College of Charleston (35-16, 17-10 SoCon)
at
No. 17 Clemson (34-17, 16-11 ACC)
May 12, 2009 • Doug Kingsmore Stadium (6,217) • 6:30
• Clemson
The Cougars conclude their 2009 out-of-conference ledger with a matchup at instate rival Clemson on Tuesday night ... first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium ... fans are reminded that the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 910-AM in the Charleston area and at CofCsports.com.
• Scouting the Opposition
Clemson, ranked #17 in the nation, took two of three from UNC Wilmington over the weekend ... the Tigers took games on Friday (13-2) and Saturday (11-3) before falling in the Sunday's series finale 4-3 ... the Tigers play a makeup contest against Furman at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. on Monday afternoon before returning home to face the Cougars on Tuesday ... all-time Clemson leads the series over CofC 14-0 and took two meeting from the Cougars in 2008 (7-6, 12-6).
• Cougars Sweep Wofford
Over the weekend, Charleston swept conference opponent Wofford in a three-game set on the road ... the Cougars took game one 18-2, game two 24-7 and game three 5-0 ... the Cougars were led at the plate by Joey Bergman, who hit a whopping .615 in the three-game set with three home runs and six RBI.
• CofC Sweeps Weekly SoCon Honors
Bergman and starting pitcher David Peterson were named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week on Monday ... Bergman hit .632 in five games last week with four homers and 12 RBI to lead the Cougars to a 5-0 week ... Peterson tossed a complete game shutout at Wofford on Sunday to cap a three-game sweep of the Terriers ... he allowed just four hits and struck out four in the win, while only walking two to improve to 7-2 on the season.
• Starters Stepping Up
CofC starting pitchers posted a 5-0 record with a 2.29 ERA last week... starters worked 35.1 innings, allowed 27 hits, nine runs with nine walks and 28 Ks ... opponents hit just .203 against CofC starters ...
• We're Going Streaking
Over the past 13 games, the Cougars have posted some impressive streaks, both as a team and individually..
- With the sweep of Wofford, Charleston has won 10 games in a row and 12 of their last 13 overall.
- Bergman is riding an 14-game hitting streak into Tuesday night's Clemson game ... he's had at least two hits in 11 of the last 13 Charleston contests ... also Joash Brodin is on a seven game hitting streak.
• 100/100 Club
In the Davidson series, Charleston recorded its 100th stolen base of the season and against Charleston Southern hit their 100th home run of the year, thus becoming the first team in Charleston history to hit 100 homers and steal 100 bases in a season ... Brodin hit the 100th homer of the season in the bottom of the first inning in game one ... the Cougars are the third Southern Conference team in the history of the conference to accomplish the feat in a season, joining this year's Georgia Southern squad (114 HR, 108 SB's) and the 1997 Western Carolina squad (100 HR, 102 SB's)
• Bergman Watch
Bergman comes into the final four games of the regular season posting offensive numbers that could put the junior infielder into the all-time Charleston record books:
- He comes into the last week of the season batting .467, meaning that if the season ended today, Bergman would post the highest batting average in a season for a Cougar player (would surpass Brett Gardner's 2005 season in which he batted .447) ...
- Has scored 81 runs on the year ... is currently four runs short of Gardner's school record of 85 set in 2005.
- Has hit 22 doubles on the year, which places him just five doubles away from tying the school mark set by D.J. Wabick in 2005 (27).
• Catch McCord, If You Can
Outfielder Clay McCord has been tough to handle when he gets on base this season, as the senior is 27-for-30 in stolen base attempts ... the senior has also successfully stolen nine bases in a row and hasn't been caught stealing since April 19th against Appalachian State.
• Home Sweet Home
With the doubleheader sweep of Charleston Southern last Wednesday, the Cougars finished their 2009 regular season home schedule with a 22-5 record... this is the fewest losses a Charleston team has had at home since the Cougars earned NCAA Division I status in 1991-92 ... the team ended the year batting .369 in the stadium, smashing 58 home runs and recorded 279 RBI ... Bergman led all Charleston batters in the ballpark, with a .485 batting average, eight home runs and 28 RBI ... starting pitcher Jesse Simpson went a perfect 6-0 , with a 2.09 ERA ... he struck out 48 and only surrendered 12 walks ... all-time, the Cougars are 202-74 at Patriots Point (8th season), 91-38 in SoCon games.
• Continuing to Lead the SoCon
Charleston continues to lead the Southern Conference in almost every major offensive category this week. They include:
- Batting average (.358), slugging/hitting percentage (.620/.441), runs scored (536) hits (669), RBI (503), doubles (145) and sacrifice flies (43).
- Individually, Bergman leads the conference with a .467 average, runs scored with 81, hits with 93, on base pct. at .561 and doubles with 22 ... Mansilla leads the conference in home runs with 19 and is tied for the conference lead in sacrifice flies with seven, while Sizemore is second in the league in RBI with 70.
• Last Week
The Cougars went 5-0 ... Cougars hit .377 as a team and scored 62 runs ... were 11-of-14 in stolen bases ... Bergman scored 11 runs ... Ryan Daniels hit .526 with two homers and 10 RBI ... Mike Hentz hit .467, while McCord and Cole Rakar hit .412 ... Simpson improved to 9-2 in Charleston’s 18-2 win on Friday ... he blanked Wofford on just three hits over the first seven innings with eight strikeouts.
