CONWAY, S.C. -  On Tuesday, May 11, the No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina softball teams begins its quest to the 2021 Sun Belt Softball Championship as they take on the No. 9 seed ULM Warhawks in the first round at the Troy Softball Complex in Troy, Ala at 11 a.m. ET.

The Chanticleers (21-23) and the Warhawks (16-30) squared off in the 2019 semifinals as CCU outlasted its opponent, 4-2 in nine innings.This season ULM holds the season edge on CCU as it took two of three games in Monroe, La. to begin Sun Belt season play.

A LONG WAY FROM HOME

• Coastal travels to Troy University for the 2021 Sun Belt Softball Championship tournament.
• Not technically a road series, but CCU has won its last six of eight road games. The Chanticleers recently took the series, 2-1 from App State last weekend in Boone, N.C. As a team, CCU batted .372 versus APP (21-for-94) with seven doubles, eight homers, and forced 10 walks. 
• CCU is batting .269 in 21 games at home compared to .300 in 23 road/neutral games this season. 
• Senior Makiya Thomas leads Chanticleers with a .405 (34-for-84) batting average and has racked up 14 RBI, 10 doubles, scored 16 times, five walks, and stole eight bases in 23 Coastal's road/neutral games. 
• Graduate Kayla Rosado is batting .357 (25-for-70) away from St. John Stadium this season with six doubles, two home runs, 13 walks, and 14 RBI in 23 road/neutral games. Rosado has hit safely in 16 of her 23 road/neutral contests this season. 
• The Chants' pitching staff has a 4.76 in 21 home games compared to a 4.25 ERA in 23 games on the road/neutral this season. 
• Senior Kaitlin Beasley-Polko leads the Chanticleer pitching staff with a 3.57 ERA on the road/neutral with 15 appearances this season.

 
ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS

• On Monday, Makiya Thomas and Kayla Rosado were announced as All-Sun Belt Conference second-team selections for CCU.
• Thomas leads the Chanticleers in seven offensive categories, including; batting average (.374), at-bats (155), runs (32), hits (58), doubles (15), total bases (87), and steals (14).
• The 2021 Preseason All-Sun Belt selection finished the regular season in the top 10 of seven conference offensive including; batting average (7th), at-bats (3rd), runs (3rd), hits (5th), doubles (2nd), total bats (5th), and steals (6th). 
• The Chanticleer outfielder hit safely in 35 of 44 games this season including, hit streaks of seven and eight games. 
• Rosado ranks first on the team with 29 RBI, 23 walks, five hit-by-pitches, a .474 on-base percentage, including reaching base safely in 25 of the 44 CCU games this season. 
• The Oradell, N.J., native saw her average dip below .260 earlier in the season but picked it up down the stretch to hit .362 on the season, good for second on the Chanticleers' team. Her resurgence with the stick gave her a team-high nine-game hitting streak and she ranks second on the team with 127 at-bats, 46 hits, eight doubles, eight home runs, 78 total bases, and a .614 slugging percentage. 
• The lefty bat ranks in the top 20 of 10 Sun Belt's offensive categories, including;  batting average (10th), hits (13th), home runs (T-9th), RBI (14th), total bases (14th), slugging percentage (8th), walks (4th), hit-by-pitches (5th), and on-base percentage (4th).

 
LOOKIN' BACK

• The Coastal Carolina softball team took two of three versus App State in Boone, N.C., last weekend to finish up the Sun Belt season in eight-place of the conference with a record of 9-15.
• The Chanticleers hit eight home runs in the three-game series led by freshman Riley Zana and junior Mackenzie Beyer with two long balls apiece. Zana hit her first two home runs of her career in the first game of the May 7 doubleheader.  Beyer had a homer in each of the two games on that same day that improved her season total to 11 on the season, second in the Sun Belt Conference. Also getting into the home run parade in the series was Taylor Sweigart (1), Courtney Dean (1), Kayla Rosado (1), and Makiya Thomas (1). 
• Senior Kaitlin Beasley-Polko earned her 10th victory of the season and first career one-hit complete-game victory in game two, where she struck out two batters while allowing just three base runners.
• Sophomore Raelee Brabham pitched in game one and started game three of the series, where she tallied 10.1 innings, allowed nine hits, three runs, two earned, and struck out nine.

 
HISTORY AT THE SBC TOURNAMENT

• The Chanticleers have a 4-3 overall record in two Sun Belt Tournament appearances.
• In its first-ever Sun Belt Conference Tournament, Coastal was knocked out on the first day of the 2017 tournament by UTA, 9-1. In the game, UTA was able to break open a 2-1 game in the bottom of the fourth inning using a CCU error, three hits, three walks, a passed ball, and two fielder's choice miscues to score seven runs, six unearned.
• In 2019, CCU's fortunes changed. Coastal Carolina entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and was knocked off their first three opponents, Georgia Southern, UTA, and Troy, before losing to No. 1 seed Louisiana with their first loss of the double-elimination format.
• The Chants needed nine innings to beat ULM the very next day, 4-2, to send them into their first-ever championship game versus Louisiana.  Ashley Guillette ('19) pitched nine innings, allowed four hits, gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out five Warhawks. The five, six, and seven hitters for the Chanticleers in the game had multiple hits. Adrienne Visintine led the Chants with three hits in the victory while Abbey Montoya and Chelsea D'Avilar had a pair.
• Thirty minutes after the conclusion of Chants' win over ULM, CCU was tested once again by the Ragin' Cajuns. Guillette pitched her second complete game of the day as she held Louisiana to five hits in six innings of work. It wasn't enough, as CCU lost 1-0. LA's Summer Ellyson matched Guillette in the game with seven innings pitched, allowed two hits while striking out seven Chanticleers. The game's only run was scored in the top of the first inning as Alyssa Dalton brought leadoff hitter Kara Gremillion around to score from second base.

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 at www.GoCCUsports.com.