Time to focus

Coastal baseball opens a three-game series at Gardner-Webb (6 p.m.) this evening that's just as important as the team's non-conference visit to North Carolina was on Wednesday.

Sure, the Bulldogs are a mediocre baseball team at best, but Coastal cannot afford a loss this weekend. Even one of them would damage Coastal's resume more than Wednesday's win benefited it. Gardner-Webb is 16-15 and 153rd in the current RPI.

The Chants will play a huge series next weekend at VMI -- we'll find out in the Liberty-VMI series this weekend if the Keydets are legit -- that is shaping up to be a good one. The Keydets haven't played much of a schedule -- OK, they've played a terrible schedule -- but they've been one of the best hitting clubs in the nation this year and could be a legitimate challenger to Coastal's pitching staff.

A loss or two to VMI, which is coming off a win over No. 2 Virginia, would be quite costly to Coastal's chances of hosting a regional or being a national seed if it/they was/were coupled with a loss to Gardner-Webb this weekend. That's why the Chanticleers, who are off the best start in school history, better not take their foot off the accelerator this weekend.

Sure, the Bulldogs are a mediocre baseball team at best, but Coastal cannot afford a loss this weekend. Even one of them would damage Coastal's resume more than Wednesday's win benefited it. Gardner-Webb is 16-15 and 153rd in the current RPI.

The Chants will play a huge series next weekend at VMI -- we'll find out in the Liberty-VMI series this weekend if the Keydets are legit -- that is shaping up to be a good one. The Keydets haven't played much of a schedule -- OK, they've played a terrible schedule -- but they've been one of the best hitting clubs in the nation this year and could be a legitimate challenger to Coastal's pitching staff.

A loss or two to VMI, which is coming off a win over No. 2 Virginia, would be quite costly to Coastal's chances of hosting a regional or being a national seed if it/they was/were coupled with a loss to Gardner-Webb this weekend. That's why the Chanticleers, who are off the best start in school history, better not take their foot off the accelerator this weekend.