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COLUMBUS – The 2018 season officially gets underway on Friday for the Columbus State University baseball team as they open up a three-game series at West Alabama. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Livingston, Ala. with a doubleheader set for Saturday.
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Series Schedule
Friday, Feb. 2 | 3:00 p.m. (
Stats |
Video)
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 1:00 p.m. (
Stats |
Video)
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 4:30 p.m. (
Stats |
Video)
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2017 in Review
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Columbus State posted a 29-21 overall record last season, finishing in a fourth-place tie in the Peach Belt Conference standings at 15-9. The Cougars reached the PBC Tournament as the No. 4 seed and went 0-2 in postseason play.
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Appleton on the Matchup
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"We're ready to get back out on the field and start a new season. We're bringing back a lot of our offense, so we feel that will be a strength of our team. Our weekend rotation looks completely different, so we will need some players to step up on the mound."
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Series History
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Columbus State and West Alabama are opening up the season against each other for the fourth time in the last eight years.
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Last Meeting
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CSU last played the Tigers to begin the 2015 season. The Cougars swept all three games at Ragsdale Field on their way to a 5-0 start.
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About West Alabama
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West Alabama is coming off a 38-21 season in 2017, in which it finished as the runner-up in the Gulf South Conference regular season and tournament, as well as the South Regional.
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The Tigers were voted as second in the GSC preseason poll.
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UWA lost five starting position players from last year along with its top starting pitcher.
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Sophomore pitcher Cole Waites and 2017 GSC Freshman of the Year Luke Phillips were preseason All-GSC selections.
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CSU Notes
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Head coach
Greg Appleton begins his 21
st season at the helm of the Cougar program and enters with a 724-395 (.647) record as CSU.
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Columbus State was picked to finish fifth in the Peach Belt Conference preseason poll.
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CSU returns seven of its nine everyday starters from last season, including 2017 All-American
Mason McClellan.
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The Cougars lost all three weekend starting pitchers from last season, but return
Kolton Ingram and
Perez Knowles who combined to allow just 17 earned runs in 91 innings of work.
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