Scouting Liberty:

The Flames (36-18) are tied with Coastal for second place in the conference. The Flames helped their cause by sweeping Birmingham-Southern over the weekend after dropping a pair to current conference front runner Radford earlier in the week. The Flames have three conference games this week and a victory in all would assure them the number one seed in the upcoming Big South Softball Tournament. LU is led by offensive star Jessica Moore. Moore currently leads the Big South in total bases (138), runs (64), home runs (16) while placing second in batting average (.410). Junior Terra Lowe has been steady in the circle, as she is tied for the team lead in wins (14) while leading the squad in ERA (1.72) and strikeouts (133).

This will be the 35th meeting between these two schools with Coastal holding a 21-13 edge. Earlier this season the Flames, in damp conditions, defeated Coastal 2-1 in eight innings. Previous to this year’s loss, CCU has defeated LU in each of the last three meetings between these two schools.

Scouting Winthrop:

The Eagles (27-25) have been in hiatus not having taken the field since splitting a pair with UNC Greensboro on April 20. The Eagles will also wrap up Big South play this week taking on state rivals Charleston Southern and then Coastal before a make-up pair with Liberty. Freshman Tessa Thomas has made a solid impact her first season. She leads the team in most offensive categories including batting average (.369), hits (58), home runs (7), RBI (34) and total bases (86). Senior Shahna Ashard has been the ace of the staff this season. She is among the conference leaders with 15 wins, 17 complete games and 133 strikeouts.

Coastal holds a slight 34-28 advantage over Winthrop in the all-time series between the two schools. CCU has dropped its last three games to the Eagles after losing the regular season doubleheader and in the semifinals of the conference tournament last season.

Senior Meagen Johnson is currently tied for 16th nationally in home runs per game with her 15 home runs on the year. She also is ninth in the country in slugging percentage and 15th in RBI per game. Redshirt junior Christine Doyle is currently 23rd nationally in saves with three. Junior Danyelle Gerdts is 22nd in triples per game.

Coastal lost a close 2-1 extra inning game to Liberty this season. Redshirt junior Christine Doyle pitched well going all eight innings with only one earned run allowed in defeat. The offensive attack was led by senior Sara Hostetler, who has two hits and a run scored. The second game of the doubleheader was rained out forcing this important make-up game this weekend.

Last season in the regular season doubleheader sweep over Liberty, senior Meagen Johnson had a great pair of games in the circle. The first game she threw a one-hit shutout. In the second game she came in relief to throw 5.2 innings with only one run allowed in picking up her second win of the afternoon.

Johnson followed it up by throwing a three-hit shutout over Liberty in the 2005 Big South Tournament with eight strikeouts to aid Coastal to advance over the Flames.

Hostetler Hits the Flames:

Senior Sara Hostetler has had a nice career hitting the pitching of the Flames. She has an overall batting average of .483, as she is 14-for-29 with three doubles and four RBI. Fellow senior Kelly Feely has also had solid performances against Liberty as she has a .375 batting average with two home runs and seven RBI.

Senior Kelly Feely has a team best career batting average of .381 against Winthrop. Senior Sara Hostetler has also been outstanding against the Eagles with a career batting average of .304 and seven runs scored. Redshirt junior Christine Doyle is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in her career from the circle against WU.

Junior Kimberly Cillis has been steady at first base this season. She sports a .997 fielding percentage with 336 putouts and has recorded 18 assists with only one error.

Over the last four years, nobody controls the fourtunes of Coastal more than senior third baseman Sara Hostetler. In wins over the last four years, she has hit a scalding .340 average with five home runs and 58 RBI. In comparison, in the losses, Hostetler’s batting average is .210 with a home run and 12 runs-batted-in.

Senior Sara Hostetler has played well at the friendly confines of the CCU Softball Field this season. She leads the team in runs (21) and doubles (7) while placing second on the team in hits (22). Senior Brittany Nelson has also hit well on the home field this season, as she leads the team in batting average (.440) and slugging percentage (.960).

Senior Meagen Johnson and sophomore Ashley Gerdts have both hit well in the day light this season. Johnson has the highest batting average on the team at .368 and the most runs-batted-in with 36, while in day games Gerdts is second on team with six home runs.

