CONWAY, S.C – The Coastal Carolina softball returns to non-conference play on Tuesday as they host in-state foe, the No. 16 South Carolina Gamecocks at St. John Stadium.
Game Day
Tuesday – South Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina (4 p.m. ET)
Lifetime versus South Carolina
The Gamecocks hold the all-time series lead with a 53-9 record. A season ago, South Carolina won the mid-week, non conference contest by the score of 7-4 in Columbia, S.C. In last ten games, the Gamecocks have a 8-2 advantage, but Coastal grabbed their two wins on Apr. 4, 2017 by the score of 3-2 and Mar. 7, 2012 by the score of 2-1, both at home at St. John Stadium.
A Glance at the Gamecocks
Louisiana fell to 15-6 overall as they lost two-of-three SEC games to No. 13 Georgia last weekend. The Gamecocks took game one by the score of 4-2, but then lost in back-to-back games, including a 11-3, five-inning loss in the rubber-game.
Lookin' back at the SBC Opening Weekend Versus No. 8 Louisiana
Coastal Carolina went 1-2 to start the opening weekend of conference play, including earning their first top 10 win in school history and the first top 25 win since beating No. 20 Louisiana on Mar 10, 2018.
They Got Her 700
The Chants were able to get Head Coach Kelley Green her 700th career win versus the Ragin' Cajuns on Friday night by the score of 7-1.
The Biggest of Big
On the same night Green got her 700th win, CCU earned the most significant victory in school history as they beat the No. 8 team (Louisiana) in the country, the first time a Coastal Carolina team had knocked off a top 10 team in the country.
Homerun to Success
On the season, when Coastal Carolina hits more than two home runs in a game, they are a perfect 7-0. The Chants hit four home runs on Friday night in the 7-1 win over the Ragin' Cajuns.
Fantastic Firsts
Freshmen Iyanla DeJesus and Mary Sobataka blasted back-to-back home runs for their first in their respective careers.
Awesome Ally
Ally Marcano entered into Friday's game in the third inning and pitched three scoreless frames with three strikeouts to earn her third win of the season. Marcano pitched 17.1 innings a year ago, but so far in 2020, the senior has worked 20.2 innings.
Delighful Dean
After a rough start to 2020, junior Courtney Dean has been slowly working her way back to being one of the best hitters on the Chanticleers team. On the season, Dean is batting .333 with seven RBI, six doubles, and a home run. The Indian Trail, N.C., native batted .429 (3-for-7) last weekend versus Louisiana with a double, home run, a walk, and a run scored.
Conference Leaders
As a team, Coastal Carolina continues to lead the conference with a .311 batting average. CCU has three batters in the top 5 of batting average in the Sun Belt and five in the top 21. Last season, Coastal Carolina had a team batting average of .246.
Leading the way for Coastal is junior transfer Makiya Thomas who is batting a league-best .462, followed by freshman Peyton Rivas (.481 - 4th), sophomore Abbey Montoya (.373 - 5th), junior Augur (.380 - 16th), and Dean (.333 - 21st).
Hitting with Runners in Scoring Position
Last week with runners in scoring position, the Chants batted .308 (4-for-13). On the season, Coastal is batting .293 (51-for-175) with runners on second and third.
Continued Tough Treading over the Next Week
After going 1-2 against No. 8 Louisiana (March 6-8) to start Sun Belt Conference play, the Chants will host a mid-week game with No. 15 South Carolina on March 10, then travel to Texas State weekend for a conference series action, and then return to St. John Stadium to host former National Champions, and No. 12 Florida State on March 17.
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.
