CONWAY, S.C. – The annual Baseball at the Beach event will take place this season once again on Opening Weekend at Springs Brooks Stadium with the Chanticleers hosting Kent State, Central Michigan, and West Virginia over four days of play.
  • The four-day tournament will consist of two games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and a matinee on Monday afternoon between the Chanticleers and the West Virginia Mountaineers.
 
Friday
11 a.m. ET – West Virginia vs. #16 Central Michigan
4 p.m. ET – Kent State vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+/Hank 105.5 FM)
 
Saturday
11 a.m. ET – West Virginia vs. Kent State
3 p.m. ET – #16 Central Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)
 
Sunday
11 a.m. ET - #16 Central Michigan vs. West Virginia
3 p.m. ET – Kent State vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+/Hank 105.5 FM)
 
Monday
Noon – West Virginia vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+/Hank 105.5 FM)
  • In order to expedite entry and provide a safe and secure environment for our fans, student-athletes, staff, and officials, Coastal Carolina University Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed events effectively. Along with numerous institutions around the country, the state of South Carolina, and professional sports around the world, this new policy limits the size and style of bags carried into ticketed venues. For more information and details CLICK HERE.
  • Fans can purchase both single-game and season tickets online at www.GoCCUsports.com/tickets or by calling the Chanticleer Athletics Ticket Office at 843-347-TIXX.
• Tickets are also available for purchase at the Baseball Ticket Window on gamedays.
• Gates will open 90 minutes prior to the first game of each day.
• Springs Brooks Stadium will be cleared between each game over the weekend.
  • Coastal Carolina will open up the season with the annual Baseball at the Beach tournament.
• This marks the 23rd year that the Chants have hosted the Baseball at the Beach event, with the first coming all the way back in the 2000 season.
• This is Kent State's fourth appearance in the Baseball at the Beach Tournament, playing in the CCU annual event in 2001, 2004, and 2019.
• West Virginia will be coming to CCU for the second straight season and playing in its sixth Baseball at the Beach event (2005, 2008, 2009, and 2012).
  • West Virginia and Kent State are no strangers to Conway, S.C., and Springs Brooks Stadium.
• The WVU Mountaineers have played 14 games at Springs Brooks Stadium, including a three-game series versus the Chanticleers last season, March 19-21, and the Baseball at the Beach event in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2012.
• Kent State will return to #ThePalace for the first time since 2019 and is 8-17 versus the Chanticleers in Conway, S.C. all-time.
• This is Kent State's fourth appearance in the Baseball at the Beach Tournament, playing in the CCU annual event in 2001, 2004, and 2019.
  • Coastal will enjoy #ThePalace for the first eight games of the season and will not hit the road for the entire month of February.
• After playing four games on the road in the first week of March - at UNCW (March 2) and North Carolina (March 4-6) - the Chanticleers will return home for a five-game homestand versus Wake Forest (March 8) and a four-game weekend series against Xavier (March 11-13).
• The Chanticleers are scheduled to host 31 home games this season.
  • Coastal Carolina baseball received three first-place votes and a total of 117 points to place in a tie for third overall with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
• Coastal was chosen behind South Alabama (139) and Georgia Southern (118).
  • Coastal Carolina junior shortstop Eric Brown was named the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year, as chosen by the league's head coaches.
• Brown was also named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team, earning the Chanticleers lone selection.
• The third-year Chant was also named the 2022 Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year by both Perfect Game and D1Baseball, and ranked as the No. 1 prospect for the MLB Draft Class of 2022 by both outlets.
  • Coastal Carolina returns just EIGHT position players that saw action in the field and at the plate last season in Eric Brown, Nick Lucky, Billy Underwood, Dale Thomas, Cooper Weiss, Tanner Garrison, Zack Beach, and Tyler Johnson.
• However, of the eight returning position players, five of them played in 40 games or more last season headlined by Brown and Lucky each starting and playing 50 of the 51 games on the year.
• Returning are four of the top hitters from last season in Brown (.294), Underwood (.280), Lucky (.279), and Thomas (.277), while five of the eight drove in 20 or more RBIs on the season.
  • The 2022 roster will feature several newcomers this season that came to Coastal Carolina by way of the transfer portal.
• Transferring in from other Division I schools was catcher/outfielder Kameron Guangorena (Cal State Fullerton), utility player Jake Gitter (Northern Colorado), infielder Matt McDermott (William & Mary), first baseman/catcher Christopher Rowan, Jr. (Utah), and outfielder Austin White (Rhode Island).
• Also joining the team via transfer is outfielder Graham Brown from WVU Potomac State College and local product Chase Hudson from Brunswick Community College.
  • The CCU coaching staff is also excited about the addition of several freshmen Chants in infielders Ernesto Polanco and Orlando Pena, as well as outfielder Andrew Muraco and catcher Derek Bender.
  • Coastal will throw a very experienced starting rotation over its four games on Opening Weekend in the Baseball at the Beach event in senior Nick Parker (RHP), redshirt senior Reid VanScoter (LHP), senior Michael Knorr (RHP), and super senior Elliot Carney (RHP).
• The most experienced Chant on the pitching staff, Parker is a four-year pitcher for CCU and will take the ball on Opening Day on Friday versus Kent State.
• Over the last two years as a weekend starter, Parker has gone 5-5 over 17 starts.
• For his career at CCU, he has gone 7-6 with a 5.04 ERA over 34 appearances, including 25 starts.
• After making just one start and pitching in just one game over two seasons in 2019 and 2020 while recovering from an injury, VanScoter went 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA over 12 appearances last season, including making four starts.
• Knorr, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, made 11 appearances, including six starts, on the mound last season for the Titans. He went 1-3 overall and had a 6.99 ERA over 46.1 innings pitched.
• A super senior and graduate transfer, Carney was named the 2021 Southern Conference (SoCon) Pitcher of the Year last season, as the Washington native, was 6-3 with a 3.07 ERA over 15 starts for Wofford.
• Carney threw a complete 9.0-inning no-hitter, the first in Wofford's Division I history, against UNCG (April 17), in which he struck out seven and walked three, and nearly threw a second no-hitter on the season against The Citadel (May 9), as he gave up one hit in the ninth inning with two outs while striking out 10 batters for the complete-game shutout.
  • With the Chanticleers returning just 10 pitchers from last season's roster, including just seven that appeared in 10 games or more on the year, head coach Gary Gilmore and his staff used a mix of transfers, junior college signees, and freshmen to help refill the pitching staff in 2022.
• The Chants added veteran transfers Michael Knorr (RHP - Cal State Fullerton), John Kelly (RHP - Oklahoma State), Elliot Carney (RHP - Wofford), and Colin Yablonski (RHP - La Salle), as well as junior college pitcher Jack Billings (RHP - Rowan Gloucester).
• CCU also added true freshmen right-handed hurlers Darin Horn and Matthew Potok, to provide even more depth to a bolstered bullpen.
  • For the first time since 2007, the Chanticleers will have a new face calling the pitchers in new pitching coach and experienced collegiate coach Jason Beverlin.
• Beverlin, who was the head coach at Bethune-Cookman for six seasons (2011-17), led BCU to four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament titles and four NCAA Regional appearances (2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017).
• In his coaching stops at Georgia Southern (2008-09), Tennessee (2010-11), and Bethune-Cookman, he has had 22 players taken in the Major League Baseball Draft.
• He is back in the dugout after working the last three years as a regional scout in the Toronto Blue Jays organization in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2017-20.
 
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.