Roszel directly succeeds Bill Jarman, who resigned in June due to family reasons.

“We are excited to have Dan Roszel join our coaching staff at East Carolina,” Godwin said. “He is well respected in baseball circles, has an outstanding reputation as a pitching coach and recruiter and will be a great asset to our program.”

During his two seasons with the Cougars, Roszel served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He produced some of his best work in 2010, helping the Cougars receive an at-large bid and No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament. The College of Charleston advanced to the Myrtle Beach Regional Championship Game before falling to No. 4 national seed Coastal Carolina 11-10. The Cougars ended the season ranked 27th in the final National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.

“I am extremely excited to have been given the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing university and coaching staff,” Roszel said. “Coach Godwin’s enthusiasm and passion for East Carolina and the baseball atmosphere are second to none. I am thrilled to be able to share my love of pitching with our talented staff. I can’t wait to get started.”

Roszel helped three CofC hurlers, Heath Hembree (fifth round), Kevin Decker (39th round) and Casey Lucchese (39th round), get selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. In all, Roszel has seen 16 of his pitchers sign pro contracts, including former major leaguer, current Durham Bull and 2006 International League Most Valuable Pitcher, Heath Phillips.

**Story from East Carolina SID***

Junior Cody Wheeler (12-0), who started and threw a complete game shutout on Friday afternoon, came out of the bullpen to throw three innings with four strikeouts to earn the win for Coastal. The loss went to College of Charleston’s Heath Hembree (5-3), who allowed only a run on a wild pitch in 2.2 innings worked.

Coastal junior Rico Noel had three hits and scored a pair of runs for the Chanticleers. Redshirt-sophomore Rich Witten had four runs-batted in for CCU. Rakar had four hits, two home runs and six runs-batted-in to lead the College of Charleston effort.

CCU scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning when Witten was able to scamper home on a wild pitch. Witten began the inning with double, took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored the game-winner with two outs and Hembree on the mound.

Coastal started the scoring off with two runs in the opening inning. Noel, who was the late-game hero last night and was named MVP of the tournament, tripled to right center with one out and came in to score on redshirt-sophomore Tommy LaStella’s ground out. Senior Jose Iglesias then powered out his 16th home run of the season to left center to double the CCU advantage.

Go to the jump for more, including audio from both teams.

College of Charleston tied the game in their half of the first on Rakar’s seventh home run of the year that also drove in senior Joey Bergman, who was hit by a pitch to start the game.

The Chanticleers wrestled the lead back with two runs in the third inning. Noel started the rally with a one-out single. He stole second and moved to third on fly out before Iglesias drove him in with a single through the right side. Iglesias came in to score himself on Taylor Motter’s double to left field.

The Cougars scored four runs to take the lead in bottom of the frame. Rakar doubled down the left field line to plate junior Jamie Holler and Bergman. A walk by Rob Kral and a single by Matt Leeds loaded the bases. Rakar scampered home and untied the game on Jose Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly. After a strike out, senior Justin Brewer pinch hit and delivered a run-scoring single through the right side to score Kral with CofC’s fourth run of the inning and sixth of the game.

The lead changed hands again in the sixth on Witten’s grand slam. Redshirt-senior Chance Gilmore and Motter started the rally with back-to-back walks to begin the inning. Sophomore Daniel Bowman loaded the bases with his bunt single to the shortstop. Witten followed with his fourth home run of the season to give Coastal the two-run advantage at 8-6.

The Cougars tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back home runs from Rakar and Kral.

Coastal scored twice in the eighth to untie the game on LaStella’s two-out double in the left center gap to score senior Adam Rice and Woodward. Rice began it all by getting hit by pitch. He moved to second as Woodward reached on a fielding error from the Cougars and both runners scored on LaStella’s double.

Right on cue in the bottom of the eighth the Cougars tied the game again. Baker Knox singled and Holler doubled to start the frame. An RBI ground out from Bergman scored the first run and a sacrifice fly by Rakar scored the second to tie the game at 10 all.

With the game in the balance and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, CCU’s Motter made a defensive gem at shortstop with a charge off-balance throw to nip Bergman on a stretch from Witten at first base to force extra innings.

Coastal Carolina post game press conference

coastal news conference

College of Charleston post game press conference

charleston news conference

Tanner and Gamecocks will face Coastal Carolina

I had a chance to catch up with USC baseball coach Ray Tanner Monday to discuss the upcoming Super Regional matchup with Coastal Carolina. Tanner, like a lot of us today, was caught up in that exciting game between Coastal and the College of Charleston in Myrtle Beach this afternoon.

