over Campbell April 11. He went 1-for-2 at the plate and threw out a runner trying to steal in the first. Coastal now has three catchers that have received playing time this year, as Rademacher joins senior Mike Fuentes (Miami, Fla./North Florida C.C.), who is hitting .274 with 23 RBI, and junior Josh Eachues (Newberry, S.C./Newberry), who is batting .276 on the year.
SUTTON WALKS OFF WIN: Junior Matt Sutton (La Grange, N.C./UNC Wilmington) blasted a walk-off two-run home run to give Coastal a 14-13 win over Winthrop April 9. It was CCU’s first walk-off home run since senior Aaron Verrett (Jupiter, Fla./Polk C.C.) did it to the Eagles in the 2005 Big South Tournament. Sutton also has helped the Chants win two other games with his longball. He tied the game at three in the bottom of the ninth in the 4-3 win over VCU and tied the game in the eighth that Coastal went on to win 5-4 over Savannah State.
BIG SOUTH SERIES STREAK OVER: Coastal Carolina had its Big South series streak snapped at 16 as Winthrop took 2-of-3 from the Chants. The last time that Coastal had lost a series was when Winthrop took 2-of-3 from the Chants April 2-4, 2004.
DEJA VU FOR MARIOTTI: The ninth inning of the Georgia Southern and Wake Forest games have had a similar tone for junior John Mariotti (Toronto, Ontario/Gulf Coast C.C.). The junior has hit for himself in the top of the ninth inning in the games against the Eagles and Demon Deacons, respectively. Both times, Mariotti hit the first pitch for a home run and both times he earned the save on the mound in the bottom of the ninth. The home run against Wake Forest proved to be big, as the Demon Deacons scored one in the bottom of the ninth, but Mariotti induced a groundout for a 6-5 win.
ANDERSON SEEING DOUBLE DUTY AS WELL: Freshman David Anderson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll) excelled both on the mound and at the plate in the 6-5 win over Wake Forest April 4. Anderson went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. He also earned the win on the mound, pitching 1.1 innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.
FORMER CCU STARS ON MINOR LEAGUE ROSTERS: As opening day starts in Major League Baseball, many organizations are announcing roster for its minor league affiliates, and many former Coastal players have landed spots on the opening day roster. Adam Keim, in the Kansas City Royals organization, will start in Double-A for the Wichita Wranglers of the Texas League. Justin Sturge, a member of the Boston Red Sox organization, will start with the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League. Byron Binda, a member of the Colorado Rockies organization, will start with the Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League. Michael DeJesus, a member of the Cincinnati Reds organization, will open with the Dayton Dragons of the Midwest League. Mike Costanzo, a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization, will start with Clearwater of the Florida State League. Brandon Powell, a member of the Washington Nationals organization, will start with Potomac of the Carolina League. Ricky Shefka also is a member of the Washington Nationals organization and is playing for the Savannah Sand Gnats of the South Atlantic League.
SAPPELT NAMED BIG SOUTH CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Coastal Carolina University baseball freshman David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Graham) has been selected as the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Baseball Co-Player of the Week, the League office announced March 27. Sappelt shared the honor with Winthrop’s Chris Carrara.
Sappelt enjoyed a breakout week in helping the Chanticleers to a 3-2 record in five games with a .556 batting average. The freshman had three hits, including a home run and the game-winning single in the 10th, in Coastal’s 5-4 win over Savannah State. He then had his second home run in as many games in the series opener against Charleston Southern. Sappelt wrapped up the week with four hits in the series finale against the Bucs to finish with a .545 clip (6-11) against CSU. On the week, Sappelt was 10-18 with five runs scored, five RBI, two home runs, one triple, two walks, a .600 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
SAPPELT SHOWCASES SKILLS IN SAVANNAH STATE WIN: Freshman David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Graham) went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI in the 5-4 win over Savannah State March 22. Sappelt had three of Coastal’s four hits, including his first home run of the year and the game-winning hit in the 10th inning.
COASTAL IMPRESSIVE ON THE BUMP VS. SSU: Coastal Carolina’s 5-4 win over Savannah State March 22 was highlighted by the success of its three pitchers. The trio struck out 12 and allowed no earned runs and seven hits in the win. Sophomore Donnie Presley (Leesburg, Va./Notre Dame Academy) struck out six in four innings.
BORTNICK THE HERO IN THE HIGH POINT OPENER: Freshman Tyler Bortnick (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) hit a two-out, game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth in the 5-4 defeat of High Point March 17. It was Bortnick’s first collegiate at-bat after he came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth.
WHAT A WEEKEND FOR MARIOTTI: Junior John Mariotti (Toronto, Ontario/Gulf Coast C.C.) earned a start at designated hitter March 10 in South Alabama and did not disappoint. The junior went 5-for-10 with three doubles, a triple, a home runs and eight RBI in the three games. Mariotti ended the weekend with a 1.182 slugging percentage, a .625 on-base percentage and earned the win on the mound in the 17-13 defeat of Georgia Southern March 12.
