CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina baseball team will host its first of two weekend tournaments this season at Springs Brooks Stadium with the CCU Baseball Tournament on Feb. 26-28. The tournament field includes Bryant, No. 23/27 West Virginia, and Kennesaw State.
SCHEDULE FOR CCU BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
• The three-day tournament will consist of two games each day with Coastal playing in the afternoon game all three days. Notice an update to Friday's schedule below.
Friday
10:30 a.m. – Kennesaw State vs. No. 23/27 West Virginia
3 p.m. – Bryant vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)
Saturday
11 a.m. – Bryant vs. Kennesaw State
3 p.m. – No. 23/27 West Virginia vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)
Sunday
11 a.m. – No. 23/27 West Virginia vs. Bryant
3 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+/WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM)
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.
HOME SWEET HOME
• 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.
• After playing a road game at Wake Forest on Tuesday (Feb. 23), CCU's next 11 games will come at home.
• 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 134 wins at Springs Brooks Stadium.
TOURNEY TIME
• Each season, the Chanticleers host two or three tournaments at Springs Brooks Stadium to start the season.
• This weekend will be the first of two weekend tournaments this season for the Chants, as the CCU Baseball Tournament will consist of four teams in No. 23/27 West Virginia, Kennesaw State, Bryant, and CCU.
• The Chants are no strangers to any of the three teams in this weekend's event, as CCU is 9-4 all-time versus West Virginia, 1-0 versus Kennesaw State, and 2-0 against Bryant.
• In fact, Coastal was victorious over both West Virginia (14-2) and Kennesaw State (13-5) last year in a doubleheader on Feb. 23, 2020, as part of the Brittain Resorts Invitational.
ANOTHER RANKED OPPONENT
• The Chanticleers will be playing their third nationally-ranked top-25 opponent of the young season in No. 23/27 West Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Springs Brooks Stadium.
• Coastal is 2-2 this season versus teams ranked in the top-25, going 1-2 versus then-No. 16 Duke on Opening Weekend (Feb. 20-21) and then defeating No. 16/24 Wake Forest 4-1 in 12 innings on Tuesday night (Feb. 23) in Winston-Salem.
FIRST 15
• Coastal is 2-2 to start this season having dropped two games to the Duke Blue Devils on Opening Weekend before holding off Wake Forest 4-1 in a Tuesday night tilt this week.
• Last season, Coastal started 10-5 over the first 15 games, which included a six-game winning streak.
• Two years ago in 2019, CCU started the season by winning seven-straight games and went 12-3 over its first 15 games.
• In 2018, the Chants went 3-0 to start the year and also went 11-4 over their first 15 games of the season.
4 FOR 4
• CCU has hit a total of four home runs over its first four games of the season with all four long balls coming from four different Chants and in four different positions in the lineup.
CHANT ORDER IN LINEUP
Nick Lucky 1st
Alex Gattinelli 4th
Parker Chavers 3rd
Makenzie Pate 9th
WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY
• The Coastal Carolina offense struggled at Wake Forest (Feb. 23) last time out but still found a way to win 4-1 in 12 innings over the nationally-ranked Demon Deacons.
• Coastal's hitters managed just five hits over the 12 innings of play, struck out 20 times, a single-game program record, and left 13 runners on base.
• However, the Chanticleers refused to give in and took advantage of eight walks and three hit batsmen over the final six innings of play to come away with the 4-1 extra-inning win.
WEEKEND PROBABLES
• Coastal will hand the ball to redshirt sophomore
Jacob Maton (0-1, 7.36 ERA) again on Friday versus Bryant (Feb. 26).
• Making his first collegiate appearance on the mound Opening Day, Maton gave up four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits, four walks, and four strikeouts over 3.2 innings pitched.
• Maton, who hadn't pitched in an actual game since his high school senior season in 2018, was solid throughout but struggled with his control at times.
• On Saturday versus No.23/27 West Virginia (Feb. 27), the Chants will throw junior hurler
Nick Parker (0-0, 3.60 ERA) who will be making his 14th career start on the mound.
• In his first start of the 2021 season last weekend versus Duke (Feb. 21), Parker held the Blue Devils to three runs, two of which were earned, on two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts over 5.0-complete innings. He held Duke to a .125 batting average against him and left the game with the score tied at 3-3.
• Sunday's starter versus Kennesaw State is TBA.
LIGHTS-OUT AT WAKE FOREST
• The Chanticleers bullpen was lights out in the 4-1, 12-inning win at nationally-ranked Wake Forest on Tuesday (Feb. 23).
• Entering the game for starter
Casey Green in the fifth inning, the arms of
Trevor Damron (2.1 IP, 2 K),
Luke Barrow (1.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K),
Josh Jarman (0.1 IP, 1 HBP, 1 K),
Teddy Sharkey (1.2 IP, 3 K), and
Keaton Hopwood (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 K) combined to hold Wake Forest to just one run, on two hits, and two walks while striking out 11 in the win.
• Wake Forest entered the game averaging almost 10 runs per game.
FINDING THEIR WAY
• Coastal pitching coach
Drew Thomas used a total of 12 pitchers over the three-game series with the Duke Blue Devils last week, trying to see where guys will fit.
• Of the 12 pitchers that took the mound, five were not on the roster last year in 2020 while three others in
Jacob Maton,
Reid VanScoter, and
Trevor Damron had not pitched in a live collegiate game in over a year.
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.
