CAA Baseball

Charleston Baseball Hosts North Carolina A&T For Conference Series

Charleston Baseball Hosts North Carolina A&T For Conference Series

College of Charleston baseball hosts North Carolina A&T for a run of three games to open CAA conference play for both teams.

Mar 22, 2024 by R. R. Ellis
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North Carolina A&T baseball, who have looked strong in non-conference play, will trek to the College of Charleston to face a Cougars program looking to return to the league’s mountaintop after a regular-season conference championship two years ago. 

After just 19 wins a season ago, NC A&T (15-5 overall) is well on pace to smash that number as the Aggies roll into CAA play on a four-game winning streak, which included a sweep over reigning Atlantic 10 Conference champion George Mason last weekend. 

The first few weekends of CAA play will determine whether NCAT baseball is more than just a flash in the pan, but Aggies fans have plenty of reason to be encouraged so far.

Charleston (13-6) is off to another solid stretch to begin its season, though the Cougars’ mood has cooled off a bit after they originally rocketed to a 7-0 start. They've won their last two non-conference games (against Wofford and Georgia Southern) and will bring that streak into their series against the Aggies, as well as one of the most intriguing pro prospects outside the major-conference level in all of college baseball.

North Carolina A&T Baseball Scores

Charleston Baseball Scores

How to Watch NC A&T Baseball vs. Charleston Baseball 2024

Watch NC A&T Aggies baseball play against Charleston Cougars baseball on FloBaseball and the FloSports app.

FloBaseball will be streaming CAA Men’s Baseball and BIG EAST Baseball all season long.

Player to Watch: Cole Mathis, Charleston

An honorable mention must be given to the Aggies’ Tatsunori Negishi as the native of Japan has been fantastic for A&T (.409/.547/.697 slash line in 19 games) since transferring in the offseason from Middle Tennessee State, being the key to the Aggies’ fast start. 

But pro prospects at the level of Cole Mathis don’t come around the CAA very often, and when there’s an opportunity to check him out before a major league organization snaps him up in the MLB Draft later this year, take advantage.

A two-way star who was selected as a NCBWA Second Team All-American last season, the Georgia native is listed as one of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects for the upcoming draft after a 2023 season in which he led the Cougars in both OPS and ERA and finished second in the esteemed Cape Cod League with 11 home runs this past summer.

There’s admittedly been a lot of change and adjustment for Mathis thus far this season, however, and it’s affected his production. Mathis has not pitched at all this year as the Charleston coaching staff has opted to make him solely a hitter, and though his 2024 campaign started with a bang as he was a single shy of the cycle in Charleston’s season-opener against Marshall in February, he’s since tapered off and only carries a .197 batting average going into conference play.

Getting back in the routine of conference play may be just what the junior needs to get back to numbers he’s used to, however, and it should double as a tough challenge for an Aggies pitching staff that has so far, looked much-improved from last series as A&T carries a 4.43 team ERA (third in the CAA) going into this weekend’s series.

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