ne CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina team softball returns this weekend to St. John Stadium to host the Georgia Southern, April 9-10, for a Sun Belt Conference three-game series. All three games will be shown on ESPN+.

Coastal Carolina comes into the weekend 8-16 overall and 1-8 in Sun Belt play as they look break a three-game skid.

Health and safety protocols for attendance will remain in place to include, but not limited to:

• Admission to home games will be managed by a team list only and no tickets will be sold.
• Face coverings WILL BE required.
• Creation of "buffer" around the field and/or team areas (i.e. dugouts, bullpens).
• When concessions are available, cashless or touchless payment options (when applicable) will be available along with pre-packaged food and beverage options.
• Increased cleaning of high traffic areas during events.
• No printed gameday programs or rosters.

Coastal Carolina University and the Department of Athletics is committed to providing a safe environment for the enjoyment of our patrons that attend our home intercollegiate athletic events. Individuals that disregard health and safety protocols may be asked to leave.

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Chanticleers return to the friendly confines of St. John Stadium this weekend, April 9-10, after they spent the last two series on the road. Coastal has an overall record of 8-16 this season and 1-8 in conference play. At home, CCU is 5-6 overall while 0-3 in SBC play.
• Overall, CCU is batting .266 on the season season. In 11 home games, the Chants are batting .275 compared to .251 in eight games on the road this season. In three conference home games, the Chants are batting .211, opposed to .235 in six games away from Conway during conference play.
• Five players, including Makiya Thomas (.385), Peyton Rivas (.364), Mackenzie Beyer (.333), Iyanla De Jesus (.316), and Abbey Montoya (.304), have batted over .300 in Coastal's 11 home games this season.
• Senior Makiya Thomas leads the Chants' bats with a .385 (15-for-39) batting average, 10 RBI, five doubles, six stolen bases, and two home runs in 11 home games.
• The Chants pitching staff has an ERA of 4.76 in 11 home games compared to 4.73 ERA in 11 games on the road this season. In three conference home games, the Chants have an ERA of 7.37, opposed to 3.94 in six games away from Conway during that span.
• Senior Kaitlin Beasley-Polko leads the Chanticleer pitching staff with a 3.08 home earned run average in eight appearances.

LOOKIN' BACK

• Last weekend, April 1-2, Coastal played a three-game conference series at Texas State as it was swept by the Bobcats by the scores of 6-5, 5-1, and 3-2.
• A pair of three-run home runs by Bobcats' AriAnn Bell and Tara Oltmann was the difference in the game one, 6-5 loss.
• In game two, Texas State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, highlighted by a Cat Crenek home run in the 5-1 Bobcat win.
• Raelee Brabham came out of the bullpen in the second inning of game three and matched her longest outing of the season of 5.1 innings. The Moncks Corner, S.C., native gave up six hits and allowed two runs as Haleiigh McKay connected with a walk-off home run to seal the game in the 3-2 loss.

MASHING MAKIYA

• Tacoma, Wash., native Makiya Thomas has hit safely in 19 of the 24 Chanticleer games this season.
• Thomas is ninth in the conference with a .375 batting average, 22nd with a .575 slugging percentage, and 27th with a .403 on-base percentage.
• Currently, the CCU senior has a team-high seven-game hitting streak, .458 (11-for-24), added four doubles, stole four bases, and scored four runs during the streak.
• Thomas is leading the team in eight offensive categories, including; batting average (.375), on-base percentage (.409), at-bats (80), hits (30), multi-hit games (10), runs scored (15), doubles (15), total bases (46), and stolen bases (11).
• The left-handed batter is one of two Chanticleers to be selected to the 2021 preseason All-Sun Belt team.

RAE OF LIGHT

• Sophomore Raelee Brabham has started to turn it around in the circle after a mid-season slump that saw her ERA balloon to 8.10.
• Last weekend at Texas State, Brabham lowered her ERA to 6.43 as she pitched 9.1 innings, allowed 10 hits, three runs, three earned, four walks, six strikeouts in two appearances

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

• Georgia Southern is 7-17 overall and 0-8 in conference play. The Eagles have lost their last six games overall with series losses at  No. 16 Louisiana and Troy.
• Troy continued as a top-tier team in the league standings after sweeping three games from Georgia Southern last weekend. The Trojans took all three games by shutout scores, winning 5-0 in Friday's first contest of the series, then winning 4-0 and 9-0 in five innings in Saturday's doubleheader.
• The Trojans' Leanna Johnson hurled a two-hit shutout in Friday's win over the Eagles. Senior Allyssah Mullis collected both of the Eagles' hits in the contest.
• On Saturday, Troy's Brianna Bailey hurled a four-hit shutout in game one, and all four of the Trojans' runs came in the fourth inning. Bailee Wilson had two of the Eagles' four hits in the game.
• The second game of the doubleheader saw Troy score eight runs over the final three innings to clinch the sweep.

HISTORY AGAINST

• The series dates back to 1991.
• The Chanticleers hold a 15-14 all-time advantage. Both teams have won a series-high four straight games, with CCU winning four consecutive to start the series in 1991-96 while Georgia Southern added their four straight in 2016-17. The following season, in 2018, CCU won the season series in a 3-0 sweep, and in 2019 the Eagles earned a 2-1 regular-season series win, but Coastal Carolina evened the series, 2-2, with a 2-1 victory in first-round win at the Sun Belt softball tournament.
• In six career games versus Georgia Southern, senior Courtney Dean has batted .400 (8-20) with three extra-base hits, including two doubles, a triple, six RBI, a slugging percentage of .600. Senior Taylor Sweigart has batted .389 (7-for-18) in six career games with two extra-base hits, including a double and a home run with two RBI and a slugging percentage of .611.

The three-game set will kickoff on Friday, April 9, at 5 p.m. and will wrap up with a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitch for game one set for 1 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.