Las Vegas native Ben Lasater didn't attract much attention from Division I schools last summer, despite batting .354 in his sophomore year at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif.

So the former Foothill High School standout took matters into his own hands, exchanging e-mail and phone calls with several schools in hope of getting a scholarship with a four-year school.

College of Charleston coach John Pawlowski decided to give the 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound infielder a chance, and now his only regret is that he didn't discover Lasater earlier -- especially after the junior recently delivered one of the biggest hits of the Cougars' season.

Lasater drilled a game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the 16th inning to carry College of Charleston to a 5-4 victory over Notre Dame on June 2 in the opening round of the NCAA Lexington (Ky.) Regional -- a game that tied for the second longest in NCAA regional history.

The 11th-ranked Cougars (46-16, 20-7 Southern Conference) went on to beat Ball State 11-0 and host Kentucky 7-4 to win the regional title. They advanced to this weekend's Atlanta Super Regional against No. 4 Georgia Tech, where they lost to the host Yellow Jackets 5-0 on Friday in the first game of the best-of-3 series.

Still, without Lasater's heroics against Notre Dame, College of Charleston probably wouldn't have been in position to play Georgia Tech a week later.

"It was unbelievable. We had tried everything we could possibly do," Pawlowski said of that game against the Fighting Irish. "We pinch-ran a guy who could run a little bit, and we put him in motion and let Ben do his thing, and he smokes a double down in the left-field corner. ... He certainly came through in a big way for us."

Lasater, who went 2-for-4 in Friday's loss, said it was the first time he had won a game with a walk-off hit.

"I've hit in the go-ahead run, but not really the game winner," said Lasater, who batted .357 at the regional and is batting .287 with three home runs and 22 RBIs overall. "It was awesome. I'd say it's probably the best moment I've had so far. Being able to end the game, especially in a regional against Notre Dame, ranks pretty high on my list of accomplishments."

Lasater has started 45 of the team's 62 games, splitting time between first base, third base and designated hitter.

He has shined as Charleston's starting third baseman throughout its impressive postseason run, including a season-best seven-game winning streak through the Southern Conference tournament and Lexington regional.

"I wish we could've had him before this year, because he's done a tremendous job for us," Pawlowski said. "One of the great things is he's very versatile. He can play a lot of different positions. He's just an all-around good baseball player. He's fundamentally sound."

Lasater, who played junior varsity baseball his first two years at Silverado High, played varsity his last two years of high school at Foothill, batting over .400 his senior year.

He attended Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif., for two years, redshirting his first year, before transferring to Saddleback.

Lasater checked out the College of Charleston, located in Charleston, S.C., at the urging of a former teammate.

"I was just e-mailing schools in the middle of the summer, after the draft," Lasater said. "I went on a visit and saw the school, and I was good to go."

Pawlowski said all the feedback about Lasater was positive.

"We called Saddleback and heard very good things about him. He has a great work ethic and is a good person on and off the field," he said. "He came to see us, and it worked out to be a great fit for us.

"He's got a ton of potential offensively. Talking with scouts, they say he's got the potential to hit a lot of home runs and drive the ball. If he can get stronger over the offseason, he's going to have a lot more life in his bat next year."

For now, Lasater's sole focus is on helping the Cougars advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. They need to beat Georgia Tech today and Sunday to get there.

Both games are scheduled for 10 a.m. PST, with Sunday's possible Game 3 to be televised on ESPN.

"We have a pitcher on our team who went to Omaha with Georgia a couple years ago and he said, 'You'll die a happy man if you go to Omaha,' " Lasater said. "He said it's the greatest thing ever."