CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina baseball team will open up its 2021 season this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20-21, with a three-game series versus the No. 16 nationally-ranked Duke Blue Devils at Springs Brooks Stadium.
  • Opening Day for Coastal Carolina baseball will have to wait one more day, as the schedule for Opening Weekend versus the No. 16 nationally-ranked Duke Blue Devils has been changed due to wet weather on Friday, Feb. 19.
 
The updated schedule is below:
Game 1 – Saturday, Feb. 20 – 2 p.m. ET
Game 2 – Sunday, Feb. 21 – Noon ET
Game 3 – Sunday, Feb. 21 – approx. 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game
 
• Tickets for the originally scheduled game for Friday, Feb. 19, will be good for the second game of the doubleheader (Game 3) on Sunday, Feb. 21.

Health and safety protocols for attendance will remain in place to include, but not limited to:

• Reduced capacity based on physical distancing guidelines.
• Face Coverings WILL BE required.
• Creation of "buffer" around the field and/or team areas (i.e. dugouts, bullpens).
• Seating in General Admission (i.e. grass berm and boardwalk areas) will be assigned due to social distancing requirements.
• Use of digital or mobile ticketing to reduce touchpoints.
• Reduced capacity of shuttles.
• Discouragement of tailgating in parking lots to prevent congregation of individuals (No tents will be allowed).
• Cashless or touchless payment options (when applicable) for concessions along with pre-packaged food and beverage options.
• Increased cleaning of high traffic areas during events.
• No printed gameday programs or rosters will be available.

Coastal Carolina University and the Department of Athletics is committed to providing a safe environment for the enjoyment of our patrons that attend our home intercollegiate athletic events. Individuals that disregard health and safety protocols may be asked to leave.
  • Coastal enters the season ranked No. 23 in the preseason Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 31 in the Perfect Game preseason poll.
• The Chanticleers return eight position starters from last year's team that was off to an 11-5 start to the season.
• While two-year starting shortstop Scott McKeon is gone, the Chants return preseason All-American Parker Chavers to the lineup after missing last year due to recovering from offseason surgery.
• While the Chants lost two weekend starters and their closer from a year ago, a total of 12 new pitchers will look to join a handful of experienced pitchers in 2020.
  • Ranked No. 16 nationally by the Baseball America Top 25 preseason poll, the Duke Blue Devils were picked to finish fourth overall in the 2021 ACC Coastal Division in the conference preseason poll.
• The Blue Devils, who were 12-4 last season before it was abruptly canceled, is led by two preseason All-Americans in right-handed pitcher Cooper Stinson (NCBWA third team) and Michael Rothenberg (D1Baseball third team).
• The Blue Devils return 25 players that saw action in their 16 games last season, including eight starters that made 10 starts or more on the season.
  • The Chanticleers and Blue Devils have met just twice on the diamond with the two splitting the contests (1-1).
• Duke won the first meeting between these two teams by a score of 7-5 back in 2014 at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Park which served as the home field for the Chants in both 2013 and 2014.
• Coastal won the last match-up 10-6 in February of 2016 at Springs Brooks Stadium.
  • For the first time in the series history, Coastal Carolina and Duke will play each other in a three-game series.
• The Opening Weekend three-game series is the first for the Chanticleers since hosting Pittsburgh for three games in 2014. Coastal has hosted a tournament on the opening weekend of play every year since then.
• The three-game series versus Duke is the first three-game weekend series versus an ACC opponent since playing at No. 25 Georgia Tech in April 2016 and the first three-game series at home versus an ACC foe since Pitt in 2014.
  • Since 1974, Coastal Carolina is 32-13 overall in season openers.
• Since 2000, the Chanticleers are 19-2 in season openers with the lone two losses coming to Pittsburgh to start the 2014 season and at Campbell in the 2005 season opener.
• In home openers, the Chanticleers are 35-9, including a perfect 6-0 mark at Springs Brooks Stadium.
• Since head coach Gary Gilmore took over at his alma mater in 1996, Coastal is 21-4 in season openers.
  • In home openers, the Chanticleers are 35-9, including a perfect 6-0 mark at Springs Brooks Stadium.
• The Chants have posted a 23-2 record when playing its first home game of the season under Gilmore.
• CCU's lone home-opening losses under Gilmore were versus Pittsburgh in 2014 and North Carolina in 1998.
  • Coastal will enjoy #ThePalace for the first month of the season, as the Chanticleers are scheduled to play 15 of their first 16 games at home in Springs Brooks Stadium.
• Last season, the Chants were 11-4 at home overall prior to the cancellation.
• In fact, CCU played just one road game last season, a loss at then-No. 7 NC State on March 4, 2020.
• Since the 2015 season, Coastal has recorded 20 wins or more at home each year, outside of last year's shortened season, and has tallied 133 wins at Springs Brooks Stadium.
  • With Opening Day scheduled for Friday, Feb. 19, it would have marked 345 days since the last Coastal Carolina baseball game was played. However, with the series being moved back a day due to weather, it is now going to be 346 days between games for the men in Teal.
• Coastal's last game came at home in Springs Brooks Stadium on March 11, 2020, a 10-4 win over Wake Forest.
  • Technically, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the two-time defending Sun Belt Conference Champions having won the conference tournament championship in both 2018 and 2019.
• The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Coastal Carolina, the two-time defending Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament champions, was picked to win the Sun Belt East Division in the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Coaches' Preseason Poll.
• The Chanticleers garnered a league-best 10 first-place votes and a total of 69 points in the annual preseason poll.
• Coastal was chosen in front of both South Alabama and Georgia Southern who tied for second with 51 points apiece.
  • Coastal Carolina redshirt junior outfielder Parker Chavers and sophomore third baseman Cooper Weiss were both selected to the 2021 preseason All-Sun Belt team by the league's head coaches.
• Chavers, who missed last season while recovering from offseason surgery, played in and started 57 games in 2019 as a sophomore. He hit .316 with 15 home runs, four triples, nine doubles, 54 RBIs, and 54 runs scored on the year, while also posting a team-high .612 slugging percentage, an on-base percentage of .435, and swiped 10 stolen bases on the year.
• A 2020 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American last season, Weiss played in 15 games, starting 12 at third base. He led the team in hitting at .372 with two home runs, five doubles, and 14 RBIs, which ranked 10th in the Sun Belt overall. He recorded five doubles, which were a team-high and were tied for eighth in the Sun Belt, and posted a .628 slugging percentage on the year, which ranked ninth in the Sun Belt.
 
For complete coverage of CCU baseball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalBaseball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.