Ray Tanner interview

Tanner 6-7

Since the Chanticleers found a way to win they will be the host team in this weekend’s Super Regional. Coastal is a number four national seed and has won 56 games this season. The Super Regional games will be played at BB&T Coastal Field which is the home to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The Pelicans are single A affiliate for the Atlanta Braves.

BB&T Coastal Field can hold a little over 6,000 fans. Yes there will be plenty of Coastal fans but you can probably bet even money that the Gamecock fans will outnumber them two to one. We saw a similar scenario when Clemson played Coastal in a regional a few years ago.

The Super Regional will start on either Friday or Saturday. If it starts Friday it will end on Sunday, if it starts Saturday it will run through Monday. Late tonight or early Tuesday the days and game times will be announced.

The Super Regional round is a best two out of three series. The winning team will advance to the College World Series in Omaha.

Game, set, match. USC moves on to Super Regional

USC advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament with a tidy 10-2 win over Virginia Tech Sunday night in Columbia. The Gamecocks will face the winner of Monday’s Coastal Carolina- College of Charleston game in the next weekend.

USC postgame news conference

USC- V.T. postgame

If Coastal Carolina wins the Super Regional will be in Conway, if Charleston wins it will be played in Columbia. The winner of that series will advance to the College World Series in Omaha.

Gamecocks held Hokies and their ugly uniforms in check

For the third straight night USC had to come from behind to get the win. The Hokie’s hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first off Gamecock starting pitcher Jay Brown. Brown only pitched 3 2/3 innings before he was relieved by Jose Mata in the 4th.

Matta was incredible during his 4 1/3 innings of work. He only allowed two hits and struck out five during his stint on the mound. Michael Roth pitched a perfect 9th to clinch the game and the regional for the Gamecocks.

That great effort out of the bullpen combined with ten unanswered runs was the recipe for a third consecutive win for the Gamecocks. They are now 46-15 on the season.

Third baseman Adrian Morales was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. He was seven of thirteen with three homeruns with seven RBI’s over the weekend. Not too shabby.

Virginia Tech postgame news conference

Virginia Tech postgame

USC fans could be at home again next weekend

Things really seem to be falling into place for USC to make their first trip back to Omaha since 2004. Regardless of what happens in the Coastal Carolina-Charleston game Monday the Gamecocks know they will not have to leave the state for the super regional. Even if they have to go to Coastal they will bring an army of fans with them and it will be pretty darn close to a neutral site. If anything, USC fans could outnumber the Chant’s fans.

Sure, Coastal Carolina is a number four national seed and a team that won 50 plus games this season, but as we have seen over the weekend, they are vulnerable. It took a bottom of the 9th homerun Sunday just to avoid elimination against the Cougars.

If the College of Charleston wins, Carolina gets another weekend at home in a series against a Southern Conference runner-up that they beat 6-3 during a mid-week game in the regular season. I’m not trying to knock Monte Lee and the Cougars, but I just don’t see them taking two of three against USC in Columbia.

After a rough end to the season the Gamecocks appear to have put things back together in this Regional. The offense, which scored a total of five runs in its four losses down the stretch scored 28 runs in three games during the regional. From a pitching standpoint, starter Sam Dyson was a little shaky on the mound Friday but he wasn’t terrible. Blake Cooper was stellar on Saturday and Jay Brown was serviceable on Sunday. As noted earlier, the bullpen was lights out all weekend.

Most importantly a team that entered the postseason staggering a bit now has its confidence back. It might just be enough swagger to strut all the way to Omaha.

Nolan Belcher will get the start on the mound for Carolina. Wofford will counter with Cash Collins. The action starts at 7:00.

22nd ranked Clemson will face Furman tonight at Fluor Field in Greenville. The Tigers have enter tonight riding a five game winning streak. Neither team has announced their starting pitcher. First pitch is at 7:00.

One other Clemson note, Tigers outfielder Kyle Parker is the ACC player of the week after batting .625 with five doubles, a homer and seven RBIs last week.

Also, Wofford catcher Mac Doyle is the Soutnern Conference player of the week. He hit his 16th homer of the season last week and had 6 RBIs and scored 7 runs during the week.

Back to today’s schedule, Presbyterian will play two against at Duke, Charleston Southern is at Georgia Southern, The Citadel is at home against Mercer and the College of Charleston plays host to USC Upstate.