This season, redshirt junior pitcher Christine Doyle has been quite stingy during the day. During day games, she has a 12-4 record with a 1.19 ERA in 99.2 innings of work.

After missing most of the last two seasons with injuries, redshirt junior Christine Doyle has been getting stronger over the last few weeks. In the last eight weeks, covering 21 appearances, Doyle has thrown 116 innings and compiled a 0.97 ERA with 14 wins, 90 strikeouts and a .187 opponents batting average.

Senior Meagen Johnson is currently ranked among the Big South Conference leaders in numerous offensive categories. She leads the conference in runs-batted-in (50) and is second in home runs (15), slugging percentage (.829) and walks (24). Johnson is currently fourth in total bases (102) and batting average (.382).

Junior centerfielder Danyelle Gerdts is currently tied for the lead in the conference in triples (5) while tied for fourth in runs scored with teammate senior Sara Hostetler (32).

Redshirt junior Christine Doyle leads the Big South in saves (3) and is second in the conference in ERA (1.39) and third in wins (15).

Coastal currently leads the Big South Conference in walks (139). The team is second in home runs (48), triples (9) and doubles (65) and runs scored (225).

From the circle, the Lady Chants are also among the conference leaders. The team is second in the Big South with 32 wins, an ERA of 2.19. The Lady Chants are third in strikeouts (290).

In the field the CCU has excelled with the best fielding percentage in the conference (.967).

Senior Brittany Nelson has filled the role of pinch hitter very effectively this season. She is hitting .375 and has three hits in her eight times to the plate.

Junior Kristina Sheppard has made multiple starts at four positions this season. Sheppard has started at third, second, left and centerfield this season.

The first 52 games of the 2006 season has shown Coastal to have a balanced offensive attack. Eleven different Chanticleers have driven in multiple runs in a game this season. Senior Meagen Johnson has a team-best 50 RBI while senior Kelly Feely has driven in 29 runs and junior Kristina Sheppard has 28 RBI.

Senior Kelly Feely is second on the team with 29 RBI. However, of her 29 runs driven in, 18 have come when there have been two outs in an inning.

When runners are on, no batter in the CCU lineup is more dangerous than senior Meagen Johnson. Johnson is batting .500 (22-for-44) this season when runners are in scoring position.

Redshirt junior Christine Doyle has been the strikeout queen this season for Coastal. In 140.2 innings covering 31 appearances this season, Doyle has a team-best 110 strikeouts.

Redshirt junior Christine Doyle with her two saves against Elon on April 11 has now picked up three saves this season, which is tied for the third most ever by a Coastal hurdler in a single season.

Coastal has shown great power from majority of the lineup through 52 games this season. On the year nine different Lady Chants have already homered in 33 of those games. That means CCU has hit a home run in 63 percent of its games this year. In comparison, last year’s squad homered in 30 percent of their games.

With the Lady Chants latest two home run week two weeks ago, April 23, CCU continues to add to the all-time school record for home runs in a season of 48. The old record was 37 by the 2000 team.

The Lady Chants have now scored 225 runs this season, 73 more than last year’s team.

Since being inserted as the leadoff batter 32 games ago, senior Sara Hostetler is hitting .324 with a home run, 13 RBI and an on-base percentage of .393. Coastal is also 24-8 in games in which Hostetler leads off.

Coastal has given up four or more runs in an inning six times through the first 52 games. In their 20 losses, CCU has put itself in an early hole as it has given up 37 runs in the first two innings.

Coastal has shown great fight and determination in the latter stages of games this season. From the sixth inning on, CCU has outscored its opponents 56-29.

There are several keys to Coastal winning 31 of its last 39 games. CCU has had a strong offense that walked 120 times and averaged better than five runs a game. The Lady Chants pitching staff has also played a part as the group has only yielded 62 earned runs in 264 innings from the circle.

CCU’s pitching staff, through the first 52 games, has yielded nine home runs and only 66 total extra base hits, in comparison the CCU offense has 48 home runs and 122 extra hits.

Through 52 games, CCU has yet to ground into a double play while turning the trick four times themselves.

