CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina baseball team will host its second tournament of the 2024 season this weekend, Feb. 23-25, as the Chanticleers will take on Illinois (Friday), Ball State (Saturday), and Cincinnati (Sunday) at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 23
11 a.m. ET – Ball State vs. Cincinnati
3 p.m. ET – Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+ / 105.5 FM Hank)
7 p.m. ET – Illinois vs. Ball State
 
Saturday, Feb. 24
Noon. ET – Cincinnati vs. Illinois
3 p.m. ET – Ball State vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+ / 105.5 FM Hank)
 
Sunday, Feb. 25
1 p.m. ET – Cincinnati vs. Coastal Carolina (ESPN+ / WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM)
 
ROTATION FOR COASTAL
Friday, Feb. 23
CCU - RHP Riley Eikhoff (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. ILLINOIS - RHP Jack Crowder (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
 
Saturday, Feb. 24
CCU - RHP Alexander Meckley (N/A) vs. BALL STATE – LHP Merritt Beeker (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
 
Sunday, Feb. 25
CCU - RHP TBA vs. CINCINNATI - RHP Tommy Boba (0-1, 12.27 ERA)
 
HALL OF FAMER
• Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore is in his 29th and final season at the helm of the Chants' program.
• Gilley enters the 2024 season with a total of 1,337 career wins over 34 seasons, which includes 1,082 wins as the head coach at CCU.
• With his 1,337 career wins, Gilley ranks 22nd all-time in NCAA Division I and is fourth among all active NCAA Division I coaches.
 
CHALLENGING 2024 SCHEDULE
• CCU's 2024 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 2024 schedule will once again be a challenging one, as head coach Gary Gilmore's team will play 13 teams that made the 2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Tournament last year in national seeds Wake Forest and Clemson, as well as NC State, North Carolina, Campbell, Southern Miss, Louisiana, George Mason, Duke, Ball State, Indiana, UNCW, and Troy.
 
TOURNEY TIME
• This weekend will be the second of two weekend tournaments this year for the Chants, as Coastal hosted the Baseball at the Beach Tournament which included George Mason, Indiana, and Duke last weekend.
• This week's tournament will include Ball State, Cincinnati, and Illinois.
 
BIG TEN BATTLE
• Coastal Carolina will host the second of three games with teams from the Big Ten as Illinois will compete in this weekend's multiple team event.
• The Chanticleers clashed with Indiana at the Baseball at the Beach tournament.
• On March 8-10, CCU will host the Michigan Wolverines for a three-game series before beginning Sun Belt Conference play the following weekend.
    CCU vs. Big Ten
    12-4...................... vs. Maryland
    8-4........................ vs. Michigan
    10-9............................. vs. Illinois
    7-3...................... vs. Ohio State
    3-1.............. vs. Michigan State
    2-0....................... vs. Nebraska
    2-1........................... vs. Purdue
    1-0................................ vs. Iowa
    1-4.......................... vs. Indiana
    1-3................ vs. Northwestern
    0-1...................... vs. Minnesota
 
MAC-ACTION
• The Chanticleers will meet Ball State from the Mid-American Conference for the first time since February 2022 and the 17th all-time.
• CCU leads the overall series with the Cardinals 16-0 as the Chants picked up a pair of wins in 2022.
 
BEARCAT SIGHTING
• Coastal and Cincinnati have played just three times with the Bearcats leading 2-1 overall.
• Cincinnati now plays in the Big XII Conference.
• The two teams first played and split a pair of contests in March of 1977.
• The last meeting was in 2016, when the Bearcats played in the Chanticleer Classic.
 
GETTING OFFENSIVE
• Coastal's offense got the season started with a bang as they outscored George Mason 26-0 on Opening Day.
• Jake Books and Derek Bender hit grand slams, while Zach Beach knocked his first home run for the Chants.
• Newcomer Sam Antonacci started the season going 2-for-3 with a double, three runs scored, and three RBI.
• Caden Bodine leads the team in hitting (.400), while going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored, and three RBI on opening day.
 
WEEKEND ROTATION
• The Chanticleer opened the season with redshirt junior Riley Eikhoff (RHP), junior Alexander Meckley (RHP), and junior Ryan Lynch on the mound.
• Eikhoff got the opening day nod versus George Mason and went 6.0 innings. He did not allow a single hit and allowed just one base runner as he hit a batter.
• Meckley did not factor in the decision of the Indiana game, as the Gettysburg, Pa., native went 4.1 innings, allowing three hits, striking out six batters and giving up two runs.
• Freshman Dominick Carbone (LHP) picked up his first career win in relief in a midweek matchup with UNCW. Carbone pitched 3.0 innings, struck out three, and allowed no runs.
• Fellow freshman Cameron Flukey has pitched in two games, going 4.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit, and striking out 10 hitters.
 
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.