COASTAL CAROLINA 7 LIBERTY 1

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The sixth-ranked Coastal Carolina University baseball team (44-6, 22-0 Big South) clinched its 13th Big South regular-season championship in a 7-1 win over Liberty (37-14, 18-5 Big South) May 15 in Lynchburg, Va. The Chants belted out 10 hits and took advantage of four Liberty errors to clinch a series win over the Flames.

The Chants manufactured a run in the top of the first. Junior Rico Noel was hit by a pitch to lead off the game. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from junior Scott Woodward. Noel stole third and scored on a groundout from senior Jose Iglesias.

Coastal started the third inning much like it began the first. Noel walked to open the inning and moved to second on a Woodward sacrifice bunt. Noel scored on a single to right by Iglesias, giving the Chants a 2-0 lead.

The Chants scored a pair of runs in the fourth. Sophomore Taylor Motter extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single to lead off the inning. He advanced to second as Kenneth Negron could not handle the grounder in left field. Motter went to third on a sacrifice bunt from redshirt-senior Chance Gilmore and scored on a double in the right field gap by freshman Josh Conway. Noel walked to put runners on first and second. Both runners stole a base as Woodward struck out and a throwing error from Nathan Thompson brought in Conway to make it 4-0 Coastal.

Liberty loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, but scored only one run. Junior Cody Wheeler walked Austin Taylor to open the inning. Taylor would move to third on a Trey Wimmer double. The Flames loaded the bases as Kenneth Negron reached on an infield single to third. Wheeler got Curran Redal to pop out, but Matt Williams singled through the right side to score Taylor. Wheeler then struck out Tyler Bream and Thompson, both looking, to end the Liberty threat.

Coastal would load the bases in the sixth, but would not score. Gilmore singled and went to second as Conway's sacrifice bunt was mishandled by Shawn Teufel. Teufel walked Noel to load the bases. He struck out Woodward and the Flames would bring in Cameron Giannini. The reliever would induce a fielder's choice out at the plate and a groundout to end the inning.

Coastal would plate three in the top of the seventh. Senior Adam Rice took Giannini's first pitch over the wall in left field. It was his eighth home run of the season. With one out, Motter reached second on a Bream error. He went to third on a Gilmore single. Giannini then walked Conway and Noel, scoring Motter. The final run came in on a Woodward sacrifice fly that scored Gilmore.

Gilmore had three hits to lead the Chants, who have now won 32 straight Big South games. La Stella and Rice had two hits apiece, while Noel and Motter scored a pair of runs. For Liberty, Redal had two hits.

Wheeler earns his 10th win of the season and his 26th as a Chant, going six innings and allowing seven hits, a run with seven strikeouts and a walk. Hessler picks up his first save of the year, allowing no hits and striking out a batter in the final three innings. The loss went to Shawn Teufel, who lost for only the second time this season. He allowed three earned runs and eight hits while striking out six in 5.1 innings of work.

Coastal Carolina won its fourth straight Big South regular-season title and will be the top seed in the 2010 Big South Baseball Championships in Rock Hill, S.C., May 25-29. The Chants also tied their Division I record for wins in a regular season. The Chants also had 44 wins in 2005 and 2007.

Coastal Carolina and Liberty conclude the three-game series Sunday, May 16 at 1 p.m., in Lynchburg, Va.

SOUTH CAROLINA 5 ARKANSAS 0

Fayetteville, Ark. - South Carolina starting pitcher Sam Dyson pitched a six-hit complete game shutout with the offense backed by a two-run homer by Brady Thomas as the Gamecocks defeated Arkansas 5-0 on Saturday afternoon to clinch a three-game SEC baseball series at Baum Stadium. The Gamecocks are now 40-11 and 19-7 in the SEC while the loss drops Arkansas to 38-13 and 16-10 in conference play. With the win, it marks the 11th straight season that South Carolina has won 40 or more games dating back to 2000. The two teams will meet in the series finale set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be televised live on Cox Sports as well as a tape delay broadcast on CSS and ESPN3.com. The game can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com.

Dyson had a tremendous outing as he limited the Razorbacks to just six hits and walked only two on the afternoon. He struck out eight batters and went to only three three-ball counts in the game. He is now 5-4 on the year. This is his second complete game shutout of the season and the third by a Gamecock pitcher. Dyson hurled a seven-inning complete game shutout in a win over Georgia and Blake Cooper had a complete game shutout in a win over Ole Miss. Arkansas starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger suffered the loss and is now 5-3 on the year. He worked 7.2 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

"I was happy to see Dyson have a great day," said South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner. "He pitched extremely well. Bolsinger matched him for the most part for Arkansas. Dyson works hard and his velocity was good today. He gave us a chance to win and we played great defense behind him."

The Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Adrian Morales reached base with one out on a fielder's choice and Brady Thomas drew a two-out walk to give Carolina a pair of runners. On a 3-1 pitch, Bobby Haney drove a RBI single up the middle scoring Morales.

That lead was extended to 3-0 in the top of the fourth as Thomas delivered with a two-run homer to right center. Jeffery Jones reached base with a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Bolsinger. With two outs and a 1-0 count, Thomas drilled his seventh home run of the year to right field. Thomas has now tallied 19 extra base hits out of his 30 hits for the season.

