CCU/Texas State Program

CONWAY – Coastal Carolina softball will return to Sun Belt Conference play as they take on the Texas State Bobcats this weekend at St. John Stadium in the battle for fourth-place.
 
Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers are coming off a five inning, 9-0 defeat from the North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday afternoon in Chapel Hill, dropping to 29-11 overall.
 
In the loss, the Chanticleers picked up two hits off UNC starter Brittany Pickett. Taylor Sweigart added a third inning single and Courtney Dean collected her 19^th extra base hit of the season with a lead-off, fourth-inning double.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, junior Kassidy Smith became the first Chanticleer in school history to win the Sun Belt Player of the Week in consecutive weeks as she continued her hot hitting at South Alabama that helped the Coastal squad to their 9-6 conference record.
 
Against the Jaguars, Smith compiled two home runs, a double, four runs batted in, and two walks.
 
Over the last two weeks of conference play, the Collinsville, Ill. native has hit .444 (8-for-18) with five home runs, nine runs batted in, and six walks.
 
Sophomore Kaitlin Beasley-Polko picked up two wins in the sweep of South Alabama, improving to 19-6 on the season.
 
The last time a CCU pitcher had won 19 games was Kelsey Dominik in 2016, and with one more win, the Leonardtown, Md. native will be the first since Chant to win 20 games since Kiana Quolas went 26-5 in 2014.
 
Dean continues to have a great season at the plate as the sophomore has stat line of .345 (39-for-113), 12 home runs, 33 runs batted in. Dean ranks in the top ten of three Sun Belt hitting categories; 1^st- 12 HR, 1^st- 33 RBI, 2^nd- .726 slugging percentage.
 
Texas State
Texas State comes into the weekend with a 21-17 record after picking up an 8-6 win at UT-San Antonio on Wednesday.
 
The Bobcats fell behind 4-3 going into the seventh inning, but were able to add six runs in the seventh as it was capped off by a bases loaded pinch hit, two-run double from freshman Cassie Valdez.
 
Megan King allowed four runs, three earned and improved to 13-4 on the season as she threw her tenth complete game of the year.
 
Last week in Sun Belt play, Texas State was able to earn a split with second-place Appalachian State Mountaineers at home in a weather shortened two game series.
 
King earned a game one win, with a five-hit, complete game shut for her fifth of the year. King got help from teammate Kennedy Cline's fourth-inning bases loaded two-run single for the only runs in the game between the two teams.
 
Christiana McDowell is second in the conference with a .402 batting average. The junior McDowell also sits in the top ten of five Sun Belt categories including; 5^th - .500, 6^th- 31 runs scored, 3^rd - 47 hits, 7^th - 22 walks, 4^th- 16 steals.
 
History
The Bobcats won in a sweep last season in San Marcos and hold 5-0 all-time edge on the Chanticleers. Kaitlin Beasley-Polko took two of those three losses, but went toe-to-toe with former Bobcat, Randi Rupp. The 2018 Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year defeated Beasley-Polko and Chants 1-0, on a bases loaded eighth-inning walk-off walk.
 
How To Follow
The Chants and Bobcats will be on ESPN+ on Friday and Saturday with start times set for 4:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively. The two will wrap up the series on Sunday at 12. Fans can also follow all three games on goccusports.com.
 
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSB(twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.