Weekly Recap - February 21 - 27

The men’s basketball regular season came to a close but that just means that March Madness is almost here. The 2011 Big South Men’s Basketball Championship begins on Tuesday so make sure you log on to www.BigSouthSports.com to get all the information or watch the tournament on the Big South Network, presented by State Farm. The women still have three regular season games remaining, all at home, so make sure you come out and support them down the stretch as they try to make a run going into the tournament.

Coming off his second-straight Big South Track Performer of the Year honor, Javon Young has been named this week’s CSU Athlete of the Week.

Young won the 60m and 200m dash events at the 2011 Big South Indoor Track and Field Championships at Clemson, and was also a member of the first-placed 4x400m relay team, scoring 30 points for the team. Young already ranks in the top-15 in the nation in the 60m dash and will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships for the second year in a row.

Also Nominated - Kelsey Wasmer (WBB), Jesse Cadenhead (Baseball), Erin Kegley (Softball), Michael Bailey (Men’s Track), Daisy Whitaker (Women’s Track), Jermal McClendon (Men’s Track), Olga Makhova (Women’s Tennis)

February 20-22 - W. Golf @ Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic – 24th
The Lady Bucs shot a consistent 315 in the final two rounds to finish 24th out of a huge and tough field at the 2011 Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic. The team shot 954 for the tournament and edged out fellow Big South teams Bucknell, Presbyterian and Winthrop, as well as the College of Charleston. Amanda D’Ostroph shot 233 for 56th place individually, while Katelyn Bensch carried her hole-in-one on the practice round into a 234 and a tie for 59th.

February 21 – WBB @ Presbyterian – W, 63-52
A game after exploding for 98 points and a Big South record 18 3’s, the CSU women’s basketball team found another way to win a game…defense. In a low-scoring affair, the Bucs held PC to just 52 points and kept themselves in the conversation for a fourth-place finish in the league. The game was just 20-18 at halftime, getting close to season-lows for points in a half for both teams. Lakeitha Alston had 18 points while Kelsey Wasmer had her seventh double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

February 22 – Baseball vs. Furman – W, 5-3
Nick Chinners and Derek Smith had the first two homers of the season for the Bucs and Brantley Meier scored twice for CSU as the Bucs got past Furman for the second win of the year, evening the record at 2-2. Anthony Markham earned the victory, despite coming into the game in relief. Corey Deighan finished the game out, striking out two batters in the ninth for his second save of the year.

February 22 – Softball @ College of Charleston, L, 6-3, L, 4-3
CSU had a lead in both games, but surrendered late runs in a double-header loss to College of Charleston. After giving up four runs in the sixth inning of game one, the Lady Bucs showed a lot of heart bouncing back from game one to hold a lead going into the seventh inning of game two, but a game-tying homer sent the game to extra innings and the College of Charleston prevailed, sweeping the double header from CSU. Kristin Kelleher had two hits, both doubles in game one, while Kimberly Hobbs gave the Bucs a chance in game two, retiring 14-straight batters to start the game.

February 22 – MBB vs. Gardner-Webb – W, 72-61
GWU proved to be a hiccup on the road earlier in the season, but facing them back at home, where the Bucs have been so dominating, the Bucs took care of their business and kept pace for a home seed in the upcoming Big South tournament. Jamarco Warren had 20 points, giving him 71 in the last three games as the senior appears to be willing his team to victories down the stretch. Kelvin Martin had yet another double-double with 14 poitns and 12 rebounds.

February 24-25 – Track and Field @ Big South Indoor Championships
Javon Young led the men’s team with 30 points, three first-place finishes, earning him Track Performer of the Year honors for the second year in a row, while the Bucs posted a total of 12 all-conference (top-3) performances and four conference champions as the men’s team finished third and the women’s team finished fourth overall. Nearly everyone who competed posted a season or personal best during the week, and the Bucs broke a pair of school records with Michael Bailey doing so in the 3,000m run and Jermal McClendon tied the high jump record.

February 24 – W. Tennis vs. North Florida
After taking two of the doubles matches and winning that point, play was suspended. No date has been set at this time as far as making up the singles play.

February 25-26 – Softball @ Hatter Classic, 3-2 record
The Buccaneer softball team finished in third place after taking down the hosting Stetson Hatters 9-4 in the consolation game of the Hatter Classic. After posting a 2-2 record and tying for a chance to take part in the championship game, the Bucs lost the tie breaker due to runs allowed over the course of the tournament. Erin Kegley hit .571 for the weekend as CSU rebounded from a 4-1 loss to Valparaiso on day one to beat Bethune-Cookman twice, (3-2) (11-3) before falling to Stetson on Saturday night, 9-5.

February 25-26 – Baseball @ First Pitch Classic
An unofficial tournament, hosted by Clemson, the Bucs posted a 1-2 record on the weekend with losses to Michigan State (3-0) and Clemson (19-1). In the final game for CSU, they took down Cincinnati 9-5 as Jesse Cadenhead got the victory on the mound, pitching 6.1 innings with five strikeouts. Derek Smith had four hits for CSU with a home run, while Brantley Meier had three hits and a career-high four RBI.

February 26 – W. Tennis vs. Gardner-Webb – W, 4-3
It came down to the final match as the Bucs got their first Big South win of the year, 4-3 over Gardner-Webb. After dropping the doubles point, CSU knew it had its work cut out, but Brooke Pletcher made quick work of her opponent at the number three flight to even the match. Susita Doss and Alia Nour also won their matches, leaving it up to Olga Makhova to pull it out for CSU. After falling 6-7 in the first set, Makhova dominated her opponent 6-2, 6-3 in the final two sets to clinch the victory for CSU.

February 26 – WBB vs. Radford – L, 81-78 (OT)
Kelsey Wasmer hit a huge three at the end of regulation to tie the game and send the game into overtime, but with Danielle Gibson, Lakeitha Alston and Katie Tull all on the bench having fouled out, CSU struggled to find offense and eventually fell in overtime to Radford. The Bucs were called for 31 fouls in the game to Radford’s 18, and there was an incredible 41-11 discrepancy at the free throw line, favoring the visitors.

February 26 – MBB vs. Coastal Carolina – 81-77
Warren again tried to will his team to victory, scoring 30 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Bucs fell to Winthrop, 81-77 in the final regular-season home game of the year for the Buccaneers. Kelvin Martin had 16 points but just five rebounds in the loss. Unfortunately for the Bucs, the loss eliminated the Bucs from contention to host a first-round game in the upcoming championships, which will start on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Instead, the Bucs will travel to Asheville for their first round matchup against the #3 seeded Bulldogs.

What’s coming up?
February 28-March 1 – M. Golf – Charleston Shootout (Stono Ferry)
February 28 – WBB vs. Liberty – 7 p.m.
March 1 – Baseball vs. Savannah State – 2 p.m.
March 1 – MBB – Big South Tournament (1st Round) – 7 p.m.
March 4-5 – SB – Lowcountry Invitational (USC Upstate, Georgetown, UNC Wilmington)
March 4 – WBB vs. Coastal Carolina – 7 p.m.
March 5 – Track and Field @ Va. Tech Last Chance Qualifier
March 5 – Tennis @ Wofford – 10 a.m.
March 5 – Baseball vs. Siena – DH – 11:30 a.m./3 p.m.
March 6 – Baseball vs. Siena – 1 p.m.
March 6-7 – W. Golf @ Myrtle Beach Spring Classic

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