Dec. 20, 2012
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina baseball program, who has won each of the last six Big South regular season and tournament championships, is ranked 38th in the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I 2013 Pre-Season poll.
The Chanticleers were 42-19 last season and played in an NCAA Regional for the 10th time over the last 11 years.
Also making the Collegiate Baseball top 40 pre-season poll were 2013 Coastal Carolina opponents North Carolina (2nd), Kentucky (8th), North Carolina State (11th), San Diego (12th) and Georgia Tech (17th).
Kentucky will be a part of the Caravelle Resort Tournament (Feb. 22-24) and play Coastal Carolina Feb. 23 at 3 pm. The following week, San Diego and North Carolina State will be a part of the annual Caravelle Resort's Baseball at the Beach (Feb. 28-Mar. 3). San Diego and Coastal will open the event on Feb. 28 and the Wolfpack and will face the Chants on Mar. 3 in the final game of the event. Coastal will travel to North Carolina April 16 and play a three-game weekend series at Georgia Tech May 3-5.
The Chanticleers return four starters from last season, including centerfielder Jacob May, shortstop Brian Pruett, second baseman Justin Creel and left fielder Ted Blackman. Also back are a majority of the pitching staff that finished third in the nation in ERA, including Tyler Herb, Aaron Burke, Ryan Connolly, Austin Wallace, Patrick Corbett and Austin Kerr.
Coastal Carolina will open the season Feb. 15-17 hosting James Madison for a three-game series. The first game will be played in Florence at Francis Marion's Sparrow Stadium. The remaining two games, as well as the remainder of Coastal's 2013 home schedule, will be played at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
Coastal Carolina baseball season tickets (not including the Baseball at the Beach Tournament) are on sale now for $100 to the general public and $80 to CCU faculty and staff. Unlike the past, a donation to the Chanticleer Athletic Foundation (CAF) is not required to purchase baseball season tickets this year. However, the three sections behind home plate that have been reserved for season ticket holders will be allocated based on CAF priority points. To be a part of the "Select-A-Seat" event prior to the start of the season, fans must purchase their season tickets by Jan. 29.
The remainder of the stadium will be general admission seating. For more information, contact the CCU Athletics Ticket Office at 843-347-8499.
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'sNCAA Div. I Pre-Season Poll(As of Dec. 20, 2012)
Rank School ('12 Final Record) Points1. Arkansas (46-22) 4962. North Carolina (46-16) 4953. Vanderbilt (35-28) 4944. Louisiana St. (47-18) 4875. UCLA (48-16) 4846. Oregon (46-19) 4827. South Carolina (49-20) 4818. Kentucky (45-18) 4789. Stanford (41-18) 47610. Oregon St. (40-20) 473
11. N.C. State (43-20) 47012. San Diego (40-17) 46713. Mississippi St. (40-24) 46414. Oklahoma (42-25) 46215. Texas Christian (40-22) 46016. Arizona St. (36-20) 45817. Georgia Tech. (38-26) 45618. Arizona (48-17) 45419. Florida St. (50-17) 45220. Rice (41-19) 450
21. Texas (30-22) 44822. Louisville (41-22) 44623. Cal. St. Fullerton (36-21) 44524. Florida (47-20) 44325. Mississippi (37-26) 43726. Texas A&M (43-18) 43427. Clemson (35-28) 42928. Miami, Fla. (36-23) 42729. Georgia (31-26) 42330. U.C. Irvine (31-25) 420
31. Missouri St. (40-22) 41832. Wichita St. (35-25) 41533. New Mexico (37-24) 41334. Kent St. (47-20) 41135. Virginia (39-19-1) 40836. Southern Mississippi (32-24) 40537. East Carolina (36-24-1) 40338. Coastal Carolina (42-19) 40039. Dallas Baptist (41-19) 39740. Pepperdine (36-23) 395
OTHER TEAMS RECEIVING VOTES: Central Florida, Baylor, Oklahoma St., Long Beach St., Cal Poly, U.C. Santa Barbara, Tulane, St. John's, South Florida, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Florida Atlantic, College of Charleston, Fresno St., Indiana St., Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Nevada, San Diego St., Nevada-Las Vegas, South Alabama, Florida International, Gonzaga, Texas St., New Mexico St., Western Carolina, Appalachian St., Georgia Southern, Sam Houston St., Southeastern Louisiana, Southern California, Washington, California, Washington St., Oral Roberts, Austin Peay St., Stony Brook, S.C. Upstate, Kennesaw St., Mercer, Florida Gulf Coast, St. Louis, Rhode Island, Virginia Commonwealth, Liberty, Campbell, High Point, Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan St., Ohio St., Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, N.C. Wilmington, Hofstra, James Madison, Valparaiso, Manhattan, Canisius, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Bethune-Cookman, Southern, Bryant, Monmouth, Belmont.