Coastal may not run often, as it only has 20 stolen bases on the season, but it is only on 24 attempts.

With two wins over Charleston Southern, Coastal has now won 30 games this season. It is the 11th time CCU has won 30 or more games in a single season.

The Coastal Carolina softball team swept the weekly Big South Awards as redshirt junior pitcher Christine Doyle was named the New Balance Softball Pitcher of the Week and senior Kelly Feely was chosen as the Choice Hotels Player of the Week, the league office announced this afternoon, April 17.

Doyle had another masterful performance in the circle that week. She was directly involved with five of Coastal's six wins on the week, as she went a perfect 3-0 with two saves. She was nearly unhittable in 18.2 innings of work with a 0.38 earned-run average. Further, she only allowed six hits and opponents only hit .097 against her for the week. Doyle began her week by coming in relief against Elon on April 11. She came into the game with CCU nursing a one-run lead with a runner on first and retired the next two batters in order to pick up the save. In the second game of the day, she was again called upon in relief. She delivered by getting out of a bases-loaded no out jam in picking up her second save of the day. Her third appearance of the week was a masterful performance against South Carolina on April 13, where she limited the Gamecocks to three hits and one run with five strikeouts in picking up her first win of the week in going the distance. In the second game of the day against South Carolina, Doyle was again called upon to come in relief. She went the final three innings with only a single hit allowed, while fanning five in winning her second game of the day and week. In her fifth and final game of the week she was again on her game as she limited the Buccaneers to two hits in winning her third game of the week with a complete game effort. Doyle now has a team-best 14 wins, three saves, 12 complete games and five shutouts this season.

Feely had solid week of action with seven hits in 19 at-bats. Among her seven hits, four went for extra bases. She hit three home runs to go along with 10 RBI and a double. Her slugging percentage was an impressive .895 while her on-base percentage was .400. She began the week by carrying CCU in its doubleheader sweep of Elon, as she went 4-for-6 with three home runs and seven runs batted-in. In the sweep of state rival South Carolina, Feely had the game tying RBI double in the second game that allowed Coastal to come back from a 5-2 deficit in the fifth inning, a game they eventually won 6-5 in eight innings. In the doubleheader sweep of conference rival Charleston Southern, Feely drove in the game-winning run in the first game and the game-tying run in the second game.

Head Coach Jess Dannelly became only the 31st active softball coach with 600 career victories with his win over Elon on April 11.

Coastal complete a great week of action on April 15 against Charleston Southern with a doubleheader sweep. The Lady Chants went a perfect 6-0 on the week including two wins over visiting in-state rival South Carolina. It was only the fourth and fifth times Coastal has ever defeated the Gamecocks in 42 career meetings dating back to 1989.

Coastal Carolina's redshirt junior pitcher Christine Doyle was named the Big South Conference's New Balance Softball Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on April 10.

Doyle had another masterful performance from the circle that week. She went 2-0 on the week with 0.50 ERA, allowing only 1 earned run in 14 innings. Doyle pitched a solid game against a good hitting College of Charleson team (team batting average of .304 with 36 home runs) on April 4. She went the distance, allowing three runs but only one earned with four strikeouts. The win allowed Doyle to reached double figures in wins for the second time in career after injuries ended her season each of the last two years. Doyle was absolutely spectacular in the first game of Coastal's doubleheader against North Carolina State on April 6. She set the tone by allowing only six hits with eight strikeouts in shutting out a Wolfpack team that had only been shutout seven times all season long in 47 games. For Doyle, it was her 10th complete game of the season and the fourth time she has recorded a shutout this year as she helped CCU to a 3-1 record on the week.

Sophomore Ashley Gerdts with her three home run against College of Charleston and North Carolina State, has now hit nine round trippers this year, which is three times as many as she had during her freshman season and gives her 12 career home runs.

Coastal Carolina's senior softball player Meagen Johnson was named the Big South Conference's Choice Hotels Softball Player of the Week the league office announced this afternoon, April 3. This was the second consecutive week that Johnson has been named the Big South Player of the Week. Last week, March 27, Johnson was named both the Big South Player and Pitcher of the Week. This is also the third consecutive week that a Coastal softball player has been honored by the league office. Two weeks ago, March 20, senior Sara Hostetler was also named the Big South Player of the Week.

