CONWAY, S.C. – After a 12-7 road win at No. 13 North Carolina on Tuesday night, the No. 19 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will continue its five-game road swing with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series versus the Georgia State Panthers his weekend, March 31-April 2, in Atlanta, Ga.
  Friday, March 31
6 p.m. ET – GSU - RHP Joseph Brandon (2-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. CCU - RHP Matthew Potok (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
 
Saturday, April 1
3 p.m. ET – GSU - RHP Ryan Watson (2-1, 4.01 ERA) vs. CCU - RHP Jacob Morrison (3-0, 4.83 ERA)
 
Sunday, April 2
1 p.m. ET – GSU - RHP Rafael Acosta (1-0, 7.11ERA) vs. CCU - TBA
  • Coastal Carolina heads to Atlanta at 15-7 overall and 4-2 in SBC play.
• CCU is coming off a 12-7 come-from-behind win in which the Chants scored eight runs in the top of the eighth inning to prevail.
• The Chanticleers, who are on a five-game road trip, are 3-2 in road games this season and took two of three games in its lone three-game road series to date at James Madison (March 17-19).
• In the Chants' 15 wins this season, they have scored double-digit runs in 13 of them and have averaged 14.8 runs over those 13 wins on the year.
• As a team, the Chants are hitting .326 overall, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks sixth in all of NCAA Division I baseball, as 10 different players are hitting over .300 on the season.
• The offense is also first in the Sun Belt and ranks third nationally in scoring (10.5), fourth in hit-by-pitch (65), and sixth in on-base percentage (.442).
• CCU's pitching staff has struck out 241 batters compared to just 110 walks on the year and leads the Sun Belt with an average of 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
  • Georgia State enters the weekend at 14-11 overall and 4-2 in SBC play.
• Picked to finish ninth in the coaches preseason poll, the Panthers are in a log jam along with Coastal Carolina at 4-2 in league play.
• GSU has played well at home this season, as 10 of its 14 wins have come at home.
• Offensively, the Panthers are hitting .316 overall, which ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference and 18th nationally.
• GSU's offense also ranks sixth nationally in home runs (55), 10th in hits (281), 12th in slugging percentage (.560), 14th in scoring (9.1), 15th in runs scored (227), 16th in walks (148), and 20th in on-base percentage (.424).
• The Georgia State pitching staff has posted a 5.91 ERA so far this season and is holding opponents to a .273 batting average.
• GSU's arms have struck out 242 hitters compared to 107 walks over 217.2 innings this season but rank second in the Sun Belt having hit 45 hitters.
  • The Chants hold a slight edge in the all-time series with the Panthers at 9-6 overall, with all 15 meetings coming in Sun Belt Conference regular season play.
• Coastal is 7-2 on the road versus Georgia State in Panthersville (Atlanta, Ga.), which includes a 27-2 win back on April 26, 2019.
• However, over the last 10 matchups, the two teams are deadlocked at 5-5 overall, as the Panthers took all three games from the Chanticleers in the three-game series in Conway, S.C., April 8-10, 2022.
  • The Chanticleers have two #ProChants that made MLB rosters for Opening Day this season in Tommy La Stella (2009-11) and Taylor Motter (2008-11).
• La Stella is on the Seattle Mariners Opening Day roster and will be playing his 10th season in the major league after making his debut in 2014 with the Atlanta Braves.
• Playing for his sixth MLB team, La Stella was a 2019 MLB All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers and was named the MLB Player of the Week on Sept. 12, 2021, while a member of the San Francisco Giants.
• Motter is a member of the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day roster and will be in his fifth season playing at the MLB level, having seen time in the big league in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022.
  • For the first time this season, the Chanticleers were ranked in a national top-25 poll (March 27).
• Coastal came in this week at No. 19 in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings and came in at No. 28 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division I poll.
• The Chanticleers had been receiving votes in several polls this season, including in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, the NCBWA Division I Poll, and the Perfect Game College Top 25.
  • Coastal has played four nationally-ranked top-25 teams so far this season in No. 21 NC State (Feb. 22), No. 2/5 Wake Forest (March 7), No. 19 Campbell (March 14), and No. 13 North Carolina (March 28).
• The Chanticleers are 3-1 versus top 25 ranked teams this season.
• Coastal suffered a 16-5 midweek home loss to then-No. 21 NC State on Feb. 22 at Springs Brooks Stadium, but since then has won each of its last three games versus ranked foes.
• CCU won a wild one by the score of 13-11 in a midweek home contest versus then-No. 2/5 Wake Forest on March 7 at Springs Brooks Stadium.
• The Chants outslugged then-No. 19 Campbell 12-9 on March 14 in a game that saw a combined seven home runs leave the ballpark.
• Just this week, the Chanticleers scored eight runs in the top of the eighth inning to record a 12-7 come-from-behind win on the road at No. 13 North Carolina in midweek action on March 28.
  • When the Chanticleers and Panthers last met, Georgia State swept Coastal in a three-game conference series in Conway, S.C., on April 8-10 of last year.
• Since that SBC home sweep, the Chanticleers have won eight-straight Sun Belt Conference series, including sweeps at Appalachian State (April 14-16, 2022), versus UT Arlington (April 22-24), against Little Rock (May 6-8), and at Troy (May 13-15).
• In fact, since dropping all three games to the Panthers last season, the Chants have gone 20-4 overall in regular-season conference play to date.
  • Last season in conference play, the Chants felt right at home.
• In 2022, CCU went 12-3 overall on the road in Sun Belt Conference play, winning four of the five road series on the year.
• Coastal recorded three sweeps on the road in conference play, winning all three games at Arkansas State (April 1-3), at Appalachian State (April 14-16), and at Troy (May 13-15).
• So far this year, the Chants have gone 2-1 in conference play on the road with a series win at new conference member James Madison (March 17-19) on the opening weekend of conference play.
 
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