Highlighting this week’s action at CSU was the end of the winter seasons with an appearance at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships, and the Big South Women’s Basketball Tournament. We also had the start of the outdoor track and field season, and the start of spring football practice, and you can see Coach Jay Mills’ thoughts
here.
Sophomore third baseman Jaren Sustar has been named this week’s CSU Athlete of the Week after having a career-week for the Bucs.
In the first game of the week, Sustar hit the first homerun of his CSU career, doing it in style with a grand slam against USC Upstate. Sustar had one other RBI, giving him five for the day and set a new career high with five RBI in one game. The next game, Sustar did exactly what the coaches wanted and gave himself up to advance the runner every time at the plate. He finished the day 0-0 in the box score, but had four sacrifice bunts, tying the NCAA single-game record. Sustar went on to go 3-for-4 on Saturday in a victory over Fordham and added another hit on Sunday.
Also Nominated - Jessica Brock (Softball), Katie Tull (WBB), Rozzie Johnson (Men’s Track), Javon Young (Men’s Track), Olga Makhova (W. Tennis)
March 6-8 – W. Golf @ Myrtle Beach Spring Classic – 14th It was a tough tournament for CSU and they finished 14th overall, edging out High Point in the end. With an extremely tough field, Amanda D’Ostroph finished 37th overall and was the highest finisher of the Big South schools in the event. The Lady Bucs show 320 and 322 in the first two rounds of the tournament and were right in the thick of things before stumbling with a 340 team score in the third and final round.
March 7 – WBB vs. Winthrop – W, 70-55After the emotions proved too much on senior night, the seniors responded in a big way in their final home game of the year, beating Winthrop 70-55 in a game that was never really in doubt, with the Bucs leading by as many as 20 for most of the game. Katie Tull broke her own single season 3point record, and scored 24 points, while Kelsey Wasmer added 23, giving the duo 47 points, nearly outscoring Winthrop by themselves. Lakeitha Also was kept off the boards, but did score 10 points for CSU and nearly everyone who saw action in the game scored at least one basket.
March 9 – Baseball vs. USC Upstate – L, 13-10 A late rally by Upstate proved too much for the Bucs as they gave up five runs in the ninth inning, and eight runs in the final two innings, the first real hiccup for the bullpen this season after starting the year as one of the team’s strengths. On a bright note, Jaren Sustar hit his first career home run, and in spectacular fashion as he blasted a grand slam in the process … but his best accomplishment came later in the week. Tom Burkett finished the game 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. The game also chewed up the relievers for CSU as only two pitchers (the starter, McCready 3.0, and Ali Williams 1.2) got through more than one inning, forcing the Bucs to use eight total pitchers in the loss.
March 9 – Softball vs. Furman – W, 7-5, W, 10-5 Despite a solid start to the year, it was the first double header sweep of the season for CSU, playing mostly tournaments thus far. After taking a 5-2 lead in game one, the Bucs had plenty of base runners but failed to get the timely hits, allowing Furman to climb back in and tie the game in the top of the sixth. Kristen Kelleher and Jessica Brock provided RBI doubles in the bottom of the inning and CSU held on in the seventh to win the first contest. Game two was a different story as CSU trailed 4-0 early, but scored six runs in the third inning to come back and take the lead 8-5. They would add a couple more insurance runs, but wouldn’t need them as Morgan Dowdy, who came into the game in relief, and allowed just two hits the rest of the game.
March 11 – Track and Field @ NCAA Indoor Championships For the second year in a row, Javon Young qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Unfortunately, for the second year he is ousted in the first round after not getting the performances he wanted. According to Coach Langford, Young did not get the start he wanted in the 60m dash and the competition was just too good to make up any ground on. In the 200m dash, he got the start he wanted but seemingly ran out of gas down the stretch. He is still expected to earn All-American honors, which will be announced later in the week.
March 11 – Track and Field @ Palmetto Classic The men’s team posted four victories in the opening meet of the 2011 outdoor track and field season. Andrew King won the 5,000m run with a new meet record, Jermal McClendon won the long jump, Avery Coe won the triple jump and Zach Pociatek won the hammer throw, and that was without competing in any sprint events, proving there are big things to come for the Bucs this season. For the women, Breeann Guerra won the discus and Tia Haberham won the hammer throw, leading a top-four sweep by the Lady Bucs in the event.
March 11 – WBB vs. High Point (Big South Championship) – L, 77-49 When you play the host school, you never really know what you are going to get. Unfortunately for the Bucs, they got the absolute best shot from the High Point and the careers of four senior Bucs came to an end in disappointing fashion. You look for a hot start to take the crowd out of the game, and it was a hot start for the wrong team as HPU opened an 8-0 lead to start the game. Kelsey Wasmer had 15 points, Katie Tull had 12, but CSU had no answer for the Panthers, who put four of their starting five in double figures. We do want to mention our gratitude for the four seniors (Wasmer, Tull, Lydia Johnson and Abby Poole), who have given their hearts and souls to this school over the last four years, and brought the program to a new level. Even though this season didn’t go exactly as they wanted, we are so thankful for their careers. I have no doubt that all four will have an extremely bright future, whether they continue to play basketball or enter their chosen career field.