Johnson had a great week of action as both a hitter and in the circle. Johnson started her week by going 3-for-6 with two runs scored, five runs-batted-in and a walk in a sweep of Campbell on March 27. Johnson hit the game-winning three-run blast in the sixth inning to propel Coastal to a 6-4 win in the first game over Campbell. Johnson also picked up the win as she started the first game against the Fighting Camels, going five innings and surrendering no earned runs, with six punch outs. In the split doubleheader with conference rival Birmingham-Southern on April 2, Johnson was 3-for-7 with four RBI, as well as starting the first game in the circle against the Panthers. Johnson hit the two-run game-winning home run in the first inning in the second game of the afternoon to propel CCU to an 8-0 victory over the BSC. Johnson's three hits against Birmingham-Southern were the third time this season she had tallied three hits in a game.

For the week, Johnson hit .462 in four games, recording six hits and nine RBI on the week. She had two multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games. Her slugging percentage was 1.231, while she had an on-base percentage of .500 in aiding Coastal to a 3-1 record.

Coastal swept Campbell University in their doubleheader on March 28. With the two wins over the Fighting Camels, CCU improved to 6-0 against the Atlantic Sun Conference this season having outscored Gardner-Webb, North Florida and Campbell in those games a combined 54-13.

Coastal Carolina senior Meagen Johnson pulled off the rare feat of being named both the Big South’s Player and Pitcher of the Week for the week ending March 26.

Johnson had a great week of action as both a hitter and in the circle. Johnson started her week by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, six runs-batted-in and two walks in a sweep of Gardner-Webb. Johnson also picked up the win in relief in the first game against the Bulldogs, going four innings and only surrendering two hits with five punch outs. In the swept doubleheader from North Florida, Johnson was 3-for-6 with two RBI, as well as pitching a complete game three-hit shutout in the first game against the Ospreys. At the ECU Classic over the weekend, Johnson was 4-for-15 with three home runs and five RBI in against a stacked field that included #6 California. Johnson homered in all three days of the tournament, including the dramatic game-tying sixth inning blast against Cal. Johnson also pitched two-and-a-third innings in relief against East Carolina and threw an eight inning complete game against Penn State.

For the week, Johnson hit .400 in nine games, recording 10 hits and 13 RBI. She had three multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games. Her slugging percentage was .880, while she had an on-base percentage of .433 in aiding Coastal to a 5-4 record.

In the circle, Johnson's weekly totals were 21.1 innings pitched, 20 strikeouts, 12 hits allowed and a 0.66 earned-run average. She appeared in four games, with two complete games and a 2-1 record.

This was the second time Johnson has been named the Big South Pitcher of the Week during her career, as she also captured the award last season.

Senior Sara Hostetler had her team season-best 10-game hitting streak end against #6 California. In the 10 games, Hostetler was 16-for-31 with 13 runs scored, a home run and eight RBI.

Coastal ended three games during the week of March 20-27 on a home run. Senior Brittany Nelson ended the Coastal 14-3 win over Gardner-Webb with a grand slam. Sophomore Ashley Gerdts did the same feat in the 15-4 win over North Florida and to top the week off senior Meagen Johnson ended CCU’s 8-0 win over Buffalo with a two-run shot.

Redshirt junior Christine Doyle flirted with her second no-hitter of the season and had to settle for a one-hit shutout of Buffalo on March 26. The blemishes on Doyle’s nearly perfect day were a walk in the third inning and an infield single in the sixth.

Senior Sara Hostetler had a great week of action for the week ending March 19 as Coastal swept a pair of games from both UNC Wilmington and conference rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In her two games against UNCW, Hostetler reached base four times with two hits, two walks, two runs scored and two runs-batted-in. The senior third baseman continued her strong play in the CCU sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, as she went 5-for-7 with three runs scored, five RBI and a walk in the two games.

For the week, Hostetler had a batting average of .538 as she was 7-for-13 with six RBI, five runs scored and three walks. Further, she had a slugging percentage of .769 and and posted an on-base percentage of .588.

