Returning to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for the first time since 2006, the College of Charleston baseball team watched the NCAA Selection Show Monday and found out that it is headed to the Myrtle Beach Regional this weekend hosted by top-seeded Coastal Carolina. Seeded second in the regional, the Cougars will take on No. 3 North Carolina State in the opening round of the double-elimination regional on Friday. All games will be held at BB&T Coastal Field and the game times have not yet been announced. Joining Charleston at the Regional is the host Chanticleers and No. 4 Stony Brook, the America East Conference champions.
The Cougars have an overall record of 42-17, after going 1-2 in the Southern Conference Tournament last weekend. Charleston is led by the reigning SoCon Player of the Year sophomore 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla./American Heritage), who has 20 home runs and 81 RBI on the season. Junior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Wando) tops several offensive categories for the Cougars, including batting average (.369), hits (93), runs (69), doubles (26) and stolen bases (20).
The No. 4 National seed, Coastal won their fourth straight Big South Championship on Saturday with an 8-2 victory over Liberty. It was their Big-South record 51st victory of the season.
NC State earned an at-large bid after falling to Florida State in Atlantic Coast Conference championship game 8-3 on Sunday. The Wolfpack are 38-22 overall and finished 3rd in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 15-15 conference mark.
Stony Brook secured an automatic bid from the America East with its 4-2 victory over Albany on Friday.
