CONWAY, S.C. – The No. 5/6 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will remain on the road to take on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series this weekend, April 28-30, at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park in Lafayette, La.
 
All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with fans able to listen to the games in the Conway/Myrtle Beach area on WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM or 105.5 HANK FM.
  Friday, April 28
7 p.m. ET – LA - RHP Cooper Rawls (9-0, 2.62 ERA) vs. CCU - RHP Matthew Potok (3-2, 5.49 ERA)
 
Saturday, April 29
5 p.m. ET – LA - RHP Jackson Nezuh (6-3, 7.79 ERA) vs. CCU - RHP Jacob Morrison (5-0, 5.36 ERA)
 
Sunday, April 30
11 a.m. ET – LA - TBA vs. CCU - TBA
  • Coastal Carolina is 26-13 overall and 13-5 in Sun Belt Conference play this year.
• Coastal sits alone atop the Sun Belt Conference regular-season standings at 13-5, two games in front of second place Southern Miss (11-7).
• CCU has won 12 of its last 18 games and is coming off a 2-1 series win at home over then-No. 23/24 Southern Miss at home last weekend (April 21-23).
• The Chants are 9-6 overall on the road this season but 7-2 in road games in Sun Belt Conference play with wins at James Madison (March 17-19), Georgia State (March 31-April 2), and Old Dominion (April 14-16).
• As a team, the Chants are hitting .319 overall, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 11th nationally, as nine different players are hitting over .300 on the season.
• The offense leads the Sun Belt Conference in seven offensive statistical categories - runs (386), scoring (9.9), batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.428), doubles (98), doubles per game (0.97), and hit-by-pitch (89).
• CCU's pitching staff has struck out 422 batters compared to just 202 walks on the year and leads the Sun Belt with an average of 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, which also ranks ninth nationally.
  • Louisiana enters the weekend at home at 28-15 overall and 10-8 in Sun Belt Conference play.
• The Ragin' Cajuns have won each of their last two games, both midweek contests at home versus Southern (April 25) and Northwestern State (April 26), after being swept on the road in conference play at James Madison (April 21-23) last weekend.
• Louisiana has dominated at home this season, as the Ragin' Cajuns 20-7 overall at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
• The Cajuns' offense ranks in the middle of the Sun Belt Conference this season, hitting .288 with 48 home runs, 85 doubles, 283 RBIs, 309 runs, and an average of 7.2 runs per game.
• However, the Cajuns have wreaked havoc on the base paths, as they lead the Sun Belt and rank third nationally with 121 stolen bases on the season.
• The Louisiana pitching staff has been solid all season, as the Cajuns' arms lead the Sun Belt in shutouts (4), earned run average (4.72), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (8.03), and WHIP (1.38).
  • The Chanticleers are just 4-8-1 all-time versus Louisiana, including having lost each of the last two meetings.
• Coastal is just 2-5 on the road at Louisiana, having fallen in both conference series 2-1 (2018 and 2021) and also dropping a Monday non-conference meeting 7-0 in the two teams' last meeting in 2021.
  • For the first time this season, the Chanticleers were ranked in a national top-25 poll on March 27.
• Coastal came in at No. 19 in the D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings and at No. 28 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division I poll in that poll on March 27.
• Since then, the Chants have been in at least one national poll in each of the last five weeks.
• In the most recent polls that came out on April 24, the Chants were in all six polls - No. 5 (Perfect Game), No. 6 (D1Baseball), No. 7 (Baseball America), No. 7 (USA Today Coaches Pol), No. 9 (NCBWA), and No. 28 (Collegiate Baseball).
• The last time that the Chanticleers were ranked in the top 10 in the majority of the national polls was back in 2010 when they broke into the top 10 in three of the five polls on April 19, 2010.
• Since being ranked, the Chanticleers have gone 12-6 overall.
  • This season, the Chanticleers have played one of the toughest schedules in all of NCAA Division I.
• The Chants have the second-toughest schedule in all of NCAA Division I baseball to date, according to the NCAA (as of April 27).
