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Coastal Carolina’s Erica Peake advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 200 meters Friday, posting a time of 23.58 seconds to finish 14th out of 48 runners in the first round of the NCAA East Preliminary.
The raw numbers alone, from the sterling earned-run average to the unmatched combination of wins and saves, were enough to justify Aaron Burke’s selection as one of the Big South’s co-pitchers of the year, but nothing explains his value to Coastal Carolina’s baseball team better than the performance he’s put together during the conference tournament this week.
As Coastal Carolina baseball coach Gary Gilmore watched High Point put runners on first and second with one out in the ninth inning of the teams’ Big South semifinals showdown Friday, he was thinking about how the Panthers were just one hit away from forcing another game. And quite frankly, he didn’t know who he would pitch if it happened.