Freshman Joe Yermal makes his first career playoff appearance Friday against South Carolina. |
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Charlotte Returns to Regional to Face South Carolina Friday at 2 p.m. in Raleigh
May 28, 2008
Charlotte, N.C. - The Atlantic 10 Champion Charlotte 49ers (43-14) make their second consecutive trip and their fourth-ever to the NCAA Regionals when they take on South Carolina (38-21) Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Doak Field at North Carolina State. Charlotte earned a three-seed in the tournament, as they did in 2007, when the Niners went to Columbia, S.C. last June.
Charlotte starts freshman Joe Yermal (8-1, 3.81 ERA) for the 14th time this season. South Carolina will send redshirt freshman Sam Dyson (7-0, 3.27 ERA) to the mound, making his 12th start of 2008. Both will be making their first postseason appearances for their respective teams. Yermal tossed an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief in the March 5 meeting between the two teams.
South Carolina bounced Charlotte from postseason play in 2007, defeating the Niners in the Regional Finals 11-6. The Gamecocks also gave Charlotte its first loss in that Regional, by a 12-8 margin.
On March 5 of this season, Charlotte defeated South Carolina in Columbia in an 11-2 victory. South Carolina was ranked third in the country at that time. Chris Taylor hit two of his team-leading 19 home runs for the season in that contest.
Taylor drove in six runs in the 2007 Regional, belting a pair of homers out in the first victory in the Regional for Charlotte, against North Carolina State, the host of this weekend's events. State takes on James Madison in the Friday nightcap, starting at 7 p.m.
Charlotte has defeated each of the three teams at this Regional in the previous matchup. The Niners ended the Wolfpack's season with 6-3 and 12-10 victories last June, and Charlotte swept James Madison in a three-game series in Kannapolis in 2007.
The Niners are in the top 20 in the NCAA in the following statistical categories...batting average (12), scoring (17), runs (16), hits (11), walks (11), sacrifice flies (2) and winning percentage (10). Individually, Rob Lyerly is ranked 10th in sacrifice flies, 13th in total doubles and doubles per game, 15th in RBI per game, 20th in total RBI and 38th in slugging percentage nationally. He enters the Regional with a 12-game hitting streak, the highest active streak on the team. Chris Taylor is 23rd in home runs, 29th in homers per game and 39th in total bases in 2008. He has a hit in nine straight contests.
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Charlotte swept the three games at the Atlantic 10 Tournament, defeating third-seeded Duquesne, fifth-seeded Rhode Island and top-seeded Xavier by a combined 28-11 score. Charlotte enters the NCAA Tournament winners of four games in a row and 11 of its last 12 contests.
Free live audio and stats will be available on the charlotte49ers.com Web site of all of the Charlotte baseball games this weekend.
