CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina pitching coach
Matt Williams was named the 2025 D1 Baseball Assistant Coach of the Year by D1Baseball.com.
In his first year at Coastal Carolina, Williams oversaw a pitching staff which finished second nationally and led the Sun Belt Conference in ERA and WHIP.
For his work leading Coastal Carolina to the CWS finals this year and for a long track record of improving pitchers, Matt Williams is D1Baseball's 2025 Assistant Coach of the Year.
For those of us who aren't in the dugout or clubhouse with a team on an everyday basis, judging the work of assistant coaches can be difficult.
Sometimes the impact isn't immediate, other times things have to get worse before they get better and stats can often be an unreliable gauge of how the lessons an assistant is teaching are being picked up by the players.
Other times, it's crystal clear, and that's often been the case wherever Coastal Carolina pitching coach Matt Williams has gone.
The Chanticleers had a 5.83 ERA in 2024. The 2023 team's ERA was even higher, at 6.25. Both of those Coastal teams were very good, but both were undone by not having enough quality pitching to make a deep postseason run.
At 3.22, the 2025 Chanticleers finished with an ERA more than two-and-a-half runs lower than last year's pitching staff and more than three runs lower than in 2023. Factors like the health of Cameron Flukey and Jacob Morrison played a huge role, but the biggest change was Williams' arrival.
Read D1Baseball.com's article online. ($)
Coastal Carolina had a nation-leading and school record 56 wins, a Sun Belt Conference Championship, Sun Belt Tournament Championship, Conway Regional Championship, Auburn Super Regional Championship and a 3-0 run in Omaha to the Men's College World Series Championship Final. Over the last quarter of the season, Coastal posted a 26-game winning streak, the fourth-longest winning streak in DI in the last five years.
The Chanticleers pitching staff, led by starters
Jacob Morrison,
Cameron Flukey and
Riley Eikhoff, posted a 3.22 ERA in 2025, the fifth-best mark in CCU baseball history. It was a significant improvement over the past two seasons where Coastal finished with a 5.83 (2024) and 6.25 (2023) ERA, respectively.
Morrison (12-1) — the ABCA/Rawlings DI National Pitcher of the Year — was one of the key cogs in the Chanticleers run to Omaha and finished the season ranked tied for third in the NCAA with 12 wins. He earned four First-Team All-America nods — ABCA/Rawlings, College Baseball Foundation D1Baseball and NCBWA.
Flukey, a D1 Baseball Third Team All-American, excelled on the biggest stages — delivering 22.0 innings with 25 strikeouts and a 3.27 ERA across four NCAA Tournament outings, including 10.0 IP, 12 K and a 2.70 ERA in the Men's College World Series.
Eikhoff's ERA dropped nearly two whole runs to 3.10, his strikeout rate went from 6.7 per nine innings to 7.1 and his walk rate dropped from an already-low 1.8 per nine innings to a microscopic 1.1.
The bullpen achieved as well —
Ryan Lynch posting a team-best 0.56 era with nine saves and 26 Ks.
Dominick Carbone added six saves, striking out 52 while
Matthew Potok,
Darin Horn,
Hayden Johnson and
Scott Doran combined to go 15-2 with four saves.
2026 SEASON TICKET DEPOSITS
Missed the action at Springs Brooks Stadium this season? Fans can make a $25 deposit to secure season tickets for the 2026 Coastal Carolina baseball season.
Reserve your seats today online!
