March 8, 2011

CONWAY - Due to inclement weather expected in Winston-Salem, N.C., Wednesday, the baseball game between #24 Coastal Carolina and Wake Forest has been changed. The two teams will now meet on Wednesday (Mar. 9) in Conway with first pitch at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field set for 4 pm.

Coastal Carolina 2011 baseball season ticket holders will be admitted for free via a pass list generated by the Department of Athletics at the gate. Students will also be admitted for free with a valid Coastal Carolina Student ID.

Coastal Carolina Baseball Notes (vs. Wake Forest) in PDF Format

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Chants vs. Demon Deacons
Coastal Carolina has won four straight in its series with Wake Forest giving the Chants a 14-13 advantage all-time. Last year, Coastal won in Winston-Salem 2-0, and claimed a 9-4 decision in Conway. In the first meeting, Jim Birmingham picked up the win, allowing one hit over five innings, and Daniel Bowman hit a solo home run. Josh Conway also pitched two innings, allowing no hits with a strike out. In the second meeting, Coastal scored four in the seventh and four in the eighth to claim the 9- win. Ryan Connolly got the win in relief, striking out one in 1.2 innings. Tommy La Stella was 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Coastal Moves Up to 24th
After winning three straight, including a big win at nationally-ranked College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina baseball's program moved up three spots to 24th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. The Chants have now been ranked in at least one of the four major college baseball polls for 71 consecutive ranking periods.

Conway Honored by Big South
Josh Conway was named the Crons Brand Big South Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 8). Conway was dominant in a win versus offensive power College of Charleston, who entered with a .316 team batting average and being struck out just 6.6 times per game. The sophomore struck out a career-high 12 batters in 5.2 innings, allowing just four hits, two runs (two solo home runs) and two walks. After giving up a one-out, solo home run in the third, Conway struck out the next seven batters faced (striking out the side in the fourth). Overall after the home run, Conway sat down 10 straight Cougars, including a total of nine by strike out. The last time a CCU pitcher struck out 12 was Cody Wheeler last season in 7.0 innings versus Charleston Southern with the only pitcher with more in recent history was Steven Carter fanning 13 versus Winthrop in 2004. Conway struck out eight of the nine Cougars in the lineup at least once. Conway, who also served as the DH, went 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored then played third base the last two innings in the win. For the week, Conway had a hit in all three games as the DH, playing third as a late-inning defensive replacement twice. In Conway's last two outings as a starter (vs Kansas State Feb. 24 and at College of Charleston Mar. 2), he has pitched 11 innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned) and four walks with 19 strike outs.

Who Ya Gonna Call?
With the recent success in the CCU bullpen, there is still little doubt who will be called upon in the toughest of circumstances .... senior Matt Rein. Rein ranks sixth in Coastal Carolina history with 78 career appearances on the mound and is 13-2 with a 3.42 ERA and five saves. In 126.1 innings, he has walked just 46 and struck out 105. While those numbers are impressive, Rein biggest strength is stranding inherited runners. This year, only one of Rein's eight inherited runners has scored, that coming in his first outing (versus Tennessee Tech, a game which he got the win in relief). For his career, Rein has inherited 71 runners and only 27 have scored (2011: 8-1, 2010: 17-11, 2009: 31-7 and 2008: 15-8)

Connolly is Call-Worthy Too
Sophomore Ryan Connolly had a tough first outing out of the bullpen, allowing all three of his inherited runners to score in the Boston College win. However, since then, neither of his two inherited runners have scored. Last season, Connolly set a CCU record with 40 appearances and he leads the team with six appearances this season. In addition to setting a CCU record for games, only 10 of his 41 inherited runners scored.

Woodward Back at It
After ranking second in the NCAA in stolen bases last season, the senior is on his way to ranking high among the national leaders again in 2011, stealing 10-of-11 bases this season. (His only "caught stealing" came when he was back-picked at second and attempted to take third.) Woodward, who started the season with a five-game hitting streak, has a four-game hit streak going and is 6-of-14 over the span, raising his season average to a team-high .333. Woodward also has eight walks and been hit by eight pitches to post an on-base percentage of .500. He has also scored a career-high 12 runs.

Witten Wants to Dance With Somebody
Rich Witten was mired in a early-season slump, going 4-for-35 (.114) through his first nine games. Looking to change his luck, Witten secretly changed his walk-up song to "I Want to Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston. That game, he went 3-for-3 with five RBI and a runs scored to account for six of CCU's 11 runs over Ball State. He followed that by going 1-for-2 with an RBI, two walks and his first career stolen base in the 4-2 win over Marshall. On Monday, Witten was 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the 10-2 win over Ball State. Witten did get a hit versus North Carolina State and at the College of Charleston as part of his 4-for-35 start and now owns a five-game hit streak.

Hayes Streaking Too
Senior left fielder Hayes Orton is also riding a career-long, five-game hit streak, going 8-of-19 (.421) since the North Carolina State game. (In fact, Hayes had two of CCU's five hits versus the Wolfpack - both hits were doubles.) Also during the five-game hit streak, Orton has stolen three bases and scored five runs. This season, Orton leads the team with six multi-hit games. Orton started the season off in dramatic fashion, hitting a walk-off three-run, home run in the season opener.

Bowman Moves Up HR List
With his two home runs at College of Charleston, Daniel Bowman now has 30 round-trippers in just over two years as a Chanticleer and moved into eighth spot on the CCU career home run list, tying then passing All-American catcher Jose Iglesias along the way. Bowman is one blast way from moving into seventh. The Coastal Carolina record is 50 home runs, set by David Anderson.