Hot-hitting Cougs like their chances

The most prolific offensive team in Southern Conference history couldn't quite club Western Carolina into submission on Saturday to earn the Southern Conference regular season title, but College of Charleston coach John Pawlow-ski feels good about the Cougars' chances as the No. 2 seed heading into the SoCon Tournament.

"I feel very good," said Pawlowski, whose team battled back from an 11-2 deficit Saturday only to lose 13-12 to the Catamounts. "We knew we had to sweep our last six conference games to win the championship. We won five of six. These kids are tough. They battle their hearts out."

Charleston (36-19, 18-9 SoCon), which has already clubbed a SoCon single-season record 122 home runs and scored a record 590 runs, will play at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Riley Park against the winner of Tuesday's SoCon Tournament play-in game between Davidson and Western Carolina.

The Citadel will play Wofford at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the other play-in game, with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Elon at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Other Wednesday matchups feature Western Carolina vs. Furman and UNC Greensboro vs. Georgia Southern.

"I just see the tournament as being so wide open," Pawlowski said. "Coming into the last weekend, we could have finished anywhere from first to sixth. That tells you about the parity and about how little separates the top from the bottom."

Pawlowski's assessment looks accurate.

Six different teams have won the tournament in the last six years ,and this is the first time the regular season champion has finished with less than 20 conference victories.

But Citadel coach Fred Jordan still sees Elon and Charleston as the favorites.

"When you look at our league, we're No. 8 (in RPI) in the country, so that means it's a very difficult league," Jordan said.

"Unfortunately for the College of Charleston and Elon, you get beat up a lot more in this league now than you used to, so it hurts them from an overall standpoint But both those clubs would have to be the favorites, in my opinion."

The Cougars' power may give them an edge.

Michael Harrington has 26 homers and 78 RBIs. Jeremie Tice is hitting .410 with 22 homers and 79 RBIs and Brandon Sizemore has 18 homers and 78 RBIs.

"With good teaching, they've been taught how to have a great approach at the plate," Pawlowski said. "Our hitting coach (Chris Morris) has done a tremendous job with them. The biggest thing is they have confidence. They go to the plate, they have confidence, they have a great idea. They have just had a tremendous offensive year. It will be hard to duplicate the numbers our guys have put up this year. It's amazing what they've done."