Coastal Carolina pitching staff had tremendous week as a whole for the week of March 13-19. The four starters each threw a complete game with a no-hitter, a one-hitter and two three-hitters. For the week, the group only allowed one run on seven hits in 25 innings of work. The team earned-run average for the week was a miniscule 0.28 as opponents only batted .086 against the Lady Chants pitching. The week began as senior Brittany Nelson threw a complete game three-hit shutout with four strikeouts against UNC Wilmington in a five-inning run-ruled 8-0 victory. The second game saw senior Meagen Johnson go all eight innings, only giving up one run on three hits with nine strikeouts in CCU’s 2-1 win over UNC Wilmington in the swept doubleheader. In the third game of the week, against Big South foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, redshirt junior Christine Doyle was simply unhittable. She went all five-innings in the no-hitter and was a hit batter away from throwing a perfect game. She struck out five in the 9-0 five inning victory. Junior Danyelle Gerdts was almost as good in the second game of the doubleheader against TAMU-CC. She threw a complete game, one-hit shutout in which a runner didn’t get past first base and she struck out seven Islanders.

Redshirt junior Christine Doyle’s no-hitter against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was the first no-hitter thrown by a CCU hurler since Doyle threw a perfect game against Winthrop on April 27, 2003.

Before the weekend’s action at the ECU Classic, March 24-26, Coastal had won 16 of its last 17 games. This was the best stretch of softball the Lady Chanticleers under Jess Dannelly since 1994 when the CCU won 17 out of 18 to open the season.

Coastal had its eight-game winning streak snapped with the loss to Tennessee Tech in the Gold Bracket game at the USF-Invitational. The eight-game winning streak was the longest for CCU since 2003 when it also won eight games in a row.

When the Lady Chants knocked off #23 Virginia Tech 4-3 on March 10, it was the first win for Coastal over a ranked opponents since the 2004 season when CCU knocked off then #14 Oregon 2-1.

Coastal Carolina softball completed an impressive week where it went 7-1 including wins over Illinois, Central Michigan, Fordham, #23 Virginia Tech and Chattanooga in the USF-Spring Break Invitational from March 9-11. Coastal won all five of its games in pool play to advance into Gold Bracket with some of the top tier teams nationally. CCU lost a heartbreaker to Tennessee Tech 4-3 in nine innings, but even the loss could not spoil what a tremendous week the Lady Chants had. Senior Meagen Johnson had a memorable tournament, as she had a .583 batting average with three home runs, 10 RBI, nine walks, a 1.500 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .762 against Coastal’s competition.

Following the action against Alabama, seniors Brittany Nelson and Meagen Johnson were both named to the Crimson Classic All-Tournament Team.

Junior Kristina Sheppard drove in a career-high five runs in Coastal 6-0 win over Ohio State in the consolation game of the Crimson Classic on March 5. Sheppard had a three-run RBI triple in the third inning and a two-run single in the sixth to led the team to victory. Senior starting pitcher Brittany Nelson was spectacular for CCU, going the distance striking out eight while scattering five hits.

The 2006 season was the first time since 1998 that Coastal had opened a season at home. In the previous two years, redshirt junior pitcher Christine Doyle had been the opening day pitcher on the road, so two trends were broken when junior Danyelle Gerdts started the first game of the season.

Coastal Carolina’s softball team, led by head coach Jess Dannelly, has been picked for second place in the 2006 Big South Conference’s softball preseason poll as voted by the League’s head softball coaches and sports information directors, the league office announced, Jan. 24.

The preseason favorite this season is Winthrop, who garnered seven first place votes and 84 points overall to narrowly finish ahead of the Lady Chanticleers, who received three first place votes and 81 points overall. Winthrop was the conference’s regular season champion and were the runner-up in the Big South Tournament last season. Radford received four first place votes and 76 points to finish a close third. The top three were followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (46 points), Birmingham-Southern (45 points), Liberty (44 points), and Charleston Southern (16 points).

Liberty’s junior shortstop Jessica Moore, who was the 2005 Big South Softball Player of the Year, was voted as the Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year. Moore received six first place votes and 19 points overall to finish ahead of Coastal Carolina’s senior pitcher/designated player Meagen Johnson, who had two first place votes and six points overall.

