12/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Coastal Carolina University baseball team is ranked 34th in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Fabulous 40 Preseason Poll, the newspaper announced Dec. 22. Junior Mike Costanzo (Springfield, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) also was named to the paper’s Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American Third Team.
Coastal is coming off a 40-23 record in 2004 in which the Chanticleers won their fourth straight Big South Tournament title and made a fourth straight trip to the NCAA regionals. Coastal returns 10 position players, including seven starters, and seven pitchers for the 2005 season.
Coastal plays five teams that were ranked in the top-40, including Clemson and East Carolina, who were ranked 21st and 32nd, respectively. The Chants play both teams at the Baseball at the Beach Tournament Feb. 18-20 at Coastal Federal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C. CCU plays Clemson twice in Clemson, S.C., March 29-30. Coastal also faces seventh-ranked North Carolina May 11 in Chapel Hill, N.C., and 13th-ranked Georgia Tech May 10, in Atlanta, Ga. The Chants then have a three-game series with Big South rival Winthrop May 20-22 in Rock Hill, S.C. The Eagles are ranked 28th in the preseason poll.
Texas was picked as the number one team in the country by CBN. The Longhorns were followed by Miami, Cal-State Fullerton, Tulane and Louisiana State in the top-five.
Costanzo, who was a second team all-Atlantic Region selection in 2004, was a third team selection at first base by CBN. He was the fifth player in Coastal history to earn the Big South Most Valuable Player honor in 2004 after hitting .359 with 21 doubles, 21 home runs and 74 runs-batted-in. Costanzo led the team in all four categories while leading the Big South in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (.740). He also was a First Team All-Big South performer. Costanzo holds the Coastal single-season record for runs-batted-in, breaking Frank Talotta’s record of 68 set in 1983. Costanzo also excelled on the mound, going 7-4 with one save in 66.2 innings of work. He earned the win in Coastal’s 5-3 victory over Birmingham-Souther in the winner’s bracket championship final, going five innings of relief and allowing only one run. This summer, Costanzo played with the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod League, belting a team-leading six home runs and adding 30 RBI, while allowing no earned runs in 15.2 innings on the mound.
Coastal opens the 2005 season Feb. 15 at Campbell. Game time is at 3 p.m.
College Baseball’s Fabulous 40 Preseason Poll (2004 Record)
1. Texas (58-15)
2. Miami (50-13)
3. Cal-State Fullerton (47-22)
4. Tulane (42-21)
5. Louisiana State (46-19)
6. Stanford (46-14)
7. North Carolina (43-21)
8. South Carolina (53-17)
9. Georgia (45-23)
10. Texas A&M (42-22)
11. Arizona State (41-18)
12. Arizona (36-27-1)
13. Georgia Tech (44-21)
14. Long Beach State (40-21)
15. Rice (46-14)
16. Mississippi (39-21)
17. Washington (39-20-1)
18. Florida State (45-23)
19. Mississippi State (35-24)
20. Notre Dame (51-12)
21. Clemson (39-26)
22. Florida (43-22)
23. Oklahoma State (38-24)
24. Central Florida (48-17)
25. Baylor (29-31)
26. Wichita State (49-16)
27. Virginia (44-15)
28. Winthrop (37-23)
29. Pepperdine (30-32)
30. Florida Atlantic (47-17)
31. Nebraska (36-23)
32. East Carolina (51-13)
33. Arkansas (45-24)
34. Coastal Carolina (40-23)
35. Michigan (34-26)
36. UC Irvine (34-21-1)
37. Texas Christian (39-26)
38. Vanderbilt (45-19)
39. Stetson (36-23)
40. Tennessee (38-24)
italics indicates a 2005 Coastal opponent
