CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina team softball returns this weekend to St. John Stadium to host the South Alabama Jaguars, March 19-21, for a three-game series.

Coastal Carolina comes into the weekend 7-9 overall and 1-2 in Sun Belt play as they look to continue to improve on their six-game winning streak over the Jaguars.

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Chanticleers will be at home in the friendly confines of St. John Stadium where they have spent 28 of 39 games over the past two seasons.
• Coastal has a record of 5-3 home record this season, including winning the last three of a four game over the Lipscomb Bisons. (Feb. 26-28)
• CCU is batting .297 in eight games at home compared to .220 six games on the road this season.
• The Chants pitching staff has an ERA of 3.38 in eight games at home compared to 4.75 ERA in six games on the road this season.

LOOKIN' BACK

• Last weekend in the series with the ULM Warhawks in Monroe, La., CCU went 1-2 as they opened up the weekend, getting swept in Saturday's doubleheader by the scores of 6-3 and 8-4.
• The Chanticleers picked up their lone win in the series on Sunday, March 14, the series finale, in a 2-0 victory behind the efforts of senior pitcher Kaitlin Beasley-Polko's 2-0 shutout

MASHING MAKIYA

• Tacoma, Wash., native Makiya Thomas has hit safely in 12 of the 16 Chanticleer games this season.
• Thomas is 14th in the conference with a .365 batting average and 17th with a .407 slugging percentage.
• The senior has hit safely in four of the last six games .455 (10-for-22) with five RBI and two doubles in that span.
• Thomas is leading the team in virtually every offensive category, including; batting average (.365), slugging percentage (.596), at-bats (52), hits(19), multi-hit games (6), multi-RBI games tied (3), runs scored (11), doubles (6), home runs tied (2), total bases (31), and stolen bases (7).
• The left-handed batter is one of two Chanticleers to be selected to the 2021 preseason All-Sun Belt team.

MOVING UP IN HISTORY

• Senior Kaitlin Beasley-Polko collected her 44th career win on March 14 versus UL Monroe as she pitched a complete game, two-hit shut out.   In the victory, she passed Ashley Frederick ('10) for eighth all-time in the 2-0 win.
• In the game versus ULM, the senior pitched seven innings, allowing just two hits. It was the sixth time in Beasley-Polko's career she has accomplished the feat.

STEADY ABBEY

• Junior infielder Abbey Montoya was inserted into the Chanticleer starting lineup versus ULM  and went 4-for-8 in the series with a home run and a RBI in the three-game set.
• Over her last seven games, the CCU shortstop has batted .400 (8-for-20) with a home run, two RBI, and three runs scored.
• On the season Montoya is batting .333 (10-for-30) with a triple, a double, and a home run with four runs scored.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

• The Jaguars come into the second conference weekend of the season with a 13-8 overall record including a clean sweep of the Appalachian State last weekend at home in Mobile, Ala.
• Freshman pitcher Olivia Lackie is coming off two starts where she pitched her first career no-hitter and followed it up with a one-hitter with a total of 31 strikeouts in two games over the Mountaineers.
• On March 7, Lackie knocked off then undefeated, No. 2 Alabama with a complete game, three-hit performance with six strikeouts.
• Offensively, South Alabama is hitting a combined .268 as a team and have three players hitting over .300. Abby Krzywiecki leads the team with a .406 batting average. Veteran Kamdyn Kvistad leads the team in both RBI (12) and home runs (5).

HISTORY AGAINST

• The series dates back to 2009,  but the last nine games have been played since 2017 when Coastal joined the Sun Belt Conference.
• Coastal holds the all-time series advantage, 6-5, and won the the last  five meetings.
• The last series played against each other occured in 2019 as the Chants won three games to none. Stavi Augur sealed the final game of the three-game series with her first career grandslam in the top of the sixth off USA reliever Brittani Reid.
• In the sweep two seasons ago, Courtney Dean led the Chanticleers offense in the series as she batted .429 (3-for-7) with a home run, three RBI, and four walks.
• Pitcher Kaitlin Beasley-Polko pitched in each of the three games in the sweep. The then-sophomore got two starts and a relief appearance in the series against the Jags and tallied two wins, 15.1 innings, allowed seven earned runs with 14 strikeouts and earned a save.

The three-game set was set for  two days, March 20-21, but was changed earlier in the week and now will be played over a span of three days, starting on Friday, March 19 at 4 p.m. ET.

For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (Twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers(Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina.