The Chanticleers will host Liberty for the final three-game series of the regular season.
May 6, 2011
Complete Week 12 Notes 
GAMES 53-55
COASTAL CAROLINA (22-29) HOSTS LIBERTY
Date: Saturday, May 7-Sunday, May 8
Times: 3 p.m./ 5 p.m./ 1 p.m.
Place: CCU Softball Field
Live Stats: via www.GoCCUSports.com
TV/Live Video: Sunday’s game will be video streamed via The Big South Network
Chants Host Liberty for Final Regular Season Big South Three-Game Series
The Coastal Carolina University softball team (22-29, 6-9 BSC) will host Liberty for the final three-game Big South regular season series May 7-8. The Chanticleers will play a doubleheader on Saturday, May 7 with the first game slated to begin at 3 p.m. Saturday will also be Coastal softball Alumni Day as the Chants welcome back 18 former players and their families. The final game of the three-game series will be played on Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m. and will be Senior Day.
Scouting Liberty
Liberty enters this weekend coming off a doubleheader split with Virginia on Tuesday, May 3. The Lady Flames won the first game 8-0, but fell 3-2 in 10 innings in the second game. Liberty is currently 9-6 in the Big South and ranks second behind Radford. The key players for the Flames are Kelly Strickland, Keely McMillon and Ashley Bensinger. Strickland leads the team with a .354 batting average, 52 hits, 15 home runs and 45 RBI. She has hit six doubles, which is tied with McMillon. McMillon has a .349 batting average and has registered 38 hits, five home runs and 26 RBI. Bensinger is close behind with a .342 batting average, 36 runs, 51 hits, 10 home runs and 36 dingers. Ace pitchers for Liberty are Katrina Johnson and Tiffani Smith. Johnson leads the pitchers with a 2.13 ERA and a 12-11 record in 34 appearances. She has thrown 13 complete games and tallied 120 strikeouts in 170.2 innings pitched. Smith most recently led the Lady Flames in an 8-0 victory over Virginia and has a 4.45 ERA and 9-12 record. She has registered 78 strikeouts in 102.1 innings pitched.
Series vs. Liberty
Currently, the Lady Flames lead the overall series 24-22. The last meeting between the two teams was on May 14, 2010 at the Big South Conference Tournament with Liberty winning 5-3 to end the Chanticleers tournament run.
Weather Forecast
Saturday: Sunny, 82 degrees. Sunday: Partly cloudy, 86 degrees.
Coastal To Celebrate Senior Day Sunday
Seniors Katelin Edwards, Michelle Evans, Ashley Pisone and Olivia Williams will celebrate their Coastal softball careers and be recognized at the final home games against Liberty on Sunday, May 8.
Chants To Celebrate Alumni Day Saturday
The Chanticleers will welcome 18 former softball alumni back to campus for Alumni Day on Saturday, May 7.
Home Field Advantage
The 2011 squad enjoys playing at home and have maintained a winning record at home while under the director of Head Coach Kelley Green. Last season, the Chanticleers finished with a 15-14 record at home and currently, Coastal has a 20-13 record at home with its last three-game series this weekend against Liberty.
Bagwell Earns Second Big South Pitcher of the Week Honor
Freshman Ashley Bagwell earned her second Big South Pitcher of the Week honor for games played April 25-May 1. Bagwell recorded 23 strikeouts and a 2-0 record in three appearances for the Chanticleers in the series with Gardner-Webb. In game one against the Runnin’ Bulldogs, Bagwell posted 13 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in a complete game shutout. She also picked up the win in game two as she struck out six hitters and allowed one hit in two innings of work. The next day, Bagwell recorded four strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work. She finished the series with an ERA of 2.05.
Donovan Earns Third Big South Player of the Week Honor
Freshman Brooke Donovan earned her third Big South Player of the Week honor for games played April 25-May 1. Donovan, a freshman from Bear, Del., posted a .700 average at the plate with seven hits, three doubles and four runs scored to lead her squad to a 2-1 series win against Gardner-Webb over the weekend. She got her week started with two hits and one RBI in game one with Gardner-Webb on April 30 and followed with a 4-for-4 performance, including two doubles in game two. The next day, Donovan finished with one hit and a double in a narrow 8-7 loss. In the three-game span, she posted a slugging percentage of 1.000 and an on-base clip of .750. In the field, Donovan recorded nine putouts and two assists from her spot at second base.
Coastal Wins First Game of Big South Series In Two Years
For the first time in two years, Coastal Carolina softball won the first game of a three-game Big South series. The Chanticleers have won five Big South three-game series since 2010, but have never won the first game. On April 30, things changed as the team picked up its first game one win of a series against Gardner-Webb. Coastal won 3-0.
Bagwell Set New Career Strikeout Total
For the second week in a row, freshman Ashley Bagwell recorded a new career-high strikeout total. She previously recorded 10 strikeouts against UNC Wilmington for a then career high on April 19 and the next weekend against Presbyterian College, she retired 12 batters in 7.0 innings pitched on April 23. However, this past weekend, she beat her career-high total again, sitting down 13 Gardner-Webb players, including two in every inning except the fifth on April 30.
Pisone Goes Yard Against Gardner-Webb
Senior Ashley Pisone hit her first two home runs of the 2011 season against Gardner-Webb. She hit her first dinger on April 30 in the fourth inning to put the Chants ahead 2-1 in the 11-3 win. The second home run of the weekend came on May 1 with a solo shot in the fifth inning to put Coastal back up by two at 6-4.
Chants Take Series From Gardner-Webb
The Chanticleers won their second Big South series against Gardner-Webb April 30-May 1. Coastal swept the Runnin’ Bulldogs in a doubleheader on Saturday, winning 3-0 in game one and 11-3 in game two. On Sunday, the Chants looked for the series sweep, but fell 8-7 after Gardner-Webb scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take a one-run lead.
Former Softball Chant Jessica Falca Inducted to Big South Hall of Fame
Former Coastal Carolina softball player Jessica Falca (Flores) has been elected for enshrinement in the Big South Conference Hall of Fame. Falca finished her career in 1999 as the NCAA’s career leader with 196 stolen bases, a mark that stood for five years and is now fourth all-time in Division I history. She also ended her career ranked nationally in hits (7th - 341), runs scored (12th - 193) and batting average (15th - .431). Falca is still the Big South’s all-time record-holder in stolen bases and hits, and among the top five in batting. In fact, her 196 career steals are 98 more than the second-leading base stealer in Conference annals. The 1996 Big South Freshman of the Year, Falca earned First-Team All-Big South honors three times in her career - with all three awards at different positions (outfield in 1996, second base in 1998 and shortstop in 1999). She was a Second-Team All-Conference honoree in 1997 (second base) and was a two-time Big South All-Tournament Team member (1998 and 1999). An All-Region selection during her career at Coastal, Falca’s .497 batting average in 1999 is still the second-highest, single-season hitting mark in the Big South, as is her 99 hits that season. She appears on the single-season hits list a second time with 88 in 1998 (eighth). Falca owns three of the top four Big South single-season totals for stolen bases, including a Conference-record 56 in 1996 and 1999, as well as 51 in 1998. Those 56 steals currently rank 21st on the NCAA Division I single-season list. Falca, a 2004 inductee into Coastal Carolina’s Athletics Hall of Fame, led Coastal Carolina to the 1998 Big South Tournament title and the school’s second berth in the NCAA Tournament that season.
Up Next
The Chanticleers head to the Big South Tournament, hosted by Winthrop May 12-14.
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