CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina baseball team will open up its 2023 season with the Baseball at the Beach presented by VisitMyrtleBeach.com on Opening Weekend, Feb. 17-19, at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 17
10 a.m. ET - Middle Tennessee vs. VCU
4 p.m. ET – Fairfield vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+ / 105.5 FM Hank)
 
Saturday, Feb. 18
11 a.m. ET – VCU vs. Fairfield
3 p.m. ET – Middle Tennessee vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)
 
Sunday, Feb. 19
9:30 a.m. ET – Fairfield vs. Middle Tennessee
2:30 p.m. ET – VCU vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+ / WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM)
 
ROTATION FOR COASTAL
Friday, Feb. 17
CCU - RHP Matthew Potok (4-0, 3.71 ERA) vs. Fairfield - RHP Jake Noviello (3-2, 5.80 ERA)
 
Saturday, Feb. 18
CCU - RHP Jacob Morrison (N/A) vs. MTSU - RHP Eriq Swan (2-6, 7.62 ERA)
 
Sunday, Feb. 19
CCU - RHP Alex Edmondson (2-0, 4.66 ERA) vs. VCU - RHP Mason Delane (2-1, 4.56 ERA)
 
BASEBALL AT THE BEACH
• Coastal Carolina will open up the season with the annual Baseball at the Beach tournament, with this year's tournament presented by VisitMyrtleBeach.com.
• This marks the 24th year that the Chants have hosted the Baseball at the Beach event, with the first coming all the way back in the 2000 season.
• Two of the three teams in this year's Baseball at the Beach field are new to the annual event. Fairfield has never played Coastal on the diamond, while Middle Tennessee played a three-game series at CCU in 2020.
• VCU is the lone team that has played in this tournament in the past as part of the 2002 and 2006 tournament fields.
 
HOME. SWEET. HOME.
• This season, Coastal is scheduled to play 34 home games versus teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big East, Conference USA, Atlantic 10, and the new look Sun Belt Conference.
• In fact, 15 of the Chants' first 16 games will come at home at "The Palace" to start the season.
• Since 2000, the Chants have recorded 20 wins or more at home in all but four years, one of which was the shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Since Coastal joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2017, the Chants have posted a record of 121-57-2 (67.8 percent) at home at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
CHALLENGING 2023 SCHEDULE
• CCU's 2023 schedule includes games versus teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big East, Conference USA, Atlantic 10, and the new look Sun Belt Conference.
• The 2023 schedule will once again be a challenging one, as head coach Gary Gilmore's team will play eight teams that made the 2022 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Tournament last year in national seeds North Carolina and Southern Miss, as well as Wake Forest, VCU, Campbell, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, and Texas State.
 
NEW TERRITORY
• For the first time since joining the Sun Belt Conference in the 2016-17 academic year, the Chanticleers were not picked to finish in the top three in the league's preseason coaches poll, coming in at fifth this year.
• Prior to this year's preseason poll, the Chants had not been picked below third overall heading into the season.
 
NEW AND OLD
• This season, the Chanticleers have a mix of both old and new players, as well as returners, transfers, and freshmen.
• Overall, the Chants have 18 returning players from a year ago, nine position players and nine pitchers, led by fifth-year Chant Nick Lucky and returning starters Graham Brown, Zack Beach, Tanner Garrison, and Kameron Guangorena, as well as pitchers Riley Eikhoff, Matthew Potok, Teddy Sharkey, and Jack Billings.
 
HALL OF FAMER
• Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore is in his 28th season at the helm of the Chants' program.
• Gilley enters the 2023 season with a total of 1,293 career wins over 33 seasons, which includes 1,040 wins as the head coach at CCU.
• With his 1,293 career wins, Gilley ranks 22nd all-time in NCAA Division I and is fourth among all active NCAA Division I coaches.
 
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.