2010 Myrtle Beach Super Regional

Capsules by Barrett Neale, Michael Perry, Matt Mullen, Andrew Woods, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton

4. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

Conway, South Carolina

Automatic bid – Won Big South Tournament, Won Myrtle Beach Regional

2010 record: 25-0, 55-8 (first in Big South)

Head coach: Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina, 1980)

Record at school: 564-301, 15 years

Overall record: 837-403, 21 years

Assistant coaches: Kevin Schnall, Brendan Dougherty, Drew Thomas

Team offense: .326 BA, 591 R, 107 HR, .555 SLG%, .418 OB%, 160-196 SB

Team pitching: 3.51 ERA, 567 IP, 521 H, 216 BB, 518 K

Top hitters: Tommy La Stella (.375/14/63/14 2B), Rico Noel (.348/11/62/17 HBP/56-69 SB), Jose Iglesias (.344/16/78/16 2B), Taylor Motter (.343/11/48/22 2B), Chance Gilmore (.341/12/54/21 2B), Scott Woodward (.330/5/35/23 HBP/54-61 SB), Steve Davis (.322/4/28), Adam Rice (.312/9/50), Daniel Bowman (.277/13/50)

Top pitchers: Ryan Connolly (3-0, 2.08 ERA, 47.2 IP, 44 H, 10 BB, 46 K), Austin Fleet (6-1, 8 SV, 2.53 ERA, 57 IP, 51 H, 17 BB, 54 K), Anthony Meo (13-2, 2.63 ERA, 95.2 IP, 80 H, 34 BB, 94 K), Matt Rein (7-0, 2 SV, 2.70 ERA, 56.2 IP, 48 H, 21 BB, 43 K), Cody Wheeler (12-0, 3.59 ERA, 107.2 IP, 98 H, 39 BB, 111 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2009 (1-2 at Chapel Hill Regional)

Notes: Coastal Carolina is making its second Super Regional appearance. The Chanticleers went 0-2 at North Carolina in 2008. Coastal eclipsed its 2009 record of 21 Big South wins by going perfect – 25-0 – in the league in 2010. The Chants have won 50 or more games four times since 2005 and are on a run of 10 seasons with 40-plus wins in the past 12 years (an average of 44 per year). Rico Noel was the preseason conference player of the year and earned first-team all-Big South. Anthony Meo, the unanimous choice for Big South Pitcher of the Year, is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. He’s gone 22-4 the past two years. Cody Wheeler is a first-team Big South performer who has gone 22-1 the past two years. Austin Fleet was named the Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year. Others on the Big South’s first team were Matt Rein, Jose Iglesias, Tommy La Stella, Taylor Motter and Scott Woodward. Chance Gilmore is the son of coach Gary Gilmore and originally attended Virginia, where he redshirted due to an injury. The Chants have stolen more bases (160) than most D-I teams have attempted. Noel has 56 steals, and Woodward has 54. The team ERA was 3.85 in 2009 and dropped to 3.51 this year.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Columbia, South Carolina

At-large bid from SEC, Won Columbia Regional

2010 record: 21-9, 46-15 (second in SEC East)

Head coach: Ray Tanner (North Carolina State, 1980)

Record at school: 626-281, 14 years

Overall record: 1,021-454-3, 23 years

Assistant coaches: Chad Holbrook, Mark Calvi, Sammy Esposito

Team offense: .302 BA, 450 R, 89 HR, .495 SLG%, .395 OBP, 45-66 SB

Team pitching: 3.53 ERA, 548.2 IP, 464 H, 197 BB, 553 K

Top hitters: Jackie Bradley, Jr. (.367/11/49/10 2B), Whit Merrifield (.33912/38/12-18 SB), Brady Thomas (.322/8/28/11 2B), Adam Matthews (.320/7/29/11 2B), Christian Walker (.310/6/41), Jeffery Jones (.308/8/29), Adrian Morales (.288/8/52/14 2B)

Top pitchers: Jose Mata (7-1, 2.01 ERA, 40.1 IP, 31 H, 8 BB, 34 K), Matt Price (3-1, 8 SV, 2.72 ERA, 43 IP, 29 H, 17 BB, 64 K), Blake Cooper (11-1, 2.75 ERA, 111.1 IP, 92 H, 32 BB, 100 K), Sam Dyson (5-5, 4.00 ERA, 87.2 IP, 81 H, 19 BB, 93 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2009 (2-2 at Greenville Regional)

Notes: South Carolina is making its eighth Super Regional appearance and has posted a 10-9 record. The Gamecocks lost their first two Super Regional series and then won three straight before dropping the past two. South Carolina lost two of three at Georgia in 2006 and dropped two of three at North Carolina in 2007. The Gamecocks have finished first or second in their division in the SEC regular season in 10 of coach Ray Tanner's 14 years. Tanner previously was the boss at NC State. USC finished unbeaten (14-0) in nonconference midweek games for the first time and is one of eight teams to win 40-plus games each of the past 11 seasons. The Gamecocks were CBI's team of the week earlier this year. Blake Cooper (32 career wins) is a Golden Spikes Award candidate and leads the SEC in wins and innings. Freshman Matt Price has struck out 64 in 43innings and limits hitters to a .187 average. Opponents hit only .229 off the USC pitching staff. Catcher Brady Thomas, a part-time starter, has 38 hits, 21 of which are for extra-bases (.644 slugging). Jackie Bradley Jr. does a little of everything, slugging .585 and getting on base at a .468 clip. The Gamecocks are 37-1 when leading after seven.