Cougars confident in relievers

The College of Charleston baseball team is noted for its high-powered offense, but pitching is going to be every bit as important if the Cougars are going to be successful in this week's NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional.

The Cougars (42-17) face North Carolina State (38-22) at 7 p.m. on Friday. Host Coastal Carolina (51-7) meets Stony Brook (29-25) at 1 p.m. on Friday in the double elimination event.

Cougars coach Monte Lee is confident in his starting pitchers, but he's also proud of the guys he can bring in from the bullpen. Lee said each brings different strengths to the mound.

"Tom (Schiller) is a guy we like to use in long relief situations. He's a guy who can go long relief or short depending on how our starting pitchers do. He can throw the fifth, sixth and seventh to get to our closer, our short reliever. He throws strikes.

"We like to bring him and Owen (Brittle) into games because those guys are going to throw strikes. They're going to make you swing the bat. They're not overpowering, but they're going to make you swing the bat."depending on how our starting pitchers do. He can throw the fifth, sixth and seventh to get to our closer, our short reliever. He throws strikes.

"We like to bring him and Owen (Brittle) into games because those guys are going to throw strikes. They're going to make you swing the bat. They're not overpowering, but they're going to make you swing the bat."

Casey Lucchese and Heath Hembree are the Cougars' power relievers.

"Heath's got a power fastball (he's been clocked as high as 99 mph this season). Lucchese has a good fastball and a power breaking ball. Those are guys you try to bring in swing and miss situations. Heath's got a plus fastball and Lucchese has a plus breaking ball," Lee said.

"If you get in a situation where you have a one- or two-run lead and the other team has runners in scoring position and you've got to get a strikeout, those are the guys you want to go to."

Hembree, a junior from Cowpens who played his freshman season at South Carolina before transferring to Spartanburg Methodist Junior College, is expected to be selected in the major league draft next week. But first, he has his sights set on the Myrtle Beach Regional.

"This is the goal we had at the beginning of the season," said Hembree, who has a 5-2 record and a team-high four saves. "We've been playing some pretty good baseball. We're excited about it. We're in it to win it and we really think we can.

"Our starting pitchers have been great. They get us into the sixth or seventh and we're going to have to make sure we step up and finish it. Everybody's going to have to be on their A game and be ready to pitch when it's their time."

Lucchese, a junior with a 3-0 record and 3.60 ERA, said this regional has been a long time coming.

"Our freshman year, we all thought we'd get in. We had 39 wins and didn't make it. So I'm very excited about our first regional," he said. "We're confident, but we haven't seen (Coastal's) No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers. We know they're a top-five team in the nation. It's going to be a battle. And we can't overlook N.C. State."

"It's pretty clear to us when we go into a game that we need to keep the score how it is and give our offense a chance to score more runs," said Schiller, a senior who is 5-1 this season with two saves. "We feel pretty good going in. We've faced Coastal and done pretty good against them (College of Charleston won both meetings this year), but they're the No. 1 seed. And we know we're going to be battling an N.C. State team that's been playing good baseball lately. It's important for us to come out and do the same."

The relievers know their roles, and Lee has confidence they will be able to fulfill those roles this weekend.

"Their job is to try to keep the score right where it is and keep the other team from having a big inning. You don't want to get in a big inning situation in any game, but especially in a regional," Lee said. "It's important that those guys can come in for however many innings they're going to get and can come in a hold a lead or hold it right where it is so the offense can possibly score another run or two. That's the bottom line."

"That's what your relievers are there for. It boils down to quality starts. If you get a quality start and you score when you have opportunities, your chances of winning are pretty dang good. And your bullpen is a huge factor. If you look at the teams playing in (the College World Series in) Omaha, their record after seven innings is outstanding."