  • Coastal has played 10 games against five 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), No. 13 North Carolina (March 28), again versus No. 14 Campbell (April 10 & 11), last weekend versus No. 23/24 Southern Miss (April 23-24), and again at No. 2 Wake Forest (April 25).
• The Chanticleers are 6-4 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 in a 12-9 win on March 14 in a game that saw a combined seven home runs leave the ballpark.
• 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.
• CCU split back-to-back midweek road games at No. 14 Campbell (April 10 & 11), falling 9-4 on Monday before taking the season series with a 5-3 win on Tuesday.
• Coastal took two-of-three games at home versus No. 23/24 Southern Miss (April 21-23) in Sun Belt Conference play, outscoring the Golden Eagles 42-29 in the three games.
• Most recently, the Chanticleers were defeated by No. 2 Wake Forest (April 25) 11-1 in seven innings in Winston-Salem, N.C., in midweek non-conference action.
  • The Chanticleers rank in the top 10 in RPI entering the weekend of play, which is tops in the Sun Belt.
• Coastal has the sixth-best RPI according to Warren Nolan, and the eighth-best by NCAA and Boyd's World.
  • The Chants and Ragin' Cajuns have played two common opponents this season in Campbell and Sun Belt Conference foe James Madison.
• CCU went 2-1 versus both Campbell and James Madison to go 4-2 overall, while Louisiana went 1-2 versus the Fighting Camels and lost all three games at James Madison to go 1-5.
  • It will be the bats versus arms this weekend at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park, as Coastal's offense and Louisiana's pitching are both among the league leaders in the Sun Belt Conference his season.
• The CCU offense leads the Sun Belt in seven offensive statistical categories - runs (386), scoring (9.9), batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.428), doubles (98), doubles per game (0.97), and hit-by-pitch (89), and ranks second in hits (439), sacrifice flies (23), and slugging percentage (.558).
• The Louisiana pitching staff leads the Sun Belt in shutouts (4), earned run average (4.72), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (8.03), and WHIP (1.38), and ranks third in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (4.36).
  • This season, the Chanticleers have not lost two games to the same team all season long.
• Coastal's 13 losses have come to 13 different teams with one loss each to VCU (Feb. 19), No. 21 NC State (Feb. 22), Creighton (Feb. 26), College of Charleston (Feb. 28), Illinois (March 11), James Madison (March 18), Texas State (March 25), Clemson (April 4), Georgia Southern (April 7), No. 14 Campbell (April 10), Old Dominion (April 14), No. 23/24 Southern Miss (April 23), and No. 2 Wake Forest (April 25).
  • Since the Chanticleers were swept by Georgia State in a three-game conference series in Conway, S.C., on April 8-10 of last year, Coastal has been nearly unbeatable in series play.
• Since that SBC home sweep, the CCU has won 12 straight Sun Belt Conference series, including sweeps at Appalachian State (April 14-16, 2022), versus UT Arlington (April 22-24, 2022), against Little Rock (May 6-8, 2022), and at Troy (May 13-15, 2022) last year, and a 3-0 sweep of Georgia State (March 31-April 2) this season.
• Since dropping all three conference games to the Panthers last season, the Chants have gone 29-7 overall in regular-season conference play to date.
• On top of the domination in SBC play, the Chants have not lost a weekend series since then, having won 14 of its last 15 weekend matchups, not counting tournament play. The non-winning weekend was not a loss, but rather a tie with the 1-1 rain-shortened series with Illinois on March 10 & 11.
  • Last season in conference play, the Chants felt right at home when playing on the road.
• In 2022, CCU went 12-3 overall on the road in Sun Belt Conference play, winning four of the five conference 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 7-2 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, a 3-0 sweep of Georgia State (March 31-April 2) in Atlanta, Ga., and a 2-1 series win at Old Dominion (April 14-16).
• The Chanticleers will look to continue its success on the road in conference play, as the Men in Teal have won seven straight conference series on the road dating back to last 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.