Meo Named National Pitcher of the Week; Regional Preview
5/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 30, 2011
Clemson Baseball Website
CONWAY - After throwing the first no-hitter in Big South Tournament history, Coastal Carolina junior Anthony Meo was named one of three Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week as named by Collegiate Baseball. The publication also moved the Chanticleers up three spots to 21st in this week's poll. Coastal also returned to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association weekly poll at 29th after a two-week absence
Meo (Cranston, R.I.) retired the first 16 batters he faced en route to his first no-hitter, leading the Chants to a 5-0 win over Radford in the Big South Conference tournament. Meo struck out nine and walked one. It was the first no-hitter thrown by Coastal since Cody Wheeler beat Hawaii on the road during the 2009 season.
Also honored with the national award were Matt Summers (UC Irvine) and Trevor Bauer (UCLA).
Summers fired the fourth no-hitter in UC Irvine history during a 2-0, complete-game victory over Long Beach State. He struck out five and walked one.
Bauer hurled his eighth consecutive 9-inning complete game, striking out 14 batters, during a 7-0 win at Arizona St. It marked his third complete game shutout of the season and his ninth overall complete game of 2011. Bauer limited the Sun Devils to only five hits as he struck out the final four batters of the game.
Coastal Carolina, the number three seed at the NCAA Clemson Regional, will face #2 seed and 16th-ranked Connecticut on Friday. The Chants are 41-18 this season were the 2011 Big South regular-season and tournament champions. The Huskies are 41-17-1 and are the Big East's regular-season champion, going 22-5 in the league.
Both Coastal and UConn feature two of the best pitchers in the nation. Coastal's Meo is 9-3 with a 2.21 ERA, a .220 opponent batting average and 108 strike outs in 102.0 innings. The Huskies have Matt Barnes, who is 11-3 with a 1.12 ERA, a 1.62 opponent batting average and 105 K's in 112.1 innings.
Coastal Carolina will be making its 11th NCAA Regional appearance in school history, its fifth straight and 10th in the last 11 years. The only time the Chants failed to make the postseason came in 2006 when Coastal finished 30-27 and was third in the Big South. This will be the 17th overall NCAA Tournament appearance for the Huskies, including their second-straight, after making the tournament field in 2010 for the first time since the 1994 season.
Coastal and UConn have never met, but shared five common opponents this season, including Indiana, California, San Diego, College of Charleston and Notre Dame. Both Coastal and UConn lost to Indiana (2-1 in 16 innings and 3-1, respectively). The Chants lost to Cal, 17-1, while UConn beat the Bears 3-1. CCU beat San Diego 8-3 and 6-0, while UConn went 2-1 versus the Toreros (W 17-0, L 3-2 and W 4-0).Coastal (12-3) and UConn (3-1) both won at Patriots Point versus College of Charleston. Coastal played Notre Dame once, winning 4-3, while UConn went 3-1 against the Fighting Irish.
Rounding out the Regional will be host and top-seed Clemson (41-18) and fourth-seed Sacred Heart (34-21), who won the Northeast Conference tournament title to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Coastal and Clemson have faced each other this season (April 5) and UConn has played Sacred Heart in 2011, falling 5-4.
Coastal Carolina held a 4-3 lead through 8.1 innings, but #26 Clemson scored one in the ninth and one in the 10th to hand the Chanticleers a 5-4 loss at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In the bottom of the ninth and one out, Will Lamb tripled to left-center field and pinch hitter Dominic Attanasio doubled to left to bring home Lamb and tie the game at 4-4. After a ground out, Coastal intentionally walked Jeff Schaus to load the bases and force a right-right match up, which paid off when Ryan Connolly got Richie Shaffer to foul out and end the inning. In the 10th, Brad Miller had a lead-off single and Chris Epps was hit by a pitch. After CCU pitcher Jordan Coons recorded a strike out, a wild pitch moved the two runners up, forcing the Chants to intentionally walk Lamb to set up a force at any base. Pinch hitter Jon McGibbon singled to center, driving in Miller for the game winner.
2011 NCAA CLEMSON REGIONAL BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
JUNE 3-6, 2011 - DOUG KINGSMORE STADIUM, CLEMSON, S.C.
TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE FOR TV
Friday, June 3, 2011
Game 1 (#2 Connecticut vs. #3 Coastal Carolina) 3:00 p.m.
Game 2 (#1 Clemson vs. #4 Sacred Heart) 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Game 3 (Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2) 3:00 p.m.
Game 4 (Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2) 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Game 5 (Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4) 3:00 p.m.
Game 6 (Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5) 7:00 p.m.
Monday, June 6, 2011
(* If necessary) Game 7 (Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6) 7:00 p.m.