March 11 – Baseball vs. Fordham – W, 4-3Stew Brase gave a tremendous performance on the mound, going 7.0 innings and striking out five while walking just one to earn the victory. Stealing the headlines, though, was Jaren Sustar, who did exactly what you would hope from your #2 hitter, accepting the call to sacrifice all four at bats on the day. A quick look at the box score and Sustar shows up 0-0, but he had four sacrifice bunts, tying the NCAA record for sac bunts in a single game. The bunts directly led to all four runs for the Bucs, too as they proved the ability to manufacture runs.
March 11-12 – Softball @ NC State Tournament – 1-3 record The Bucs opened the Wolfpack Challenge with a 6-3 victory over Maine, thanks in large part to Morgan Dowdy and her strong pitching in relief, keeping the Black Bears without a hit in the final 6.2 innings. Starter Kimberly Hobbs gave up just one hit, but left the game with a no-decision. Stephanie Sbardella and Megan Lombard each had two hits, while Jessica Brock had a three-run homerun in the seventh inning. Game two was not as positive for CSU as they surrendered eight runs in the middle innings and then had a rally fall short in the end, losing 11-8 to James Madison. Jana Matthews had five RBI as she had a home run, while Erin Kegley also blasted one out of the park. On day two, Stony Brook jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead over the Bucs. Kristen Kelleher had a pair of hits, but the Bucs had three errors in the game and were out-hit 14-6. CSU finally found themselves back on top on the scoreboard in the final game of the tournament against Fairfield, as they led 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, but late runs by the Stags ruined an excellent outing by Dowdy (no-hitter through five innings) and gave Fairfield the victory.
March 12 – Track and Field @ CCU Invitational Rozzie Johnson won the 100m dash, his first victory in the Blue and Gold, to highlight CSU in the second outdoor meet of the season, and the weekend. Also notable was Chris Seigler, who ran a personal best in the 3,000m steeplechase. On the women’s side, Brittney Greer finished third out of almost 70 competitors in the 100m dash, while Adrienne Cuff finished as the runner-up in the 3,000m steeplechase, her first attempt at the event. Tamisha Foster also claimed runner-up honors in the triple jump.
March 12 – Baseball vs. Fordham – W, 11-2 In the same week in which Jaren Sustar hit a grand slam as his first home run, Zach Hagaman homered for his first hit of his career. Coupled with a solid pitching outing by Patrick Dolan and a six-run fifth inning, the Bucs cruised to their second victory in as many days over Fordham. Sustar was not asked to sacrifice four times, and instead posted a 3-for-4 day with a team-high three RBI. Derek Smith and Tom Burkett also posted multiple hits on the day.
March 13 – Baseball vs. Fordham – L, 7-3 The Bucs had the base runners but couldn’t get the timely hits that the needed to top the Rams in game three of the four-game series. The Bucs tried to keep pace, but were trailing 4-2 after four innings and the Bucs left nine runners on base. Jesse Cadenhead took the loss, despite striking out eight batters in six innings of work. Tom Burkett had a pair of hits on the day, while Brantley Meier and Zach Hagaman combined to score all three runs.
March 13 – W. Tennis @ College of Charleston – L, 5-2 Olga Makhova and Alia Nour posted singles victories, but it would be the only two wins on the day for CSU as they fell to their cross-town rivals 5-2. The Bucs led the doubles matches halfway through, but ended up falling 8-5 in all three pairings. Heather Isbell took her opponent to three sets in singles, including a 6-2 victory in set two, but eventually fell.
What’s coming up? March 13 – 14 – W. Golf @ Administaff Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate
March 13 – 14 – M. Golf @ The General Hackler
March 14 – Baseball vs. Fordham – 2 p.m.
March 14 – W. Tennis vs. Jacksonville State – 2 p.m.
March 15 – W. Tennis vs. Southern Illinois – 2 p.m.
March 15 – Baseball @ Savannah State – 2 p.m.
March 15 – Softball @ East Carolina (DH) – 3/5 p.m.
March 16 – Baseball @ USC Upstate – 4 p.m.
March 18 – M. Golf @ Furman Intercollegiate
March 18 – Baseball @ Liberty – 7 p.m.
March 19 – W. Tennis @ Liberty – 1 p.m.
March 19 – Baseball @ Liberty – 3 p.m.
March 20 – Baseball @ Liberty – 1 p.m.
March 20 – W. Tennis @ Radford – 1 p.m.
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Nick Chinners has been named this week’s CSU Athlete of the Week after going 6-for-12 against Coastal Carolina. Additionally, Chinners became the first player since Derek Smith more than a year ago to homer twice in the same game.
Nick Chinners has been named this week’s CSU Athlete of the Week after going 6-for-12 against Coastal Carolina. Additionally, Chinners became the first player since Derek Smith more than a year ago to homer twice in the same game.