OVER-20 CROWD: Coastal Carolina belted 21 hits in its 17-13 win over Georgia Southern March 12. Eleven of those hits were for extra bases, including home runs by senior Mike Fuentes (Miami, Fla./North Florida C.C.), junior Brant Peacher (Milton, Fla./Florida State) and junior John Mariotti (Toronto, Ontario/Gulf Coast C.C.). Peacher was 4-for-5 with three RBI while Mariotti was 3-for-4 with five RBI. Junior Dom Duggan (Cranberry Twp., Pa./John Carroll) and freshman David Anderson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll) also had three hits apiece.
MARRIE GOES THE DISTANCE IN WIN: Junior Kevin Marrie (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) pitched a complete game five hitter in Coastal’s 8-1 win over West Virginia March 5. Marrie threw only 100 pitches and induced 14 groundouts while improving his record to 2-1 and lowering his earned-run-average to 1.06. He threw Coastal’s second complete game of the season, the first coming Feb. 18 against Pittsburgh by classmate Andy DeLaGarza (Ossian, Ind./Norwell).
COMEBACK KIDS IN WIN OVER VCU: Coastal Carolina had clutch hitting in the late innings to defeat Virginia Commonwealth 4-3 in 10 innings Feb. 24 at the Baseball at the Beach Tournament. Junior Matt Sutton (La Grange, N.C./UNC Wilmington) hit a two-out, two-run home run to tie the game at three. It was Sutton’s fourth home run of the season. Senior Aaron Verrett (Jupiter, Fla./Polk C.C.) then won it with a single to center, scoring sophomore Derek Martin (Barnwell, S.C./Barnwell). It was Coastal’s first last at-bat victory since Verrett hit a walk-off home run in the first championship game of the Big South Tournament in a 4-3 win over Winthrop.
SUTTON HAS POWER SURGE: Junior Matt Sutton (La Grange, N.C./UNC Wilmington) hit three home runs in the IMIChotels.com INN-vitational, including two bombs in Coastal’s 22-6 win over George Mason Feb. 19. Sutton has a .531 slugging percentage and leads the team with 37 runs-batted-in.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST VS. GEORGE MASON: Coastal put across 22 runs in its 22-6 win over George Mason Feb. 19. That run outburst was more than the Chanticleers had scored in their first five games. Coastal has not scored that many runs since a 22-7 win over North Carolina A & T Feb. 7, 1999. The Chants put up 16 of the 22 runs in the first two innings.
CAREER PERFORMANCES VS. THE PATRIOTS: Freshman David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C./Graham) had six RBI in the win over George Mason. The RBI total is the most in a single game by a Chant since Mike Costanzo drove in seven runs April 4, 2004... The six runs Coastal scored in the first were the most by CCU in a first inning since it score seven runs against George Mason March 13, 2004... The 10-run second inning was the most runs scored in a single inning by Coastal since the Chants put up 11 in the fourth inning in a 14-0 win over Rider Feb. 27, 2005.
CHANTS BACK ON TRACK FOR OPENERS:Coastal restarted a winning trend in opening day games with its 9-0 win over Campbell Feb. 10. Coastal is now 19-12 all-time in season openers and improved to 2-2 in openers against the Fighting Camels. Junior Kevin Marrie (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) paced the Chants, going seven innings on the mound, giving up four hits and striking out six. Marrie did not allow an earned run nor a walk in the win. The win also was the first shutout by Coastal on opening day since CCU defeated Voorhees 14-0 Feb. 28, 1981.
FUENTES THROWS WAY TO RARE FEAT: Senior catcher Mike Fuentes (Miami, Fla./North Florida C.C.) assisted on all three outs in the third inning of Coastal’s 8-3 loss to Virginia Feb. 12. He caught the Cavalier’s Greg Miclat, Mike Mitchell and Brandon Marsh trying to steal second. Fuentes threw out nine runners trying to steal in 2005.
DRAFT DODGERS: Coastal has four players on its roster that were taken in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Junior Andy DeLaGarza (Ossian, Ind./Norwell) was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 2003 Draft. Junior John Marriotti (Toronto, Ontario/Gulf Coast C.C.) was a two-time selection by the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim and freshman Austin Fleet (Edmond, Okla./Santa Fe) was taken in this past summer’s draft by the Atlanta Braves.
DUGGAN, DELAGARZA, VALTER EARN PRESEASON HONORS IN BIG SOUTH PREVIEWS: Junior Dom Duggan (Cranberry Twp., Pa./John Carroll) was named to Baseball America’s All-Big South team, while Duggan, junior Andy DeLaGarza (Ossian, Ind./Norwell) and senior Mike Valter (Bloomingdale, N.J./Briarcliffe C.C.) were selected to the preseason All-Big South team by the website SoutheasternBaseball.com, the publication and the website announced recently. Both publications also picked Coastal to finish second behind Winthop in the Big South standings.
DUO NAMED TO ALL-STATE TEAM BY SEBASEBALL.COM: Coastal Carolina University junior baseball players Andy De La Garza (Ossian, Ind./Norwell) and Dom Duggan (Cranberry Twp., Pa./John Carroll) were named to the All-South Carolina Team by SoutheasternBaseball.com, the website announced recently. DeLaGarza was one of four starting pitchers named, while Duggan was one of four outfielders selected.
