Weekly Recap - April 6 - 12

Hopefully you all got a chance to relax and see some family as you celebrated the resurrection of our Lord over Easter weekend.

Many of the spring sports are already looking at their championship events. Tennis, Track & Field, and Women’s Golf will all begin their championship endeavors this week. The football team will also wrap up their spring drills with the annual spring game on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Before we get to those, we do want to look back on what happened last week.

Rhiannon Loebs finished eight overall in the only women’s golf tournament of the week, earning Big South Golfer of the Week honors in the process.

April 6-7 – Men’s Golf hosted the 2009 CSU Spring Invitational
In extremely windy and chilly conditions, the Bucs hosted their spring tournament at Coosaw Creek Country Club. Herve Gevers was the top finisher for CSU, tying for 10th overall, while Kelvin Day led the field with 37 pars over the course of the two-day tournament. It was an exciting tournament, though, as Campbell defeated the College of Charleston on the first playoff hole to win the team championship.

April 7-8 – Women’s Golf at Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate
CSU finished sixth overall, while Rhiannon Loebs finished eighth overall with a final score of 156. CSU finished ahead of fellow Big South members Gardner-Webb and High Point, who were also in the tournament. The finish helped CSU lock up the third seed in the upcoming Big South Conference Championships that start today (Monday, April 13).

April 7 – Tennis vs. Winthrop – L, 3-4
It came down to the doubles point, and CSU fell short as they dropped a hard-fought match to top-seed Winthrop. In the only match of the week, Olga Makhova, Brooke Pletcher and Marija Dzakovic took home victories in singles play, but the crucial doubles point went the way of Winthrop.

April 7 – Softball vs. USC Upstate – L, 1-2 / W, 8-0
It didn’t feel like softball weather outside, but the CSU softball team earned a mid-week split with USC Upstate, including a run-rule victory in game two of the double header. Senior Elaine Edwards led the charge for CSU with three hits and two RBI on the day while Jamie Wellons also had three hits, two runs and an RBI. Sondra Vetter got the victory in the pitcher’s circle for game two, pitching a complete game, striking out four in just five innings.

April 8 – Baseball @ The Citadel – L, 2-9
The Bucs gave up early runs, including at least one in each of the first four innings, and never could climb back into the game as they lost to the Bulldogs for the second time this season. They will try to get redemption tonight (Monday, April 13) in a late addition to the schedule. Mark Perry had two of the Bucs’ six hits to lead the way offensively for CSU. Patrick Dolan led off the fourth with a walk, and Nick Chinners and Tyler Thornburg had two straight singles to load the bases. Brandon Roberts and Blake Hunt were walked and hit by a pitch to score the runs.

April 8 – Track and Field @ USATF State Meet
Dionne Gibson and Brittney Greer swept the 100m dash as CSU went to a midweek event, hosted by South Carolina. Everyone that entered the meet for CSU finished in the top-10 in their respective event, including a runner-up finish by Tia Habersham in the hammer, and a third-place finish by Marie Doan in the shot put.

The men’s team carded five victories at the same meet, including a win in the 100m dash by freshman Javon Young. Levi Brooks flexed his muscle in the 400m dash, winning easily while the 4x400m relay team won their race. Freshman Dominique Riggins won the 400m hurdles, while Andrew King ran a personal best in the 1,500m run to win it in 4:10.74.

April 10-11 – Softball @ Winthrop – L, 3-11/L, 2-6/L, 4-5
Friday’s double header was cut to one game due to rain, with the back-to-back games moving to Saturday. All three went the way of the home-standing Eagles, including a heartbreaker in game three of the series. Looking to avoid the sweep, Gail Matsushima and Jamie Wellons put together back-to-back home runs, giving CSU a one-run lead in the top of the sixth inning. A walk-off homerun in the bottom of the seventh gave Winthrop the victory and the sweep over CSU.

April 11 – Baseball @ High Point – W, 21-4/ L, 7-14
The baseball team only got two games in, and they were about as different as could be. With everything going right for CSU in game one, they ran up a 21-4 victory. Patrick Dolan and Tom Burkett tied the school record with seven at-bats in the game, while Tyler Thornburg blasted a pair of homeruns to knock in a school-record eight RBIs. He also tied the school mark with five runs scored in a game. It was the most runs CSU has put up in a game since 2002, when they scored 28 against High Point.

Game two saw everything going right for the Panthers, as they scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. CSU did end up with four runs in the seventh, and finished the game with seven runs on 16 hits, making it a combined 28 runs on 37 hits for the series.

What’s coming up:
Monday-Wednesday - April 13 -15 – Women’s Golf @ Big South Championship
Monday, April 13 – Tennis @ College of Charleston – 2 p.m.
Monday, April 13 – Baseball @ The Citadel – 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 15 – Baseball @ Campbell – 2 p.m.
Wednesday, April 15 – Softball @ Georgia Southern (DH) – 3 / 5 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday, April 16-18 – Track & Field @ Big South Championships
Thursday-Saturday, April 16-18 – Tennis @ Big South Championship
Friday, April 17 – Baseball vs. Presbyterian – 2 p.m.
Friday, April 17 – Softball vs. Gardner-Webb (DH) – 2 / 4 p.m.
Saturday, April 18 – Football Spring Game – 11 a.m.
Saturday, April 18 – Baseball vs. Presbyterian (DH) – 11:30 a.m. / 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 18 – Softball vs. Gardner-Webb – 1 p.m.