Cougars want a sweep

The College of Charleston baseball team is thinking sweep, and the Cougars know that nothing less will do if they want to win their fourth Southern Conference regular season title in the last five years.

Charleston plays at Western Carolina in a three-game Southern Conference series, with game one set for 7 p.m. tonight. If the Cougars can take all three, they'll clinch a tie for the league's regular season title and wrap up the No. 1 seed in next week's SoCon Tournament at Joe Riley Park.

"We're in a position now where I'm glad we have an opportunity to control our own destiny," said Charleston coach John Pawlowski. "We don't have to watch the scoreboard. We know that if we win out, we win this league. That's what we've talked about all year, putting ourselves in this position.

Charleston (34-18, 16-8 SoCon) trails league-leading Elon (39-16, 19-8), which has concluded its regular season schedule. If both teams finish tied, they will be recognized as regular season co-champions, but Charleston will earn the No. 1 seed in the tournament after taking two of three games from Elon earlier this season.

Game 2 of the three-game series with Western Carolina will be played at 7 p.m. Friday, with Game 3 set for 2 p.m. Saturday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 910-AM.

Under Pawlowski, the Cougars are 24-7 against the Catamounts, including 8-4 in games played at Western Carolina.

However, Western Carolina (27-24, 13-11 SoCon) has been on a roll of late. The Catamounts are on an eight-game winning streak, including series sweeps of Wofford and The Citadel.

Charleston, meanwhile, is 6-6 on the road in the SoCon and has been swept in its last two road series.

"It's tough to go on the road and sweep," Pawlowski said. "These guys just have to stay focused. We've got a lot of work to do. Western Carolina is a very good team. They played very well last week and they're playing a lot better. It won't be easy. But I'm very confident in our team and certainly confident in what we're capable of doing."