Head Coach Jess Dannelly: Coastal Carolina head coach Jess Dannelly (South Carolina ’80) is in his 19th season as the mentor of the Chanticleers. He has a career record of 606-430. Coach Dannelly won his 600th career softball game April 11, 2006 and is 30th among active softball coaches in victories and 61st in winning percentage.

Coastal Carolina’s softball team returns 15 letterwinners from last year’s team including its entire pitching rotation from a year ago. The returning rotation is seniors Meagen Johnson and Brittany Nelson, redshirt junior Christine Doyle and juniors Danyelle Gerdts and Trish Kretchman.

Also returning to the senior-laden squad: are seniors Sara Hostetler, Lynee Hastings, Kelly Feely, Irene Finley, Katey Allen, juniors Kristina Sheppard, Kimberly Cillis, Carla Hood and sophomores Allison Cantrell and Ashley Gerdts.

Coastal’s rosters also has something new as seven new players have joined the squad this season. Redshirt junior Glynn Tolleson and redshirt sophomore Erika Trujillo are both eligible to play after sitting out last season. Joining the team this season are freshmen Kelsey Riffel, Brittany Birnbaum, Whitney Gibson, Candra Witt and Tara Albohn.

Redshirt junior catcher Glynn Tolleson is the sister of former Lady Chanticleer Morgan Tolleson. Morgan Tolleson played for Coastal from 2002-2003. From the circle, she appeared in 24 games and compiled a record of 9-9 with a 2.58 earned-run average.

Seniors Sara Hostetler and Meagen Johnson were named Big South First Team All-Conference while junior Kimberly Cillis was named Second Team the league office announced May 13, 2005. It was the second time that Hostetler was named to the first team, while Johnson and Cillis each were first-time members of the All-Big South squads.

Coastal Carolina’s softball team has several career milestones in reach.

Senior Kelly Feely with three home runs against Elon now has 18 career round trippers. The total is good for sixth all-time at Coastal, only three behind former Chant Sara Graziano for fifth place.

After her home run against Radford, senior Meagen Johnson is now in seventh place all-time at Coastal in careerhome runs with 17.

Junior Kristina Sheppard now has 14 career home runs good for ninth place all-time at Coastal.

Senior Sara Hostetler now has 38 career doubles, which is fifth on Coastal all-time list only four behind former softball player Cari Rowe for fourth place. Hostetler also ranks in the tenth in three other all-time categories: hits (177), at bats (617) and walks (72).

Senior Katey Allen with four swiped bases this season has moved into seventh place with 24 career stolen bases. She is only three behind former Lady Chant Beth Park who finished her career with 27.

Senior pitcher Brittany Nelson has 98 career appearances which places her fifth, only four behind former Chant Vicki Dulaney for fourth place.

Nelson with 40 complete games trails sixth place by two. Nelson’s 39 victories are good for sixth place all-time at Coastal.

Nelson has moved into fifth place all-time in innings pitched with 461.1. Former Coastal pitcher Lauren Yates is ahead of her by 91 innings.

Redshirt junior Christine Doyle with her five strikeouts against Radford is now sixth all-time in strikeouts with 315. With 15 wins this season, Doyle has moved into fifth all-time in wins with 40 and only six wins behind former Chant Lauren Yates and Vicki Dulaney for third. Doyle with her two saves against Elon, now has four career saves and is ranked fourth on CCU’s all-time saves list.

Danyelle Gerdts with her five triples this season is now tied for eighth all-time for three baggers in a single season.

Senior Meagen Johnson with 15 home runs this season is now tied for most home runs ever hit in a single season at Coastal with former Coastal softball player Holly Lee and former Chant and current Assistant Coach Sara Lockett.

Sophomore Ashley Gerdts’ nine home run this season are the 10th highest single season total all-time at Coastal tied with former Lady Chants Cari Rowe and Sarah Lockett.

Coastal travels to Radford, Va., to participate in the Big South Conference’s Softball Tournament from May 11-13. The seeding and times have yet to be determined until after this week’s action. For updated information about CCU softball check out the athletic website at www.GoCCUSports.com.