With the Big South Conference Baseball Tournament starting this week we are going to take a quick look at all eight teams in the tourney, make some bold predictions, and give you a chance to let us know how you think the tournament will play out.
Liberty and High Point kick things off Tuesday, May 24, at 9:30am down in Lexington, South Carolina. The double elimination tournament is headlined by top seeded and nationally ranked (21/23) Coastal Carolina. Here’s the link to the official schedule and bracket from the Big South Conference.
When the Big South regular season ended last week three teams were tied for 2nd place, and three were tied for for 5th just two games behind the second place teams. We know that Coastal Carolina is really good, Radford isn’t, and that every team seeded from 2 to 7 has a shot at finding their way into the championship game at noon Saturday, May 28, on ESPNU. This would seem to set us up for a wild and crazy tournament.
Here’s a look at each team and their top performers:
- Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (40-15, 21-3 BSC, 12-8 Away, Last 10: 9-1)
Coastal comes into the tournament as the favorite to win it all. They dominated Big South play and any team that has any thought of winning the tournament will likely have to get through Coastal first. They are the best overall team in the tournament. The Chanticleers are 35-6 when holding their opponent to 5 or fewer runs.
Coastal leads the conference in homeruns, batting average, hits, RBI’s, runs, ERA, and strikeouts. The only way Coastal Carolina loses this tournament is if they somehow overlook every team they face.
Batting Average Leader: Connor Owings (.405)
Home Run Leader: Zach Remillard (16)
RBI Leader: Zach Remillard (59)
Pitcher to watch: Mike Morrison (6-1, 0.98 ERA, 46 innings pitched, 6 saves)
- High Point Panthers (31-22, 14-10 BSC, 6-6 Away, Last 10: 5-5)
High Point comes into the tournament with the third best ERA (4.43) and third in strikeouts with 423. If the Panthers have a shot at winning the whole tournament then it will be their pitching that carries them.
Batting Average Leader: Chris Clare (.363)
Home Run Leader: Carson Jackson (6)
RBI Leader: Dominic Fazio (39)
Pitcher to watch: Andrew Gottfried (6-4, 2.66 ERA, batting average against .239)
- Longwood Lancers (30-25, 14-10 BSC, 9-18 Away, Last 10: 5-5)
The Lancers, who went 1-2 against Coastal on the year, are led by junior third baseman Alex Lewis in all major batting statistical categories. If they plan on making a long run in the tournament Lewis will need help jump starting a less than impressive Lancer offense.
Batting Average Leader: Alex Lewis (.353)
Home Run Leader: Alex Lewis (4)
RBI Leader: Alex Lewis (43)
Pitcher to watch: Travis Burnette (7-1, 2.21 ERA, Batting Average Against .211)
- Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs (36-19, 14-10 BSC, 7-13 Away, Last 10: 6-4)
Gardner-Webb has won 5 of their last 6 games and might just be this tournaments’ dark horse. Their offense ranks in the top half of the conference and they bolster the second best pitching staff.
Batting Average Leader: Collin Thacker (.394)
Home Run Leader: Danny Sullivan (8)
RBI Leader: Collin Thacker (45)
Pitcher to watch: Brad Haymes (10-3, 2.30 ERA, 109 SO/101.2IP)
- Presbyterian (27-28, 12-12 BSC, 7-15 Away, Last 10: 4-6)
The Blue Hose make their first ever appearance in the conference tournament, but I wouldn’t expect them to make it very far this year. Their pitching staff is 8th in the conference in ERA (4.95) and their offense has been mediocre at best. If the Blue Hose can pick up at least one win in the tournament I would consider it a success.
Batting Average Leader: Tyler Weyenberg (.357)
Home Run Leader: Weston Jackson (10)
RBI Leader: Weston Jackson (54)
Pitcher to watch: Brian Kehner (5-6, 2.97 ERA, 73 hits/88 innings pitched)
- Winthrop Eagles (27-25, 12-12 BSC, 10-15 Away, Last 10: 5-5)
Winthrop stumbled into the the conference tournament losing their last two series of the year to Longwood and Gardner-Webb. The Eagles will face a tough task in trying to get their tournament started with a win against a Longwood team that outscored them 20-8 during the regular season.
Batting Average Leader: Anthony Paulson (.351)
Home Run Leader: Roger Gonzalez (6)
RBI Leader: Roger Gonzalez (41)
Pitcher to watch: Sam Kmiec (6-5, 3.26 ERA, 31 ER/85.2 IP)
- Liberty Flames (28-27, 12-12 BSC, 7-15 Away, Last 10: 6-4)
There is no doubt that Liberty has the “potential” to make a run in this tournament. The problem is that we have heard about the Flames potential all year long and the team has failed to live up to it. For me though, the Flames success will come down to whether or not their pitching staff can perform better than they have all season.
Liberty ranks 10th out of 11 teams in staff ERA at 5.53 runs per game. That won’t get the job done, even with an offense that ranks top 3 in the conference in homeruns, hits, RBI’s, and batting average.
Batting Average Leader: D.J. Artis (.379)
Home Run Leader: Andrew Yacyk/ Will Shepherd (Tied at 7)
RBI Leader: Andrew Yacyk (48)
Pitcher to watch: Evan Mitchell (2-4, 3.80 ERA, .247 Batting Average Against)
- Radford (17-37, 9-15 BSC, 5-23 Away, Last 10: 3-7)
This is a totally different team than the one that won it all last year. The only way the Highlanders get to the championship game Saturday is if they can bring back everyone they lost from last year and hope they are still in game shape.
Batting Average Leader: Danny Hrbek (.329)
Home Run Leader: Trevor Riggs (8)
RBI Leader: Danny Hrbek (29)
Pitcher to watch: Zack Ridgely – LHP (4-6, 3.24 ERA, 66 SO/91 IP)
Predictions:
Liberty will win 2-3 games before their pitching struggles end their lackluster season in disappointing fashion.
Championship Matchup:
Coastal Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb
Winner:
Coastal Carolina
What do you think? What are your expectations for the Flames in the tournament? Let us know in the comment section below!
Stay tuned for updates throughout the tournament!