Winthrop’s home game against Wake Forest today has been canceled because of a scheduling conflict.

Ray Tanner

The 5th ranked USC baseball team will play host to USC Upstate tonight at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks are undefeated in midweek games this season and are 28-8 overall. Upstate is 13-28 this season.

Ray Tanner interview with Kornblut

ray tanner 4-19

Freshman lefty Colby Holmes (2-0, 4.43) will start on the mound for USC. The Spartans will start freshman right hander Gaither Bumgardner (0-4 8.10).

Gametime is 7:00.

The Gamecocks are 11-4 in the SEC and have a one game lead over Florida in the East standings. They return to conference play at Georgia this weekend.

Also tonight Charleston Southern is at 10th ranked Florida State and The Citadel plays host to the College of Charleston.

Ray Tanner previews Ole Miss

Tanner 4-15

I have also included an interview I did with Gamecock pitching coach Mark Calvi. The Gamecocks staff has been outstanding this year and Calvi deserves a ton of credit. He’s a guy that has taken more than his fair share of heat the past few seasons from some disgruntled fans. Somehow he turned into the scapegoat for USC getting bounced in the postseason the past few years. He’s quickly proving why a lot of that criticism was misguided.

USC pitching coach Mark Calvi

calvi

The Gamecocks and Rebels begin their series at 7:00 tonight at Carolina Stadium.

Also 16th ranked Clemson plays at #6 Georgia Tech tonight. The Tigers desperately need to win this series to get back on track. They’ve dropped nine of their past 15 games and are playing themselves out of a chance to host a Regional next month. The good news is the Tigers are still tied for first place in the ACC Atlantic Division with Florida State. If they can find a way to take two of three against the talented Yellow Jackets it will help the selection committee forget about inexplicable midweek losses to Elon (twice), Charlotte and Western Carolina. It will also help erase the memories of dropping two of three at Duke last week.

Tonight’s game starts at 7:00 in Atlanta.

Also tonight, 11th ranked Coastal Carolina is at Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian is at home against Charleston Southern, Winthrop is at UNC-Ashville, The College of Charleston plays host to Wofford and Furman is at The Citadel.

Ray Tanner

Just to recap a few of the college baseball scores Tuesday, in Conway 9th ranked Coastal Carolina knocked off the Citadel 7-3, UNC Wilmington beat Charleston Southern 5-4, and USC-Upstate held off the College of Charleston 11-10.

Tonight, 5th ranked USC will play at the Citadel. The Gamecocks beat the Bulldogs in Columbia last week. The Gamecocks have been playing about as well as anyone in the country the past six weeks. They have won all of their midweek games this season, but tonight’s game in Charleston is probably going to be their toughest challenge yet.

Ray Tanner previews The Citadel

Tanner

Also tonight, 17th ranked Clemson plays host to Western Carolina, 9th ranked Coastal Carolina is at 21st ranked North Carolina, Presbyterian travels to Furman, Winthrop is at Charlotte, USC-Upstate plays at UNC-Asheville, and Wofford plays host to East Tennessee State.

Also, we can’t forget about the Braves. They resume their series with the Padres in San Diego tonight. Tommy Hanson will get the start on the mound. First pitch is 10:05.

The Cougars finished the season with a very respectable 22-12 record. They won 14 games in the Southern Conference. Coug’s coach Bobby Cremins believes he has the program on the cusp of returning to the NCAA tournament.

Bobby Cremins postgame on Kirkman Broadcasting

cofc postgame 3-22

Here’s hoping that we can have another postseason filled with local team next year too. It was a real treat watching Winthrop, Wofford and Clemson get into the NCAA tournament and Coastal Carolina into the NIT. The only bummer was watching them all lose in the first round. Charleston actually won its first round CBI game, but not many people pay attention to that tournament. With all due respect to the Cougars, it is hard to blame them.

Hopefully next year we will be able to cheer a little deeper into March and perhaps next year’s NCAA Cinderella will find her slipper here in our basketball rich state.

Bobby Cremins postgame courtesy  of Kirkman Broadcasting

bobby cremins 3-17 post game

Andrew Goudelock led the Cougars with 17 points. Charleston improves to 22-11 and will move on the quarterfinals to face VCU Monday night. The Rams are coached by former Clemson assistant Shaka Smart.  Monday’s game will tip off at 7:00 and be televised on HDNet.

For those of you that just can’t get enough brackets, you can check out the rest of the CBI field here.