South Carolina added to the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to go ahead 5-0 and chase Bolsinger in the process. The Gamecocks caught a break in the start of the frame as Scott Wingo reached base on a fielding error by Arkansas first baseman Andy Wilkins. After a sacrifice bunt by Merrifield advanced Wingo to second, Jackie Bradley Jr. roped a double to the gap in right center scoring Wingo. That was followed up by a RBI base hit from Christian Walker to right field scoring Bradley.

Both teams finished with six hits on the afternoon. Six different Gamecocks tallied hits with Arkansas led by shortstop Tim Carver, who was 2-for-4 for the Razorbacks.

Heading into the season, the Gamecocks were one of only eight Division I schools and the only SEC school to have recorded 40 or more wins each year dating back to 2000.

The Gamecocks have won eight of nine SEC series on the year.

South Carolina will either start sophomore left-hander Nolan Belcher (3-0, 2.19 ERA) or freshman left-hander Tyler Webb (2-2, 3.82 ERA) in Sunday's series finale. The starter for Arkansas is to be announced.

CLEMSON 17 WAKE FOREST 5

Winston-Salem, NC - The Clemson Tigers scored 10 runs in the fifth inning en route to a 17-5 victory over Wake Forest in front of 679 fans at Wake Forest Baseball Park on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers, who evened the series 1-1, improved to 33-18 overall and 15-11 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons fell to 14-36 overall and 5-21 in ACC play.

Kyle Parker and Brad Miller hit home runs in the first and second innings, respectively, to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead. The Demon Deacons tied the score with three runs in the fourth inning, but Clemson erupted for 10 runs on seven hits in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach.

Tiger starter Scott Weismann (5-2) pitched 5.0 innings to earn the win. He allowed seven hits, four runs, and three walks with four strikeouts. Kevin Brady, Jonathan Meyer, and David Haselden combined to pitch the final 4.0 innings to close out the game.

Michael Dimock (2-9), the first of seven Demon Deacon pitchers, suffered the loss. He yielded four hits, seven runs (six earned), and one walk with five strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.

The Tigers took the game's first lead in the first inning. John Hinson worked a two-out walk and Parker followed with a two-run homer to center, his 18th long ball of the season and sixth of his career against the Demon Deacons. It was also Parker's 44th career home run, which moved him into sole possession of eighth place in the Tiger recordbook.

Miller led off the second inning with a long solo home run to right field, his fifth long ball of the year and second of the series.

In the fourth inning, Ryan Semeniuk led off with a double off the wall in left-center and moved to third on Steven Brooks' groundout. Mike Murray then belted an opposite-field, two-run homer down the left-field line on a 3-0 pitch, his fourth long ball of the season. Two batters later, Mac Williamson lined a single to center, stole second, and scored on Carlos Lopez's two-out double to left-center to tie the score 3-3.

Clemson came right back and regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning with 10 runs, the most by the Tigers in an inning in 2010. Leadoff batter Richie Shaffer reached when his hard-hit ball to left-center was dropped by Semeniuk. Wilson Boyd lined the next pitch to center for a single to score Shaffer. Phil Pohl was hit-by-pitch and Will Lamb loaded the bases with no outs on an infield single. Mike Freeman struck out for out #1, then Hinson hit a chopper on an 0-2 pitch in front of the plate and reached on a single to score Boyd. Pohl scored on a wild pitch and Parker walked to load the bases. Jeff Schaus then bounced a single up the middle on a 1-2 pitch to plate Lamb and Hinson. Parker scored on a passed ball as Schaus moved to second, then Schaus stole third. On ball-four to Miller, Schaus came home on a wild pitch and Shaffer reached on an infield single. After Boyd loaded the bases with a walk, Pohl lined a single to center to score Miller and Shaffer. Lamb followed with a single to left field to score Boyd, giving the Tigers a 13-3 lead. The 10-run frame tied for Clemson's fifth-highest in the fifth inning in school history.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Semeniuk drew a one-out walk and scored on Brooks' double over the third-base bag.

Schaus hit a one-out triple to left field and scored when shortstop Pat Blair booted Miller's routine grounder in the sixth inning. Shaffer followed with a double over the third-base bag to score Miller, upping the Tigers' lead to 15-4.

In the top of the eighth inning, Schaus reached on a one-out walk and Jason Stolz followed with a single up the middle. Two batters later, Addison Johnson ripped a liner to right field with two outs. Williamson slid feet-first but dropped the ball and Schaus scored on the play.

Matt Conway, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 13 games, led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a long solo homer to left field, his fourth home run of the year.

In the ninth inning, Lamb reached on an error to lead off the inning but was erased two batters later on Hinson's fielder's choice. Chris Epps laced a two-out single to right and Schaus singled to right field to score Hinson.

Schaus went 3-for-5 with a triple, three RBIs, three runs, and a walk to lead Clemson, who outhit Wake Forest 14-11. Miller went 1-for-3 with a homer, three runs, and a walk, while Shaffer went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, and two runs. Freeman's 18-game hitting streak came to an end as well.

Semeniuk, Brooks, and Conway totaled two hits apiece to lead Wake Forest.

Clemson and Wake Forest will play the series-finale on Sunday at 1:00 PM.